If the big publishers don't like the current system, it goes tenfold for small ones. But I don't see how what they're doing with this new imprint is any different from what writers get by going with a small press like I did, or even self-publishing, UNLESS the imprint guarantees they will, somehow, be on the holy wholesaler's lists and get books into BN and other major chain book stores. But with that returns policy, I think not.
Publishing is changing these days with books selling for 5 bucks instead of their list price of almost $30. and I can see the major publishers are going to be forced to change their way of doing business. How that will affect writers, I don't know.
My publisher, Second Wind, is up against this system and doesn't have the money that big publishing houses have or used to have. Second Wind's strateg is to open a real bookstore in Winston Salem, NC, in the next few months. Being part of indie book store groups will be a way to get our books into the bookstores. Got to be creative these days.
And aside from writing and publishing concern, I'm glad if the current system changes because there are a lot of trees wasted.