| 0 | [More Info] |
| Katie Adams [More Info] Editor Liveright Katie Henderson Adams is an editor at Liveright (a new imprint of W.W. Norton) acquiring literary fiction and non-fiction. She has formerly worked at Other Press, Doubleday, Bloomsbury Press, and Oxford University Press. | |
| India Amos [More Info] eBook Developer F+W Media, Inc. India Amos is an eBook developer at F+W Media and has been art director at Nextbook, senior designer at St. Martin’s Press and Neuwirth & Associates, managing editor at Seven Stories Press, and webmaster of poets.org, among other escapades. From 2008 to 2010, she attended the Interactive Telecommunications program (ITP) at New York University. | |
| Stephanie Anderson [More Info] Head of Readers’ Advisory Darien Library Stephanie Anderson is the Head of Readers’ Advisory after years of working as a bookseller. She reads just about anything, from presidential biographies to Regency romances, with a lot of new fiction in-between. When she’s not at the library, she’s reading on the train home to Brooklyn or running a basketball league for book nerds. | |
| Patricia Arancibia [More Info] Editorial Director, International Digital Content Barnes and Noble Patricia Arancibia is the Editorial Director, International Digital Content, in charge of Europe, Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa for Barnes and Noble Digital Products. She manages the acquisition of international digital content, and the relations with publishers, content producers, platforms, aggregators, corporations, and cultural and governmental agencies around the world. Ms. Arancibia previously held roles as Manager, International Digital Content Acquisition, and Merchandising Manager in charge of eBooks, nonfiction print books, and Libros en español at Barnes & Noble.com. In her latter role, she handled the merchandising and launch of the Barnes & Noble eBooks Store and of Libros en español online, for which she was also the book buyer. She also has worked as a reporter, senior editor and producer for newspapers, magazines, TV news and websites over her career. Ms. Arancibia grew up in Buenos Aires, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and a Master’s degree in Journalism. She also has a Master’s in Publishing from New York University. Ms. Arancibia is an expert in ecommerce, international trade, and digital business. | |
| Steven Axelrod [More Info] Agent Steven Axelrod has been an agent for over 30 years and president of his own agency for more than 25 years. Prior to agenting, he was an editor at The Literary Guild, managing editor at Harcourt Brace and a reader for a number of paperback houses. His present clients include self-published ebook phenoms Amanda Hocking, Susan Ee, Sara Fawkes and Bella Andre, two-time Edgar Award-winning mystery author S.J. Rozan, as well as many top women’s fiction authors, including #1 New York Times Bestsellers Christine Feehan, J.R. Ward and Julia Quinn, plus multi-New York Times Bestsellers Jayne Ann Krentz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Suzanne Brockmann and Catherine Anderson. | |
| Matthew C. Baldacci [More Info] VP, Associate Publisher St. Martins Press Matthew C. Baldacci has worked in book publishing since graduating from Colgate University in 1989, and he has held both corporate and marketing jobs at Simon & Schuster, Dorling Kindersley, and St. Martin’s Press. He is currently vice president, associate publisher at St. Martin’s Press. | |
| Peter Balis [More Info] Director, Digital Business Development Wiley Peter Balis is responsible for the account management, sales, distribution and business development of digital content for Wiley, which includes ebooks, enhanced products and mobile applications. Additionally, he is the co-chair of the AAP’s Digital Issues Working Group and teaches an advanced seminar at NYU’s Graduate Publishing Program. | |
| Maria Bartoszewicki [More Info] Director of Interactive eBooks Aptara Maria Bartoszewicki, Aptara's Director of Interactive eBooks, has unique experience in educational publishing, eLearning, and digital technology. Her current focus includes eBook design and development across multiple platforms and devices. Since joining Aptara, Maria has helped make Aptara a dominant force in the marketplace for leading-edge eBook production, having driven the development of a highly-skilled team of 200 interactive eBook specialists, including Content Architects, Instructional and UI Designers, and CSS and HTML5 Experts. Over the past 2 years, this team has developed platform-specific workflows and scalable production models to produce over 300 interactive eBooks and digital textbooks for leading publishers on tablets, Web browsers, and mobile device applications. | |
| Chris Bauerle [More Info] Director of Sales & Marketing Sourcebooks As Director of Sales & Marketing for Sourcebooks – one of the America’s fastest growing and most innovative publishing companies – Chris is focused on empowering the sales and marketing teams to create explosive growth, unprecedented opportunities, and an unmatched level of creativity. Prior to joining Sourcebooks, Chris served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cumberland House Publishing (now an imprint of Sourcebooks) and as Director of Mass Market Sales for B&H Publishing Group. Chris lives in Yorkville, IL with his wife Stacie and their two sons, Joshua and Sam. | |
