There’s been quite a furious debate going on in author-publisher circles this week, after Hugh Howey, a self-publishing phenom, posted some startling data that has everyone weighing in (again :)) on just which path is the “right” one for a new author to choose when getting ready to release a book into the world.

A few have pointed out the shortcomings of the data and its analysis (and as a data geek, I have to agree that it’s hardlyclean, although Hugh Howey himself has acknowledged this). I t...