Learning from the Experts
Meet in small groups with these leading providers of digital services:
Bowker, Constellation, Copyright Clearance Center, BookBaby, Ingram, INscribe Digital, Kobo, and PubIt!
And join in discussion groups with our publishing experts:
* Publishing business advice
Jack Perry, Owner, 38enso Publishing Services
David Wilk, Booktrix
* Metadata
Renée Register, Owner, DataCurate LLC
* Online marketing and social media
Iris Blasi, Coordinator of Digital Media, Hilsinger Mendelson East
Rich Fahle, Astral Road Media
* eBook creation and conversion
Mark Coker, Founder & CEO, Smashwords
Ron Martinez, Founder, Aerbook
Joshua Tallent, eBook Architects
Iris Blasi
Coordinator of Social Media, Hilsinger Mendelson East
Iris Blasi is the Digital Media Coordinator at literary PR firm Hilsinger Mendelson East. Formerly, she was an associate editor at Union Square Press, and she’s also worked for Random House, NBC, and The Idea Logical Company. Her writing has appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Dow Jones Newswires, Publishers Weekly, BUST Magazine, The Jewish Daily Forward, Bitch Magazine, and BookPage.
Mark Coker
Founder & CEO, Smashwords
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an ebook distributor. He’s also an author, entrepreneur, angel investor and advisor to technology startups.
Mark and his wife Lesleyann co-authored Boob Tube, a satire on daytime television soap operas. Their book was rejected by every major New York publisher of commercial women’s fiction, despite representation by a top NYC literary agency. The experience inspired him to start Smashwords, a free publishing platform that allows authors to instantly publish their work online.
Rich Fahle
Founder & CEO, Astral Road Media
For Astral Road, Rich Fahle draws on his extensive background as a marketing agent for authors, publishers, and book retailers in the emerging digital marketplace. Before launching Astral Road in 2010, Fahle served as Vice President, Digital Content, E-Commerce and Entertainment at Borders. Prior to Borders, Fahle was Chief Spokesperson and Communications Director for C-SPAN, the national public affairs cable television network based in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Ron Martinez
Founder, Aerbook
Ron Martinez is the founder of Aerbook, an eBook design and development company and publisher. He’s authored, designed, or developed entertainment, educational, and information titles in formats ranging from paperback book to massively multiplayer online game, and also spent a number of years heading up the global IP Innovation group at Yahoo!
Jack Perry
Owner, 38enso Publishing Services
Jack W Perry has been in the corporate bookselling and publishing business for more than 20 years and most recently started 38enso Publishing Services in January 2009. He advises and consults publishers on a number of issues with a specific focus on digital strategy.
Current clients include Open Road Integrated Media, 3M (eBook Library Services), Highlights for Children and ESPN Books. Past clients include Sideways, Turner Publishers, Harry N. Abrams, Shambhala Publications, Perseus Book Group, Little Pim and NFT Travel Guides.
Jack has been an executive at Random House, Scholastic and Sourcebooks.
Renée Register
Owner, DataCurate LLC
Renée Register specializes in strategies for the creation, maintenance, and use of metadata to fully support content discovery. She recently launched DataCurate, a consulting and training firm focused on metadata optimization for publishers and libraries. Her work history includes ten years with Ingram Book Group and six years with OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). She holds a Masters in Library and Information Science and speaks widely on metadata issues.
Joshua Tallent
eBook Architects
Joshua Tallent has been an eBook developer since 2002. He is an acknowledged expert on the Kindle and ePub formats, and his book, Kindle Formatting: The Complete Guide, has been praised as the most thorough explanation of the Kindle format available. Joshua founded eBook Architects, his eBook design and consulting business, in 2008, providing services to both publishers and authors, with a focus on complex projects and enhanced eBooks. He regularly teaches at conferences and workshops about building and designing eBooks, and he is a vocal advocate for beautiful, functional, accessible eBooks.