| Dan Blank [More Info] Founder We Grow Media Dan Blank was Director of Content Strategy & Development for Reed Business Information for the past decade, where he worked with editors and bloggers across 50+ brands — including Publishers Weekly and Library Journal — with the goal of creating engaging content and community. Blank is the Founder of We Grow Media, an online media consulting & training company. He works with writers, authors, editors, & journalists to build their online media & marketing skills and engage their communities in fun and meaningful ways. | |
| Chitra Bopardikar [More Info] VP Intenational Sales The Perseus Books Group With 20 years of global sales experience, Chitra oversees international sales and new business development for arguably the US publishing industry's largest group of independent publishers. In her role, Chitra is responsible for the international sales and marketing strategy for Perseus and its client publishers. She is responsible for new international client acquisitions and building Perseus' international digital sales opportunities through Constellation. Chitra is a graduate of New York University's Stern School of Business and has held international sales positions at McGraw-Hill, The Penguin Group, Macmillan and Houghton Mifflin. | |
| Stephanie Bowen [More Info] Editor Sourcebooks, Inc. Stephanie Bowen is an editor at Sourcebooks, Inc., one of the fastest growing and most innovative publishing companies in America. She acquires both fiction and nonfiction for Sourcebooks’ adult trade lists and develops some of their cutting-edge digital publishing initiatives and products. She is dedicated to helping authors deliver engaging and informative content through a variety of channels to consumers across the globe. | |
| Patrick Brown [More Info] Director of Community Goodreads Patrick Brown serves as director of community for Goodreads, the largest book recommendation website in the world. Prior to heading up the Goodreads online community, Brown was an independent bookseller at Book Soup and Vroman's Bookstore. With an intense interest in group interaction online and a love for books, Patrick helps connect people with one another and with their passions. Currently Brown heads the Goodreads Author Program and Customer Care Team. He supports and cultivates one of the largest literary presences online by answering member questions and growing the Goodreads Community through social media, in-person outreach, and more. | |
| Alison Bryant [More Info] Founder & President PlayScience LLC Dr. Alison Bryant founded PlayScience – a research, consulting, and innovation firm – to break down the walls between industry innovators, academics, and consumers. She leverages her academic research expertise, deep understanding of consumers, entrenched industry knowledge, and strategic vision to partner with organizations looking to create, develop, and launch new products, ideas, and perspectives. She has spent over a dozen years helping clients, colleagues, and students navigate the ever-changing media landscape and understand the lives and lifestyles of youth and families. Alison has spent her adult life moving seamlessly between the academic and industry worlds (and usually sitting in both concurrently). Prior to founding PlayScience, she was the Chief Strategy Officer for Smarty Pants, a research and consulting firm focused on kids, teens, and families. Alison was also previously Senior Research Director of Digital Research and Brand & Consumer Insights for the Nickelodeon/MTV Networks Kids & Family Group, where she led Nick’s efforts to understand the digital lives of consumers, conducting research on a variety of platforms: online, console and handheld gaming, interactive television, and mobile among them. She also served as the research and strategic insights mastermind behind the 18 websites and the Virtual World and Game Studios under the Nickelodeon umbrella, managing brands from Addicting Games to Nick to Neopets to Shockwave. Before joining Nickelodeon, she was an assistant professor of communication at Indiana University. Alison has published and presented extensively, including two edited books –The Children's Television Community and Television and the American Family (2nd Ed). She is presently associate editor for the Journal of Children & Media and Chair of the Children, Adolescents, & Media division of the International Communication Association. Alison is also driven by a personal passion to tackle issues surrounding youth, service, and civic engagement. Her co-edited book, Integrating Service-Learning into the University Classroom, was published in April 2010. She is currently working on her next project, The Generation C Handbook: 101 Challenges for Change, a guide book for young people on how they can create change. Alison’s Ph.D. is from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California, and she holds Masters degrees from USC and the University of Alabama. She started her academic life at Davidson College in North Carolina, majoring in German and Political Science and minoring in gender studies and international studies. Alison splits her time between her condo in Brooklyn, looking out at the Empire State Building, and her cabin in western North Carolina, looking out at the Blue Ridge Mountains. She can be reached at alison [at] playsciencelab.com. | |
