ACP/PCPA 2025 Joint Conference

This workshop will help publishers get their books noticed in a competitive marketplace. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your existing strategies, this workshop will cover both foundational principles and advanced techniques.

We will begin by ensuring that attendees grasp the core metadata requirements needed to get a book noticed. From there, we delve deeper into more advanced topics such as Categorisation and ONIX, the industry-standard metadata format that plays a crucial role in distribution and discoverability across platforms.

With practical insights and expert guidance, this workshop will equip you with the tools and knowledge to make sure your book gets the attention it deserves. After all, in publishing, it’s not enough to write a great book—you need metadata to make sure it’s seen!

Who Should Attend: Publishers, press directors, editorial

Speaker

Alex Murphy has over 25 years of experience in publishing, firstly working in the newspaper industry and now in his current role as Managing Director at Stison. He is passionate about helping businesses succeed and has a proven ability to deliver on clear strategic goals.

A great website is now a must for every publishing house. Your website is the online home of your publishing program, and the best source of information about it. It can also be a vital sales channel and a powerful way to engage with readers, scholars, donors, educators, family members, and other important stakeholders. This session will focus on best practice examples drawn from a diverse portfolio of publisher websites, including small literary presses, children's publishers, educational publishers, and scholarly presses.

In terms of key takeaways, participants will learn how to:

• Structure the press website to save staff time and costs
• Boost title discovery through better bibliographic metadata
• Effectively present your catalogue online and make it easier for readers to move through it
• Do more with less when it comes to sales and marketing
• Drive sales with effective promotions
• Organize efficient fulfillment for direct orders

Who Should Attend: Marketing, sales, editorial, design, C-Suite

Speaker

Craig Riggs, Director of Client Services, ReaderBound, has worked in and around publishing for more than 20 years. He is a principal in the industry consultancy Turner-Riggs, and a co-founder of ReaderBound, a specialized builder of customized e-commerce websites for book publishers. His current portfolio emphasizes the development of new web platforms, publishing technology, and reader engagement. He leads the 49thShelf.com project for the Association of Canadian Publishers, and is actively engaged in commissioned research on book marketing, book discovery, and consumer behaviour. He holds a Masters in Publishing and is an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University. 

This session will cover the importance of audiobooks for publishers of all sizes, the steps of the audiobook production process, an overview of production approaches and costs, what to think about when bringing a book into audio (e.g. authors reading vs. pro narrators), and ways to think about audio rights.

Attendees will come away with a grounded understanding of the process of creating an audiobook, awareness of the array of production options available, and the knowledge to evaluate your company’s approach to audiobooks and make strategic decisions about your audio rights.

We’re eager to hear from attendees about questions and pain points their organizations are facing relative to audiobooks, and plenty of time will be left for Q&A after the presentation.

Who Should Attend: Editors, production, C-Suite marketing, rights, finance and, ultimately, anyone concerned with keeping their company afloat in the coming decades as eye time decreases and ear time abounds.

Speaker

John Behrens founded Nashville Audio Productions (NAP) in 2017, after years of engineering audiobooks on his own. He has been in Nashville since 2010, having happily left behind his original career in chemical engineering to produce audio.

When the work emails are done he loves being with his two boys and labradoodle, reading, cooking, and devouring history podcasts. Whether in music or audiobooks, he is passionate about drawing out people’s visions and bringing them to life with excellence.

This dynamic workshop empowers writers and marketers to successfully pitch compelling stories to journalists. Participants will learn how to identify trending topics in faith communities, craft attention-grabbing pitch emails and align their ideas with journalists’ needs, whether they are writing for Christian or secular media. Through hands-on exercises, attendees will practice developing story angles from current events, creating author expert profiles, and writing book review pitches. We'll explore techniques for building relationships with journalism professionals, understanding different faith markets, and timing pitches to coincide with spiritual seasons and cultural moments.

This hands-on workshop will include peer review sessions where attendees  will pair up to critique each pitches, offering constructive feedback. Also we will have time for real-time trend spotting where, using laptops or smartphones, participants will search for breaking faith-related news and brainstorm potential story angles in small groups.

Who Should Attend: Marketers, publicists, editors, writers, sales & service

Speaker

Tracy Simmons (see Session 1E)

“Charting the Course” will be an open forum where participants will have a chance to talk about both their concerns about AI, but also what they see as the AI opportunity. All of us are concerned about AI’s impact on authors and on publishing organizations. But publishers are finding opportunities in workflow efficiencies, marketing programs, audiobook creation, and more.

