Special Report: The 2010 Publishing Business Conference

"With so many examples of innovative things publishers are doing today, shared by both presenters and attendees, I left the show, as did many attendees who have called and sent e-mails, feeling completely revived about [the] future," said Skodzinski. "Sure, a lot is changing … and change is scary; but there is also a lot of opportunity for publishers out there that didn't exist before."

"I found the entire conference to be eye-opening for me in terms of where the publishing industry is going now and in the future," said Lisa Ross, founder of Massachusetts-based Sweet Dreams Publishing. "The contacts I made were invaluable."

Sessions covered everything from "The Book Publishers' Social Media Strategy Guide" to "Verifying and Auditing Digital Sales Transactions," "The Sales Spectrum: From Discoverability to Pricing," "Rethinking Author Contracts for the Digital World" and "The Point of No Returns: Following a Different Path."

Of "The Sales Spectrum" session, David Heath of Red Leaf Press said, "Google, Kobo and Ingram together in the same room on the same panel. What a great opportunity to learn about the marketplace."

Of "The Point of No Returns," Gail Bock of Discipleship Resources' publishing arm said, "Wow! To be able to implement this business model would help our bottom line. A totally new way of seeing the business."

Nicole Shell of Bridge Publications said of the "Social Media" session, "If you want to learn how to successfully social network, this is the conference to attend."