| Yuri Burka [More Info] Vice President of Global Business Development Attributor Yuri Burka is the VP of Global Business Development at Attributor and he oversees the business development strategy for the company. Yuri works closely with publishers both in the US and Europe, assisting them in their anti-piracy and digital strategies. Prior to Attributor, Yuri was the Managing Director of his own consulting firm based in the U.S. and Europe. Yuri holds a bachelor’s degree from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. | |
| Brian Burke [More Info] President Smashing Ideas Inc. Brian Burke joined Smashing in 2005 and currently serves as President. In this role he oversees studio operations and business development, with a keen eye to strategic areas of growth and studio leadership in market defining trends and digital experiences for all screens. Prior to Smashing Ideas, he held leadership positions at several pioneering digital companies, including Zango Inc, where he served as Senior Director, creating the company’s online, advertising supported content business. Burke was also with AtomFilms (now an MTV Networks company) from its inception in 1998, leading business development efforts and building the company’s multi-screen, content syndication business. Through the merger with Shockwave, Brian served as Vice President of Syndication for the combined company, AtomShockwave. He has also held senior roles at Vendaria Media Inc, and Imation Publishing Software (formerly a division of Adobe). Burke received his M.A. in European Studies from K.U. Leuven, Belgium and earned his B.A. in Communications Studies at Seattle University. | |
| Michael Cader [More Info] Creator Publishers Lunch Michael Cader is the creator of Publishers Lunch, the largest-circulation book publishing industry publication in the world, and its companion website PublishersMarketplace.com. For 15 years he created and produced over 300 books through his book packaging company, Cader Books. Publishers Launch Conferences springboard from the branding, vast audience and deep respect for Publishers Lunch–with 45,000 subscribers, the largest publication for book publishing professionals worldwide, and the recognized leader in comprehensive coverage and thoughtful, clear-eyed analysis of the stories and statistics that matter the most in this transitional time. | |
| Brendan Cahill [More Info] Co-Founder Storyville Brendan is a publishing industry veteran who began his career as a book editor working for Running Press, Grove/Atlantic, and Gotham Books (Penguin Group USA). He has also been a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, was the founding publisher of Open Road Integrated Media, a venture capital-backed disruptive ebook startup, and is co-founder of the literary magazine app Storyville. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of University of Pennsylvania Press. | |
| Michael Cairns [More Info] Managing Partner Information Media Partners Michael Cairns is Managing Partner of Information Media Partners a business strategy consulting firm and works with information, education and academic publishers on strategy definition and execution. His career spans a wide range of publishing and information products, services and B2B categories and his years spent as a line-operating executive have largely been with brand name publishing companies such as Macmillan, Inc, Berlitz International and R.R. Bowker. | |
| 0 | Jay Chakrapani [More Info] General Manager, Digital McGraw-Hill |
| Cynthia Cleveland [More Info] CEO BroadLit As President/CEO of a variety of retail, gift and entertainment companies, Ms. Cleveland has consistently expanded significantly those businesses by identifying new business trends, expanding brands into new media, and creating new alliances. Her broad range of consumer business experience includes interactive games, toys, apparel, gifts, and collectibles. She has launched thousands of consumer brands for major companies including Universal Studios, Imaginarium Toy Stores , Mattel, Carnation (now Nestle), and Teleflora gifts. At Broadthink, her branding expertise and ability to develop new business models, often by creating innovative alliances, has provided new directions for entertainment, interactive, and publishing clients. | |
