BEA: CEOs Speak Up

From Shelf Awareness article BEA: CEOs Speak Up, a few soundbites from yesterday's Opening Plenary: CEOs on the Value of a Book:

Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux:
"Who has time for enhanced e-books? With links you could be there forever...No author will want to have books only online. Every author wants to give his mother a copy of his book."

Scott Turow, author and incoming president of the Authors Guild (on how musicians' reliance on concerts to make up for a drop in music sales won't work for writers):
"I'm not sure as many people will show up to hear me read as they would to watch Beyonce...Why did publishers let the e-book be available at the same time as the hardcover?"

David Shanks, CEO, Penguin Group:
"More than 90% of our business still is in paper."

Esther Newberg, executive v-p, International Creative Management (on fair author compensation in the digital age):
"One of the big six publishers told me that in five years 60% of all business will be e-books...How are you justifying not giving us 50% of e-book revenues?"

Bob Miller, group publisher, Workman:
"I can imagine that at the time of Gutenberg, people were saying, 'This thing will be a real time suck.'"

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