Mark Coker, founder of ebook distributor Smashwords and very smart guy, released his 2015 predictions for the book publishing industry. 
Some highlights from his article:
- More authors will opt to publish as independents and the market share for indie-published books will grow.
- Overall, ebook sales per author will slow due to market maturation and increased competition from other indie authors, traditional publishers moving aggressively into ebooks, and other options available to consumers
- FREE will continue to decrease in value as a momentum-building marketing technique;
- Amazon will continue to squeeze author profits as will the new European VAT tax rules; and
- As it all gets harder, more independent authors will go back to their day jobs
Coker emphasizes that success will go to those who diligently follow the best practices, which he outlines as these:
- Write a fantastic book
- Get your book professionally edited & proofed
- Invest in a superb cover design
- Price your book fairly
- Take advantage of pre-orders
- Distribute your book widely
- Write a second book and do it all again
(I would add that consistent and constant marketing is an essential best practice.)
Read Mark’s full article here:
http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/12/2015-book-publishing-industry.html