| George Coe [More Info] President of Library & Education Baker-Taylor George joined Baker & Taylor in 2000 as President of the Library & Education division, serving public, academic, corporate and law libraries worldwide. George has been instrumental in developing Baker & Taylor’s Customized Library Services, Digital Media and eContent Platform Delivery Services and outsourcing capabilities in the Collection Development Services He has more than 32 years of library industry expertise. Previously, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Brodart’s books, library and school automation divisions. George serves on the Board of Visitors for the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science and the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, which is a division of the American Library Association. He has also served on development committees for ALA, Public Library Association and Urban Library Council. George earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College and his Master of Science degree from Bucknell University. | |
| Samantha Cohen [More Info] Director of Digital Content Development Simon & Schuster Samantha Cohen is the director of the Digital Content Development department at Simon & Schuster. Sam's group creates ebooks that push the boundaries of this quickly evolving reading format while adhering to stringent quality standards. They keep Simon & Schuster on the cutting edge of ebook technology, help push digital processes into existing workflows, and are in regular conversation with retailers on the technical matters that determine how Simon & Schuster prepares and presents content for a fast-growing audience of digital readers. | |
| Michael Covington [More Info] Director of Digital Content David C. Cook As the Director of Digital Content for David C Cook, Michael is responsible for a comprehensive digital publishing strategy to deliver content to the mobile Church around the world. While working as a book buyer for an independent Christian retailer in 1993, Michael Covington sold his first Christian book before he had ever read one. Nearly 20 years later, he is responsible for helping to create and implement the digital publishing strategy at David C Cook, an international non-profit dedicated to publishing and distributing Christ-centered resources (books, music and curriculum) to the Church around the world. As a bookstore manager for nearly a decade (1998-2006), Michael oversaw every aspect of running the small business, including a relocation and expansion of the store located in New Mexico (and still in operation today). After his time as a retailer, Michael spent five years with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, responsible for all research-related initiatives, key strategic alliances and the development of ECPA's educational programs. Today, Michael's role as Director of Digital Content for David C Cook places him alongside the editorial, production and marketing teams for both the book and curriculum teams as they collectively create and implement strategies toward a future focused on the mobile Church. | |
| 0 | Dave Cramer [More Info] Content Workflow Specialist Hachette Book Group |
| Colleen Cunningham [More Info] eBook Developer F+W Media, Inc. Colleen Cunningham is an eBook Developer at F+W Media, Inc and an adjunct professor at Emerson College in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing. As a print book designer, Colleen found that having a strong sense of order, organization, and information hierarchy could be directly applied to ebook design and has transitioned in-house to full-time ebook developer. A member of AIGA and Book Book Builders, she also presents regularly on the challenging and ever-changing, yet rewarding, world of ebook production. Venues include the HOW Design Conference, Book Builders of Boston Spring Forum Series, Boston InDesign User Group and the Massachusetts College of Art. | |
| Nancy Cushing-Jones [More Info] Publishing Expert As the first woman appointed division President at Universal Studios, Ms. Cushing-Jones expanded and ran the Studio's presence in book publishing worldwide and launched and ran its third-party interactive licensing business. An expert in all genres of book and interactive publishing, she was the first to break the New York Times bestseller list records by having the first children's storybook to appear on the adult list. She is acknowledged as also being a multi-platform expert because of her proven ability to translate content from one medium to another. She has formulated and implemented broad branding and merchandising plans for a wide spectrum of creative properties. At Broadthink, she has developed and launched new publishing programs for adults and children in both the fiction and non-fiction categories, filmed entertainment properties, and related licensing programs. | |
| 0 | Jaime de Pablos [More Info] Director, Spanish-Language Publishing Vintage en Espanol |
