Quote from World e-Reading Conference......(an ostrich attitude)

Meanwhile the CEO of Random House Ian Hudson added that “We’ve seen e-book growth outstrip our (total) sales this year by a factor of 10. 2010 UK growth in consumer e-book sales of two percent could exceed eight percent this year and 15 percent next year… U.S. e-book sales will more than double in 2011, taking the total sales in excess of $2 billion this year.”

Hudson during his address focused on the relevance of traditional publishers, arguing even well-known self-published authors such as Joe Konrath and Stephen Leather needed to use editors. He said: “Editorial excellence is what we’ve built our business on and just because it is now possible to go it alone, it doesn’t mean that’s the best course of action for the author or their book. Indeed it almost certainly isn’t. This pre-selection and creative editorial role which has historically established a quality threshold gives readers a degree of confidence that the time investment they make in reading a book will be well rewarded. In a digital world this will be more important than ever as the internet and e-book sites become flooded with self-published titles.”