Top executives at major book publishers discussed the entry of Web companies like Amazon and Google into their territory at a publishing industry conference in London. The executives who spoke on the
panel sounded as if they couldn't decide whether they were discussing a challenge or an opportunity. A HarperCollins UK executive said Amazon, which is moving directly into publishing, represented a
threat, but her comments were later disqualified by a spokesperson for the company who said, "I think we'd argue that Amazon is a real friend to the publishing industry," adding that the online
retailer helped boost sales of back titles, and its scanning project that lets consumers read pages online increased sales by 7 percent. Meanwhile, Google is still viewed as public enemy No. 1 in the
publishing community. Despite the company's efforts to reassure publishers that it will not be making the full text of volumes under copyright protection available online, Bloomsbury CEO Nigel Newton
called for a boycott of the search giant, saying Google's "quest to monetize for its own benefit the literature of the world must be stopped." Bloomsbury publishes the Harry Potter novels. The
HarperCollins' executive disagreed, saying "It would be mad to just shut down the dialogue. I think that search is going to transform our industry."
Read the whole story at Reuters.com »