| Brian DeFiore [More Info] Founder DiFiore & Company Brian DeFiore is the founder of DeFiore and Company, a New York literary agency started in 1999 that now comprises eight agents and hundreds of authors. Notable agency authors include John Grogan (Marley and Me), Jen Lancaster (If You Were Here), Frank Warren (PostSecret), Lauren Conrad (L.A. Candy), Rick Yancey (The Monstrumologist), Benjamin Hale (The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore), Dr. Neal Barnard (The 21-Day Kickstart), Dr. Joel Fuhrman (Eat to Live) Brian and Michael Voltaggio, and Jane Goodall. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Author’s Representatives and an adjunct lecturer at New York University Center for Publishing. Before starting the agency, DeFiore held several executive positions at major publishing houses, including S.V.P.,Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Villard Books at Random House, and V.P.Editor in Chief of Hyperion and Delacorte Press. He lives in New York City with his wife Merrilee Heifetz and their two daughters. | |
| Brendan Deneen [More Info] Editor Thomas Dunne Books / Macmillan Films Brendan Deneen is a former development/production executive for Scott Rudin and Bob & Harvey Weinstein, and also worked as a literary and film manager. Deneen is currently an Editor at Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, where he also created and runs their film/TV division, Macmillan Films. | |
| Sara Domville [More Info] President F+W Media, Inc. In October 2008, Sara became President at F+W Media, Inc., which is a leading multi-media content company connecting passionate, likeminded groups of enthusiasts to share an ongoing exchange of information, ideas, and inspiration. The Company serves nineteen vertical markets including writing, screenwriting, fine art, genealogy, craft, woodworking and design. F+W offers the highest quality content in a wide variety of formats—from print to digital to video—to highly passionate enthusiast communities. The Company's portfolio includes 33 magazines, 600 new books released annually, a 4,000 title backlist, and more than 2,600 ebooks. Its eMedia division is home to 22 individual community-based eStores providing direct-to-consumer sales of products and services created by F+W and by the Company's third-party partners, more than 225 free and for-fee subscription sites, educational programs, competitions, and trade and consumer events. Sara joined F+W Media in October 2005 as President of the Book Division responsible for North Light Books, Writer’s Digest Books, Adams Media, David & Charles and Krause Books. Prior to this appointment she served as Managing Director of the David & Charles Group Limited including the extensive direct to consumer business, Readers Union Limited. With a background in sales, Sara has spent over 26 years in the publishing industry, serving at Reed Consumer Books, HarperCollins, Unwin Hyman and Macmillan Children’s Books. | |
| John Donatich [More Info] Director Yale University Press John Donatich is the Director of Yale University Press, a leading scholarly, art and trade publisher based in New Haven and London.He previously served as VP, Publisher of Basic Books where he published such authors as Niall Ferguson, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Hofstadter and Samantha Power. He earned a BA and MA from New York University. His articles and essays have appeared in “The Atlantic Monthly”, “Harper’s,” “The Village Voice” and many other periodicals. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was awarded a Yaddo Fellowship. He has published a memoir, Ambivalence, A Love Story and a novel, The Variations. | |
| Christian Dorffer [More Info] Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer Magic Town Christian is co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Magic Town, the interactive preschool channel. Christian has spent 15 years advising media and technology companies on business and product innovation, branding and marketing. He previously served as SVP in WPP running Millward Brown Optimor in Europe. Prior to this Christian led consultancy projects around the world for Prophet Brand Strategy, CVA and PwC. Christian holds a Master's degree in Economics from CBS and has completed post-graduate studies at Harvard University. | |
| Skip Dye [More Info] VP, Library and Academic Sales Random House Inc. | |
| Jane Dystel [More Info] President Dystel & Goderich Literary Management Jane Dystel, President of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, has been an agent since 1986. Her publishing career began at Bantam Books. She then moved to Grosset & Dunlap, where she was a managing editor and later an acquisitions editor. From there, she went on to become Publisher of World Almanac Publications, where she created her own imprint. When she joined the agency that would soon become Acton and Dystel, Inc., she quickly developed a reputation for honesty, forthrightness, hard work, and real commitment to her authors and their writing careers. In 1994, she founded Jane Dystel Literary Management, which became Dystel & Goderich Literary Management in 2003. The agency is the product of Jane’s innovative vision of author representation as a full-service enterprise. DGLM was launched with a quickly growing roster of Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, celebrated experts in fields as diverse as parenting, women’s health, and cooking, acclaimed literary and commercial fiction writers, and an eclectic and exciting list of titles. The primary goal of the agency was and is to offer not just financial and contractual advice to its clients, but also editorial guidance and support. Excited about the possibilities inherent in the e-book revolution, Jane and her team have established themselves as leaders in the digital publishing arena. With a thriving digital publishing program and an innovative approach to representing authors who want the option to continue to self-publish even as they forge deals with traditional publishers, DGLM has successfully made the transition into the new publishing paradigm. Born in Chicago, Jane grew up in Rye, New York. She is the daughter of publishing legend, Oscar Dystel. In her teens, she was an accomplished figure skater. | |
