Launch BEA — May 29, 2013

We’ve put together a great program for the third annual Publishers Launch BEA Conference, which will be held on Wednesday, May 29, the day before the BEA exhibit floor opens.

We are focusing intensely on the big issues that matter most right now and going forward: Consolidation and Scale. As the industry reckons with the pending Penguin Random House merger, the increasing dominance of one retailer, growing consolidation among literary agencies and realignment of lists at a number of houses, we’ll take a timely strategic view of the publishing landscape to help companies of all sizes operate efficiently, leverage scale to their advantage, and focus on innovations and new business strategies that work.

• Peter McCarthy will kick the day off with a unified view of what we know about the US ebook market by pulling together various surveys and stats. And Dan Lubart will present a detailed look at ebook bestseller rankings across the major retailers, with a focus on and what that data can tell us about the impact of pricing and promotions on sales.
• Top executives from Random House, Hachette, and F+W Media will share how they’re building scalable solutions to distribution, publishing systems and e-commerce.
• Former Macmillan president and now private equity senior advisor Brian Napack will frame how scale has become more important than ever, and provide an investor’s view of where capital sees value in publishing.
• A panel of leading agents, including Robert Gottlieb, Scott Hoffman, and Brian DeFiore, will discuss how some literary agencies are scaling their operations.
• Publishing business development executives from Wiley, Workman, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster will describe how they are helping publishers better leverage their assets across new businesses and partners.
• Operators from the Toronto Star, Chicago Tribune, Frederator Books, and Wharton Digital Press will discuss how their new ebook publishing programs fit into the larger strategic goals of their companies and what publishers can learn from their lean operations. 
• Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis will provide a tech analyst’s view of the book industry, with a particular focus on how books fit into the strategies of the major tech players and how publishers should view their relationships with those companies.
• Publishers Launch co-founders Michael Cader and Mike Shatzkin will offer their unique insight and perspective throughout the show as well as in a candid one-on-one conversation — tackling the big questions as only they can.
• And we’ll close the day with a hard look at the illustrated book market. Ron Martinez will present about the current state of the art in digital illustrated books — both what the technology makes possible and what the economics make sensible — and Lauren Shakely will moderate a panel with Rodale, Abrams, Quarto, and Dorling Kindersley to discuss strategies for illustrated publishers to compete and thrive in an increasingly digital world.

You can find a detailed program here, as well as more information on our speakers. We hope you’ll join us, and claim your ticket while they are available.

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We are once again working with the BEA organizers and the IDPF (which holds their own digital conference at BEA) to bring back last year’s hugely successful Digital Combo Pass.

The combo pass means that instead of choosing between the Publishers Launch and IDPF conferences, you can go back and forth between both, with one discounted ticket. The first block of 50 deep-discount Digital Combo Passes is sold out; we one to the next limited block of 100 passes, so if you are interested grab yours now.

Register here for PLC BEA only, using BEA’s site.
Or use the simple one-page sign-up form at PublishersMarketplace if you prefer.
Register here for the special Digital Combo Pass deal (which also includes a BEA badge).