Program
Here is what we covered at our first Publishers Launch Conferences @ BEA: eBooks Go Global in 2011.
Program notes for the new 2012 show will be posted shortly.
9:00 Around the Next Corner: The Future of Publishing and A Welcome from Mike Shatzkin
As publishing becomes an increasingly global business, the traditional paths to market and ways of monetizing content will inevitably evolve. Mike Shatzkin will share his vision of the future and provide a framework within which publishers, agents, booksellers and others in the book business can develop ongoing strategies that address both the current marketplace and the changes ahead.
Mike Shatzkin, Founder and CEO, The Idea Logical Company
9:20 The Growth of Ebooks in the US: History and Lessons Learned
This panel of experienced players in the US ebook market will offer an informed history of the slow-to-build and then rapid growth of ebook acceptance by the US book-buying public. From the pre-Kindle days to the recent explosion in tablet devices, we will uncover why things happened in the US first, how US publishers responded, and what will (and won’t) likely happen the same way everywhere else.
Moderator: Jack Perry, Owner, 38enso Publishing Services
Including: Peter Balis, Director, Digital Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, John Wiley & Sons; Evan Schnittman, Managing Director Group Sales and Marketing, Print and Digital, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; Nina von Moltke, VP, Digital Publishing Development, Random House
North American-based retailers and distributors – most prominently Apple, Amazon, Google, Ingram, Kobo and Overdrive, but others as well – are building distribution networks that will extend to every language and to every corner of the globe. They will soon be (and in some cases already are) selling English-language ebooks worldwide and gathering content in other languages to include in their repositories and deliver everywhere.
This panel will discuss these companies’ plans and rollouts, the threat of English in the homes of other languages, and the emerging opportunities for local retailers to sell English-language titles. Many of the ebook vendors not on the panel will be in the room to meet conference delegates at the breaks.
Moderator: Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company
Including: Cameron Drew, Vendor Relations, Kobo Inc.; Steve Potash, President and CEO, OverDrive; Tom Turvey, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Google; Andrew Weinstein, Vice President, Business Development, Ingram Content Group; VP & GM, Retail Solutions, Ingram Digital
[10:30 Morning networking break]
11:00 Ebook Basics: Bringing Product to Market
This panel of small and mid-sized publishers will cover everything from creation or conversion to distribution: workflow, metadata, formats, and platforms. They will discuss the challenges and associated costs as well as the strategies and relationships smaller companies need to successfully handle the entire ebook process.
Moderator: David Wilk, Owner, Booktrix
Including: Maria Jesus Aguilo,Director of Subsidiary Rights, Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Elizabeth Kramer Gold, Consulting Editor, Guideposts; Adam Salomone, Associate Publisher, The Harvard Common Press
11:40 Thinking About the Future: Getting ready for new models in sales and licensing
Ebooks have already started to change the business model and rights conversations about books worldwide. As the share of sales made digitally keeps growing, the importance of a physical presence near customers diminishes. And as the digital revolution spreads, the need for whole new models for generating revenue, including subscriptions, rentals, and collective licensing, must be accommodated in publishers’ contracts with authors and downstream trading partners.
A panel including an agent, a foreign rights and sales executive from a major American house, a non-US publisher, and CCC, an organization that has delivered over $1 billion to publishers from secondary licensing income over the past 10 years, will discuss what’s changed and what’s to come, with particular attention to what publishers everywhere have to do to maximize their opportunities and keep costs under control as revenue streams change.
Moderator: Ed Nawotka, Publishing Perspectives
Including: Tracey Armstrong, President and Chief Executive Officer, Copyright Clearance Center (CCC); Ramy Habeeb, Director and Co-Founder, Kotobarabia; Cyrus Kheradi, Senior Vice President, International Sales & Marketing, Random House; Simon Lipskar, Agent, Writers House
[12:30 Lunch break]
1:30 An Author Heading Out On His Own: A conversation with Barry Eisler
Barry Eisler, who has published his thrillers for nearly a decade with two of the biggest houses in town, just turned down half-a-million dollars for a 2-book deal to self-publish. In a 1-on-1 conversation with Mike Shatzkin, Eisler will explain the financial logic behind his decision and answer a series of other questions. Is he giving up print or doing it another way? What’s his plan for selling translation rights? Without a publisher, how will he let his fans know about his new books when they arrive? And, most important, does he see himself as an outlier or as the avant garde of what will be a trend of established authors walking away from big advances in favor of doing it on their own?
