Self-described “book nerd” and “publishing nerd” Michael Piestch, ceo of Hachette Book Group USA, opened a live gathering in New York of the Book Industry Study Group’s annual meeting on Friday morning with a keynote speech. (HBG resumes having employees back in the New York office two days a week starting next week.) Echoing Charles Dickens’ line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Pietsch eloquently encapsulated both the record revenues and profits and increased efficiency and flexibility publishers have enjoyed during the pandemic, alongside the “Holy Gutenberg” wave of “some of the biggest and […]