Arizona Book Publishing Association

Realities of Publishing: Preparing for Changes in the Industry

Jobing.com, 4747 N. 22nd St. #100, Phoenix, Arizona

For directions, visit Mapquest.com

The Arizona Book Publishing Association presents
In today’s economy, publishers must work smarter to create a more successful company. Making smart choices about editing, design, production and printing puts you on the right path. But what about distribution, electronic publishing and foreign rights? Discover the latest on how publishers can create best-selling products and market them to earn a better bottom line at this important conference.

Schedule and Experts

Continental Breakfast and Check-in at 8:00 a.m.
How to Use the Web to Sell your Book
Grael Norton, Wheatmark Publishing, Tucson AZ
Marketing Venues Beyond the Bookstore
Victoria Blake, Underland Press, Portland OR
Our Fragile Bright Future
Kevin Smokler, booktour.com, San Francisco CA
Different Distribution Models
Andrew Savikas, O’Reilly Media, Boston MA
Production Calendar
Jessica Tribble, Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale AZ
Brainstorm with the Experts, All Experts

Marketing Venues Beyond the Bookstore

Book publishers are accustomed to thinking about books as books, not as content published in book form. With just a slight change in thinking, the content of the book becomes something greater than just what’s on the page. No longer static, book content can attract readers, can serve as an advertisement for the publisher, and can develop a community. This is content marketing, and it’s where the web is leading us.

Victoria Blake is the founder and publisher of Underland Press, dedicated to weird, strange, odd, and unsettling fiction, in print and online. Victoria started the company after three years as a prose editor at Dark Horse Comics, coming to book publishing from a career in newspapers, having worked as both a hard news and features reporter. She holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, and a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College at Columbia University.

Our Fragile, Bright Future: The Path of the Publishing Industry

Times can’t get any worse for industry can they? To some extent (thanks dead-dog economy!) that’s beyond our control. But what we as book publishers can do is saddle up for the future staring us down right now, one of digital-free-floating content, ubiquitous sales channels, a distracted readership, and playing well with others. This is our new reality and our subject for this afternoon, as much where we are as where we are going and how the future of the business of books belongs to those who prepare for it now.

Kevin Smokler is the Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Booktour.com, the world’s largest online directory of author and literary events. His 2005 book “Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times” was a San Francisco Chronicle Notable book of the year. In addition, his writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Fast Company and on National Public Radio. He speaks around the country on the future of publishing in technology and lives in San Francisco, CA.

Different Distribution Models

Best-selling novels are now regularly written on mobile phones in Japan; Books published as iPhone “Apps” are outperforming all but the top print titles in some categories; UK chain Waterstone’s saw a seven-fold increase in ebook sales this past Christmas. Readers are changing their habits, and are demonstrating they’re as eager as ever to find—and buy—quality content and entertainment. What do publishers need to know about these changes to adapt their own businesses? How do you price a “book” sold as an “App”? How do you take full advantage of a reading experience that’s always connected to the Web? Hear what visionary publisher O’Reilly Media sees on the horizon for the future of publishing.

Andrew Savikas is the VP of Digital Initiatives at O’Reilly Media. He blogs at www.toc.oreilly.com, and is also a regular contributor to the O’Reilly Radar blog.

In addition to serving as Program Chair for O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference, Andrew has worked on several key publishing technology initiatives at O’Reilly, including the design and deployment of an open-standards-based XML content distribution platform. Andrew is an advisor to Safari Books Online, O’Reilly’s joint venture with Pearson Technology Group. His recent work has also included helping to plan and execute O’Reilly’s ebook and digital publishing strategy.

Andrew holds a B.S. in Media Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from Northeastern University in Boston. He is a frequent speaker at publishing and content management conferences, and is also the author of “Word Hacks: Tips & Tools for Taming your Text.”

Building and Maintaining a Production Schedule

For many small publishers, a production schedule is little more than a collection of notes: dates, potential printers, a title. But as you publish more titles, these notes get harder to decipher and sort. A well-maintained production schedule can help you stay organized, publish more titles, and sell more copies. This panel will focus on answering your questions, including

What is a production schedule and why do I need one? How far in advance should review copies be available? How do I realistically predict print and proof times? What is the difference between a ship date and a publication date? How long should review copies be available before the book is made available? What if…?

Jessica Tribble has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in literature from Arizona State University in addition to a Scholarly Publishing and Editing Certificate. She has been working as a freelance editor and proofreader since 1999. In 2005, she joined the staff of Poisoned Pen Press—the second largest publisher of hardcover mysteries in the country. As Associate Publisher at Poisoned Pen Press, she creates the catalogs, handles marketing materials, serves as the first point of contact for the Press’ authors, and maintains a detailed production schedule.

How to Use the Web to Sell Your Book

Everyone knows you need a website… but is anyone actually selling any books on the Web? Yes—but only a select few authors know how to use the Internet to generate significant book sales. In this presentation, Grael Norton will explain the step-by-step process two Wheatmark authors used to sell more than 1,500 copies of their books on the Web—in December ’08 alone—all without spending a dime on advertising.

All attendees will receive a free gift to help them with their own online marketing efforts.

Grael Norton, Consultant, Wheatmark, Inc. Grael specializes in two things: helping writers become entrepreneurs and helping entrepreneurs become writers. Prior to joining Wheatmark, he worked as an editorial assistant for Fodors.com, a division of Random House, and launched an information business selling eBooks on the Web.

Today, Grael teaches writers the ins-and-outs of selling their work using the twin powers of print-on-demand technology and the Internet.

To take advantage of advertising opportunities at the Conference, click Vendor Opportunities.

Questions? Call Gwen Henson, executive director, at 480-777-9250. For a conference flyer, CLICK HERE.