An older post from Tim O'Reilly on the lifecycle from self-publisher to aggregate publisher. An interesting exploration of the transition from "free" to "not free" and the balancing act the transition requires.

Quoted: What this evolution illustrates is that publishers will not go away, but that they cannot be complacent. Publishers must serve the values of both authors and readers. If they try to enforce an artificial scarcity, charge prices that are too high or otherwise violate the norms of their target community, they will encourage that community to self-organize, or new competitors will emerge who are better attuned to the values of the community.