| Page Edmunds [More Info] Associate Publisher Workman Publishing Page Edmunds is Associate Publisher at Workman Publishing, where she has sales management responsibility across the company’s range of imprints, and is responsible for marketing of Workman’s adult and children’s nonfiction titles. Prior to joining Workman as a national account sales director in 2000, she held marketing and publishing positions at Random House and Little, Brown & Co. She lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. | |
| 0 | Jeanne Emanuel [More Info] Vice President, Gift/Special Sales Perseus Books Group |
| Iris Febres [More Info] eBook Developer F+W Media, Inc. Iris Febres loves ebooks, tinkering with them, and prying them open with a crowbar. She is currently an ebook developer with F+W Media and oversees the imprint Crimson Romance. Aside from being a former English major, she holds a master's degree in writing and publishing from Emerson College, with a concentration in electronic publishing. Despite unsuccessful attempts to change hobbies, Iris enjoys learning HTML, CSS, and regular expressions. You can find her on Twitter (@epubpupil), LinkedIn, and her website, irisamelia.com. | |
| Andrea Fleck-Nisbet [More Info] Executive Director, Digital Publishing Workman Publishing Andrea is the Executive Director of Digital Publishing at Workman Publishing. She oversees digital product and online business development. | |
| Sue Fleming [More Info] VP of Content and Programming Simon & Schuster Sue Fleming is Vice President, Executive Director Content and Programming for Simon & Schuster Digital, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Ms. Fleming is part of a team of key executives responsible for the company’s expansion into digital marketing and publishing. As the lead executive for the content and programming team she programs and maintains the editorial direction of all content on the company’s consumer facing site, simonandschuster.com; curates and manages book content for all proprietary verticals; creates and syndicates book content for distribution to other media partners and manages production and syndication of all video content to both Simon & Schuster sites and marketing partners. In addition, she now manages Simon & Schuster’s enhanced e-Book program creating content for multiple platforms and retailers. Prior to her work in the emerging digital publishing world, she was Vice President, Marketing Director of the Adult Trade Publishing Group at Simon & Schuster, Inc. While there she launched the company’s first video production partnership and online marketing group. Ms. Fleming also served the company as Vice President, Publicity Director of the Simon & Schuster Trade Paperback group where she created and supervised publicity campaigns for numerous authors and was responsible for more than two dozen national bestsellers. She began her career at Simon & Schuster in 1980, moving on to Ballantine Books in 1983 and then to head of her own publicity consulting firm until 1991. Ms. Fleming is an Adjunct Professor at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, is a member of the Executive Board of Books for a Better Life and in 2009 was named one of the 50 Top Women In Publishing by Book Business Magazine. | |
| Deborah Forte [More Info] President Scholastic Media Deborah A. Forte is President of Scholastic Media (SM), Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. and an award-winning producer of mutli-platform children’s media based on books, including movies, television programming, video games, software, applications and web sites and a leading marketer of children’s brands. Created by Ms. Forte in 1997, Scholastic Media, is the only full-scale digital production, branding and merchandising division in the children’s publishing industry that successfully develops, produces and markets children’s cross platform media and brands for the global marketplace. Ms. Forte is its lead creative and business executive. Her productions have been distributed in over 60 countries and have won hundreds of awards including Emmys, Webbys, Humanitas, a Peabody and an Oscar. Among her successful productions are award-winning television series such as Magic School Bus, Goosebumps, and Clifford; the feature film, The Golden Compass, the award-winning I Spy game franchise for NDS and Wii platforms as well as book and game apps.
