Multi-Lingual Digital Platforms

The future of global children’s publishing


The development of a global digital infrastructure for ebook and app delivery means that consumers around the world will have access to content in any and all languages. As the market for multi-lingual and non-native-language titles grows around the world, new opportunities abound for publishers to make their books available to all readers everywhere. This is particularly true for children’s titles, where translation is almost always simpler and cheaper than adult books. What does this mean for the children’s market and pedagogies worldwide? Also, with the majority of ebook titles currently in English, what kind of cultural shifts can we expect to see in the market going forward — will publishers invest in books that can easily switch languages?

Moderator

Nancy Laties Feresten
Sr. Vice President, Editor in Chief, National Geographic Children’s Books

Nancy Laties Feresten has been editing books for children and young adults for 25 years, concentrating on nonfiction and reference works in the sciences and history. She began her career at Harper & Row Junior Books Group and has since worked at Scientific American Books for Young Readers, Scholastic, and National Geographic. Since 1999 she has been at National Geographic Children’s Books, where she is currently Senior Vice President and Editor-in-Chief. The imprint specializes in nonfiction and reference for children ages three to fourteen, with special focuses on fun reference and ground-breaking narrative nonfiction.

 

Panelists

Emiliano Abramzon
USA Country Manager & Partner, Panarea Digital

As the USA Country Manager, Emiliano is responsible for driving new partnerships, and also responsible for Panarea’s Digital Publishing division.

Emiliano has over 15 years of experience in the technology and software development industry.  He started his career at Accenture as a consultant and then helped many successful technology start-ups  become a reality.  He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Portuguese.


Rowan Corben
Business Development Director, TouchyBooks/Genera

Ralph Möllers
Owner and Publisher of Terzio Verlag, Munich

In 1997 Moellers founded Terzio, his third (hence the name) publishing venture, in partnership with his wife, Iris Bellinghausen. Today Terzio is also the leading publisher of children’s music books. Its bestselling series “Ritter Rost” will be an international feature movie in the fall of 2012.

With book2look International GmbH, a joint venture with WITS Interactive, Mumbai, Terzio has recently developed a highly innovative online marketing tool for books and other media. The business unit book2look publishing offers sophisticated development and editorial services for enhanced eBooks and Apps (iOS and Android).