Presentations
Select presentations from Launch Frankfurt 2013 are posted with generous permission from our speakers. Check back for more links to the day’s presentations as they are available.
The Global Transition to Online Bookselling
Presented by Russ Grandinetti, Vice President for Kindle Content, Amazon
Amazon now operates its books business locally in 11 countries across North and South America, Europe and Asia, affording them a detailed view of how quickly sales are moving online around the world – across both print and digital. Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s VP of Kindle Content, will talk about the pace of that transition globally and how that evolution compares to what’s already taken place in English in the US. Grandinetti will also touch on a number of other topics about the continuing changes in the bookselling and publishing world as he sees them from Amazon’s unique perch.
Understanding the Pace of Change
Presented by Jonathan Nowell, President, Nielsen Book
In this presentation, Jonathan Nowell, head of Nielsen’s Book information businesses, looks at how the market for books has changed in the US and the UK, and he offers insights about the pace of change in other markets. He looks at the growth of both ebook and online purchasing, as well as the competition the book as a medium faces from other entertainment sectors.
Goodreads Takes Book Discovery Around the Globe
Presented by Otis Chandler, CEO & Co-Founder, Goodreads (@otown)
With 19 million members, Goodreads is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world. What’s not so well known is that almost half of Goodreads’ members (45%) live outside of the US. Otis Chandler, CEO and Co-Founder of Goodreads presents insights about Goodreads’ international growth and its impact on global book discovery. He also provides examples of how publishers around the world can maximize the opportunities on the platform.
Data-Driven Publishing: Using Big Data and smart analysis to make better decisions across the business
Presented by Ken Brooks, Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain Management, McGraw-Hill (@kenbrooks)
With data from more sources available to publishers than ever before, and with ever-more powerful tools and service providers to crunch them, it is incumbent on C-level executives to build Big Data capabilities into their organizations. Ken Brooks believes that publishers must learn to become more “data-driven” in analysis and decision-making, and in this presentation, he gives publishers ideas about how to use Big Data across their enterprise: marketing, editorial, operations, and finance.
Reaching a Global Audience of Readers
Presented by Allen Lau, CEO and Co-Founder, Wattpad (@allenlau)
Wattpad has a fast-growing user base of over 15 million members, including readers and emerging writers from the English-speaking world as well as from Spain, Mexico, Germany, the Philippines, Vietnam, the BRIC countries, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere around the globe. Allen Lau of Wattpad describes how some pioneering publishers are using the Wattpad platform as a marketing tool: building author-reader connections, publishing original short stories and prequels within existing series, and creating direct relationships with an increasingly global audience that buys their ebooks. And they point to the major markets where their user base is growing quickly, like Germany.
Digital Publishing in the Developing World
Presented by Octavio Kulesz, Director, Editorial Teseo – Alliance Lab (@editorialteseo)
Octavio Kulesz studies the world’s emerging markets: China, India, Russia, Africa, and Latin America. In this quick summary, he tells us what we can expect to see as they develop into real ebook markets in the near future. How do local players and cultural differences change the game for publishers hoping to find new readers? Where can we expect to see the biggest breakthroughs soonest? How should publishers approach new business partnerships in these markets?
See also this article by Octavio Kulesz on the growth of e-publishing in developing countries.