Including: Barry Eisler, Author; Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO, The Idea Logical Company
1:45 A New Frontier: Independent ebookselling and the Google experience
Last December, the American Booksellers Association expanded their IndieCommerce program to include access to Google eBooks. Through the program, independent brick-and-mortar bookstores in the US can now sell ebooks directly from their website, alongside their print selections. Before long, booksellers the world over will be able to get started with ebook sales using Google Leading booksellers participating in the US program will share what they have learned so far about setting up with Google ebooks and getting the most out of it and give insight about the future of indie bookselling online.
Moderator: Charlotte Abbott, Journalist, Professor and Digital Strategy Consultant
Including: Matt Norcross, Owner, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, MI; Christine Onorati, Owner, WORD, Brooklyn, NY; Shana Schneider, VP and CMO, Just the Right Book!, RJ Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut; Len Vlahos, Chief Operating Officer, American Booksellers Association
2:20 Rethinking the Book: New Authoring Tools from Push Pop Press
Melcher Media has recently partnered with start-up Push Pop Press to develop authoring or “digital storytelling” tools that enable anyone to turn text, images and multimedia into an enhanced book app with drag-and-drop ease. The recently released app of Al Gore’s 2009 illustrated book OUR CHOICE aims to be the proof-of-concept for a new approach to illustrated and enhanced/transmedia ebooks. Charles Melcher will share a demo of the new app and discuss this developing technology and the implications for publishers.
Charles H. Melcher, President & Publisher, Melcher Media, Inc.
2:30 Rethinking the Book: Developing an enhanced ebook and app strategy
Publishers are experimenting with new products, media and models. What are they doing to ensure a return on their investments? For what kind of books or topics does enrichment make economic sense? How are innovative publishers budgeting and developing the capabilities for scalable enhanced ebook production?
Moderator: Peter Meyers, Author, newkindofbook.com
Including: Ellie Hirschhorn, EVP & Chief Digital Officer, Simon & Schuster Digital; Rick Joyce, Chief Marketing Officer, Perseus Book Group; Dominique Raccah, Publisher & CEO, Sourcebooks
[3:05 Afternoon networking break]
3:35 New Skill Sets: Capabilities publishers don’t have and how they’re developing them
The digital revolution is compelling publishers to do all sorts of things they didn’t even entertain in the 20th century. But will lifetime publishing veterans have those skills or know how things should change?
To discuss this challenge, we have recruited America’s leading executive recruiter for publishing to lead a panel of high-level publishing executives, many of whom have recently come over from other industries. They will tell us what they see as the legacy skills publishers possess, how they see weaving what publishers need for the future into their current organizations, and how publishers have to reengineer their processes and ways of doing things to take advantage of all digital has to offer.
Moderator: Lorraine Shanley, President, Market Partners International
Including: John Crant, Author, Career Coach & Speaker, Self Recruiter.com; Peter Kay, Director, Digital Marketing and Strategy, W.W. Norton; Joe Mangan, Chief Operating Officer, Perseus Books Group; Charlie Redmayne, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, HarperCollins Publishers
4:15 Emerging Digital Opportunities: Reaching the US consumer in any language
Many publishers own world rights they have yet to fully exploit. The infrastructure and relationships necessary to deliver print product around the world have made global distribution impractical in the past. The US presents a largely untapped market for non-English-language titles, and ebooks are a prime avenue to reaching that market. Spearheaded by Barnes & Noble, US ebook retailers will offer ebooks in all languages to US consumers. This panel will discuss this developing opportunity.
Moderator: Michael Cader, Publishers Lunch and PublishersMarketplace.com
Including: Patricia Arancibia, Manager of International Content Acquisition, Digital Group, Barnes & Noble.com; Miriam Gabbai, Owner, Callis Editora Ltda.; Carmen Ospina, Digital Manager, Random House Mondadori; Ronald Schild, CEO, MVB Marketing- u. Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH, Libreka!
4:55 Closing Remarks
