[DonaldL.]

New Retail Channels, The Library e-Book Wars and Bundling

All the talk and media attention given to self-publishing as an alternative to legacy publishers seems to be having some impact. A panel featuring executives form S&S, Random House, Little Brown, HarperCollins and Perseus, spent the morning issuing mea culpas (and highlighting current and planned correctives) over past “paternalistic” practices in dealing with their authors. Indeed there was a fair amount of discussion about whether authors should be called “partners,” “customers,” or “clients,” in an era when veteran authors and even emerging writers have viable alternatives to the traditional publishing contract.