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With special thanks to our Gold Sponsors
    

and to our Silver Sponsors
     

Our very special 2020 Autumn Conference takes place on Wednesday 21 October, and we’d love to have you with us!
 
We’ve lined up a jam-packed day of inspiring and practical sessions with brilliant speakers from across independent publishing and beyond. It’ll all be available in a state-of-the-art virtual environment, with great opportunities to interact with speakers, fellow members and top publishing suppliers from the comfort of your desk.

Wherever you are and whatever you're publishing, there’ll be something at the Autumn Conference to help make your business even better. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, places cost just £45 for members, or £75 for non-members—a steal for one of the best and most popular events in publishing—and you can book a place now. Here are just some of the themes to expect.

The global picture

The Conference will have expert analysis of the global economy in 2020 from Dharshini David, global trade correspondent for the BBC, who will review the impact of Covid-19 and forecast future trade opportunities and challenges. We’ll get an overview of publishing trends worldwide from Ingram’s David Taylor and the inside track on key overseas markets including France with Lightning Source’s Patrick Bernard. We will learn about trends in the US, Ireland and Australia. We will also hear about trends in south east Asia from Newgen's Jo Bottrill and colleagues. Did you know that WhatsApp is an important sales tool there? There'll also be tips for selling rights without book fairs.

Publisher case studies

Independent publishers at the Conference will include Guppy Books’ Bella Pearson and Arthur A Levine of Levine Querido with their experiences of launching a business—and we’ll also have advice for keeping start-up momentum going from business mentor and Confer Books’ Kathy Rooney. Practical Inspiration’s Alison Jones will go through the ups and downs of publishing in 2020, Bob Davidson of Sandstone Press will discuss the value of book awards, and a few of our publishers will share lessons on sustainability.

Tech updates

The Minister of State for Digital and Culture Caroline Dinenage shares the government’s latest thinking on the sector, and we’ll have a glimpse of book retail’s newest digital platform, Bookshop.org. MetaComet’s David Marlin will have guidance for embedding new technology in a business, and Amnet’s Venu Prasad Menon will show how to make the most of epub3.

Inspiration for the workplace

We’re pleased to welcome Stonewall for advice on LGBT inclusion and allyship, and we will hear from James Waller about SAGE’s work on diversity. There’ll also be expert advice for coping with stress and anxiety at work.

Practical advice

Sessions on the nuts and bolts of publishing will include quickfire training in web copy and PDF mark-up from PTC tutors Sue Davis and Sarah Sodhi. We will also have ideas for improving credit control and advice on navigating the world of online marketing.

Academic insights

The academic publishing stream of the Conference includes Brigham Young University’s Rick Anderson on the future of the sector, and the latest news on libraries and technology from ProQuest’s Helene Stewart and Anna Termine.

The latest in audio

Bookwire’s Videl Bar-Kar joins us to set out the latest global trends in audio publishing, while Rumana Haider of Michael O’Mara and Kimberley Williams of Princeton University Press talk to Zebralution’s Carla Herbertson about getting started in the field.