Sarnoff also said Random House and not dragged its feet in publishing electronic books, but simply waited for the market to develop. The company has released over 500 digital books, he said, and this week announced plans to sell electronic versions of nine novels by Raymond Chandler and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
Sarnoff questioned the marketing resources of digital upstarts like Klebanoff's concerns. He added that authors who sell their digital book rights elsewhere risk discordant marketing strategies and possibly price competition on the text of the same book.
In response, Klebanoff said plenty of small traditional publishers held their own against the giants. He noted RosettaBooks offered authors a good deal: It not only pays authors new advances running into thousands of dollars, the company also acquires the digital rights for just seven years. Traditional publishers insist on acquiring rights for the duration of copyright, often over 100 years.
"That is basically a 100 year deal without an obligation to perform," he said, "This opinion means we can go full speed ahead, and that is exactly what we plan to do."
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