Traditional Publishers' Profit Model vs. eBook $ Realities

Italics are mine. This from the Wharton Business School:

The book may have a bright future in the digital age. But the road from here to there is badly lit and full of potholes in the view of publishing industry experts speaking at Wharton's Future of Publishing Conference held recently in New York.

According to Alberto Vitale, a former Random House executive whose donations helped found The Wharton Lab for Innovation in Publishing, "Digital will complement and enhance traditional publishing. In a short time, it will make the economics of publishing a lot more attractive and compelling." But getting to that point may require a remaking of the book publishing business as it stands today. Noted Judith Curr, publisher of Simon & Shuster's Atria Books line: "Every part of the publishing function has to be reexamined." She warned that publishers may have to take on unaccustomed roles. "We must be aggregators of information, entertainers, agents and managers. At the end of the day, money has to change hands."

Traditional publishers are trying various experiments, but they are deeply concerned about protecting their existing revenues and author relationships.. "We try to experiment aggressively, but it's hard to ignore the fact that 95% of the revenue is print," said David Steinberger, president and publisher of Perseus Books. "Start-ups aren't burdened by having to protect that legacy revenue ..."