You Can Quote Me on That!
"We believe that horizontal is road kill."
Marcus Leaver, president, Sterling Publishing; from speech at Making Information Pay, cited in Book Business Editor's Note (June '09)
"Clearly, flexibility is really the trend. This can be flexibility in format, in [regard to] the channel … to release content in, or even financial flexibility, the ability to make decisions to employ capital in different ways."
David "Skip" Prichard, president and CEO, Ingram Content Group Inc.; Book Business feature, "Today's Retail Scene" (Oct. '09)
"Make the commitment to do something mobile, salable or otherwise, in 2010."
Andrew Brenneman, Book Business Digital Directions column
(Dec. '09)
"Lost in the doomsdayer debate about publishers' future is that their unique role as intermediaries has always been about discovering and promoting talent and content—rather than printing and distributing."
Peter Olson, senior lecturer of business administration, Harvard Business School, and former Random House CEO, and Bharat N. Anand, Henry R. Byers professor of business administration at Harvard Business School; Book Business Guest Column (June '09)
"Ten years have passed and, surprisingly, little has changed. We still have numerous devices and formats, pricing continues to be an issue (as is digital rights management), and consumers are still confused about exactly what an e-book is (is it a device or is it a format?). Content providers have continued to digitize their frontlists and backlists, but many publishers' e-book programs haven't expanded much beyond what they were a decade ago."
Jeff Gomez, author of "Print Is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age"; Book Business Guest Column (Oct. '09)
"Recognize that the industry is turning upside down. Bring in people who … can bring a much-needed fresh perspective to the business, … people who are probably not from the publishing world.
Maureen "Moe" Girkins, president and CEO, Zondervan, HarperCollins Publishers; Book Business feature, "50 Top Women in Book Publishing" (May '09)
