“The irony of our age that it is the smallest folk who have the most to lose, who take the most risks,” said Steve Wasserman, the managing director of the New York office of literary agency Kneerim & Williams–defending the small presses and indie booksellers who are pioneering in this digital world.

During a panel entitled “Writer, Agent, Publisher” (hosted by this GalleyCat editor at the eBook Summit), Wasserman stirred up Twitter with his sharp commentary about publishing. Read more about the panel at eBookNewser.

Wasserman was the editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and now serves as books editor of the award-winning online magazine Truthdig. He once worked as editorial director of Times Books and Hill & Wang. Here are a few of his greatest hits, curated from the busy feed. “Publishing was never a business based on Wharton standards. It was a rich boy’s hobby,” he said, talking about diminishing advances.

When agent Jason Allen Ashlock told him: “I think we fundamentally agree” about eBook delays, Wasserman replied: “Probably, but we’re on a panel. We need a little bit of faux drama.”

He also pondered the excessive pondering of the future of eBooks. “I suppose we could sum up this entire two-day conference under the headline ‘too early to tell.’”