Who Should Attend: C-Suite, editors, marketing, production, rights, curriculum, design, sales & service, board members

Speaker

Thad McIlroy is a digital publishing analyst and author, and principal of The Future of Publishing, based in San Francisco. He is a contributing editor to Publishers Weekly, covering artificial intelligence, digital innovation and publishing startups. His latest book, The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers, was published in July, 2024.

McIlroy has authored a dozen books and over five hundred articles on digital publishing. He is co-author of the industry-standard The Metadata Handbook, 2nd Ed. (co-authored with Renee Register). He is a founding partner in Publishing Technology Partners, a consultancy focused on the broad range of strategic technology issues in publishing.

For small publishers using homegrown systems, manually calculating, reporting on, and paying out royalties can be a labor-intensive and error-prone process. Fortunately, there are now a number of commercial royalty management software systems that automate these time-consuming operations. But are they worth the financial investment? In this session we’ll review the advantages of an automated system and the costs and challenges of getting up and running, and walk through a real-life workflow scenario to help you develop the royalty management strategy that works best for your unique business.

Who Should Attend: Finance, rights, IT, 0perations, C-Suite

Speaker

David Marlin, the President and Co-Founder of MetaComet® Systems, spearheads the development of best-in-class royalty automation tools, serving nearly 200 publishers. David has also served as the chair for The Book Industry Study Group’s Rights Committee and Digital Sales Committee. David previously served as a technology consultant for publishers including Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck, Macmillan, Scholastic, and Time Warner. David holds both an MBA and a BA from Columbia University in New York.

This session will equip publishers with the practical tools to navigate AI's impact by developing tailored AI policies and updating contracts with AI-related provisions. Attendees will learn the topics to consider in drafting and implementing their organization's AI policy, as well as provisions to include in contracts with authors and contractors.

Who Should Attend: Marketing, editorial, C-suite, rights, risk managers and anyone interested in exploring how to manage the opportunities and risks inherent in the use of generative AI in publishing

Speaker

Craig Gipson represents publishers and distributors of Christian media in Flagler Law Group’s Bend, Oregon office. He advises clients in the areas of intellectual property, privacy, artificial intelligence, and First Amendment issues. He frequently writes and speaks on copyright matters and current legal developments affecting the Christian publishing community. Before joining Flagler Law Group in 2011, Craig practiced education law in Fort Worth, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2008 and earned a journalism degree from The University of Texas in 2005.

The Book Design as Branding workshop will equip designers and marketers to incorporate branding strategies in the book design process. This workshop explores the connection between branding, book design, and publishing, and highlights the benefits of incorporating a branding mindset in the book design process. Participants will gain actionable strategies to integrate branding principles into every stage of book design, from pre-design brainstorming to post-publication marketing iterations.

Who Should Attend: Anyone involved in the creative process in publishing - design teams, marketing, editorial, curriculum developers, C-Suite

Speaker

Emma Elzinga is the founder of Inksplatter Design, a book-focused studio providing strategic design solutions for authors and publishing houses. An experienced designer with a creative approach, Emma is drawn to the intersection of visual art and storytelling and specializes in designs that uniquely highlight the written word. Learn more about her book design studio at www.inksplatterdesign.com, or view her personal portfolio at www.emmaelzinga.com.

The Chinese have started live fire exercises in the waters off Taiwan and with the prospect of another Trump presidency and his fixation with tariffs – publishers should start thinking about their alternatives. There will certainly be other developments that can be added to the discussion but as they say in the Boy Scouts – Be Prepared.

Who Should Attend: C-suite, risk managers, finance, production, IT, board members and anyone concerned with strategic thinking

Speaker

David Hetherington is the Vice President – Global Business Development for PCPA Adjunct Member & Platinum Sponsor Books International. They are a leading provider of US and International book manufacturing, print and digital distribution services for the book publishing industry.

Communities can’t form if nobody can find them. But how can church publishers and ministries achieve greater visibility with limited resources? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll revisit the basics of online visibility through Google Search Console, Analytics, and Google for Nonprofits.

Who Should Attend: Marketing, design, editors, sales, writers, curriculum developers, C-Suite. All tech-backgrounds are welcome! Participants should bring a digital device (laptop or tablet preferred).

Speaker

Ryan Panzer, Global Head of Sales Learning and Development, Uber Ads (see Session 1D)