HarperCollins CEO Paints Positive Picture for Publishing

Despite perceptions that the publishing business is troubled, or even facing the same tumult of the music business, the CEO of HarperCollins said that the growth in digital book sales were improving margins and even royalty rates for authors, and even creating ways to test variable pricing for e-books once they are released.

At the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Wednesday, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray said that the industry was "not going the way of the music business," with digital publishing translating into greater consumption of books purchased, he noted.