A Talk with Simon & Schuster’s CEO Carolyn Reidy

Students at Simon & Schuster with CEO Carolyn Reidy

Students in the Master of Science in Publishing program at NYU recently had the opportunity to sit down with Simon & Schuster’s President and CEO Carolyn Reidy as she discussed her career, the evolution and future of publishing, and her advice for publishing hopefuls.“ Publishing requires passion,” she told the group. “It takes people with backgrounds in all areas. No matter your interest or skill, it can be used in publishing.”

E-Book Evolution

April Osborn, Jessica Wells, Hanna Oswald, Naomi Kennedy and Cindy Peng volunteer at Digital Book World

At the recent Digital Book World conference, one of the finest moments was the sight of New York’ s top book publishing executives clustered around TV screens and netbooks watching Steve Jobs demonstrate the wonders of the iPad. For months, publishers had clung to every nuance, every rumor about the mysterious Apple tablet, so there was a certain poetic justice in Job’s decision to announce the launch in the middle of the first-ever conference devoted to the radically changing way readers consume books.

Until the iPad stole the show, conference organizers did an excellent job of bringing together senior management, product developers, strategists, editors, agents, marketers, and what they called “digital change professionals” for two days of lectures and panel discussions about how e-books will revolutionize publishing.