Ms.Forte’s latest initiative is leading the development and production of Scholastic’s eReading software platform and eBooks.A proven leader in the children’s media landscape, Scholastic Media ranks as one of the foremost producers of quality, family-oriented multiplatform content and is an award-winning global marketer of children’s brands. Ms. Forte oversees Scholastic Media’s three main divisions: The Digital Products Group, Scholastic Entertainment, Scholastic Marketing & Consumer Products. | |
| Kelly Gallagher [More Info] Vice President, Content Acquisition Ingram Content Group Kelly Gallagher is Vice President of Content Acquisition for Ingram Content Group. In his role, Kelly manages the Content Acquisition publisher team for North America, and leads Ingram's selling and business development activities for print-on-demand and digital distribution products. Prior to joining Ingram in October of 2012, he worked for six years at Bowker serving as VP of Publishing Services where he was responsible for the implementation of a host of Bowker business intelligence services, including the PubTrack consumer research panel. In addition to managing consumer research, he was also responsible for sales data collection and analytics tools for the higher education and religious book markets as well as the Pubnet supply chain businesses for Bowker. Previous career experience includes serving 10 years as a publisher, and six years of association work. | |
| Ashleigh Gardner [More Info] Director, Content Management Kobo Inc. Ashleigh is the Director of Content Management at Kobo, helping publishers worldwide list their books for sale on Kobo.com | |
| Barbara A. Genco [More Info] Manager, Special Projects Library Journal After a long career in collection management at Brooklyn Public Library, and a decade as Director of Collection Development, Barbara Genco joined Library Journal in fall 2009. Now LJ’s Manager of Special Projects, she is the editorial lead for the LJ/SLJ Ebook Summits and project lead for LJ’s new library user research partnership with Bowker PubTrack Consumer—Patron Profiles. A visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute (teaching library collection management), Genco has served on ALA governing Council, as President of the Association for Library Service to Children, and (currently) the Board of NYC’s historic Salmagundi Arts Club in Greenwich Village. | |
| Gary Gentel [More Info] President Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Gary Gentel joined Houghton Mifflin in October of 2003 as Corporate VP, Director of Sales. He was named President of the Trade and Reference Division of the newly formed Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in December 2007. As a senior executive at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, he sits on both the Executive and Investment Committees. He has a wealth of industry knowledge and more than 35 years of experience in trade publishing. In his role as President, Gary has managed the division through the transitional phase of combining Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt and more recently positioning the trade group for the digital future. He leads a group of 195 employees, including 11 solely dedicated to developing digital product. Prior to joining Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, he was Vice President of Trade Sales at Scholastic, Vice President of Sales at Dorling Kindersley, President of Candlewick Press and Publisher of the Putnam Children’s Group. He has also held various sales positions during his fourteen-year career at Random House, most notably serving as Vice President of Trade Sales in the Children's Division. He began his career in Bookselling as an Assistant Store Manager at Lauriat’s Books. | |
| Peter Ginna [More Info] Editorial Director Bloomsbury Press Peter Ginna is Publisher and Editorial Director of Bloomsbury Press, an imprint devoted to serious nonfiction. Previously he worked at Oxford University Press, Crown Publishers, St. Martin’s Press, and Persea Books. Authors he has worked with include James M. McPherson, Wendell Potter, David Hackett Fischer, Brian Fagan, Suze Orman, and Colin Dexter. He blogs at www.doctorsyntax.net. | |
| Neal Goff [More Info] Founder Egremont Associates Neal Goff is the founder of Egremont Associates, a consulting firm that provides strategic advice and execution support to publishers and educational technology firms. Neal founded Egremont Associates in January 2010 after a successful 25-year publishing career, which culminated in his serving for five years as President Weekly Reader. Previously, Neal served as President of Scholastic Library Publishing and Prentice Hall Direct, and held a number of senior positions at Time Inc.'s Time Life and Book-of-the-Month Club divisions. He is on the Boards of the Association of Educational Publishing and of ReadWorks, a non-profit organization whose mission is to close the achievement gap in reading. | |
| Teddy Goff [More Info] Digital Director Obama Campaign Teddy Goff was the Digital Director for President Obama’s 2012 campaign. In that capacity, he oversaw a team of more than 200 people nationwide, who collectively raised more than $690 million, registered more than a million voters online, built Facebook and Twitter followings of more than 45 and 33 million people respectively, generated more than 133 million video views, ran the largest online advertising program in political history, built groundbreaking tools for online fundraising and campaigning, and organized hundreds of thousands of volunteers and events through their proprietary organizing platform, Dashboard. As a member of campaign leadership, he also played a critical role in developing and executing the broader campaign's strategy for fundraising, organizing, and communications. Before joining the campaign, Teddy served as Associate Vice President for Strategy at Blue State Digital, in which capacity he oversaw the account managers and creative teams servicing more than 75 active engagements across the globe. He also personally directed programs for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Partners In Health, American Express, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. On President Obama's 2008 campaign, Teddy was responsible for state-level digital campaigns, overseeing everything from email and social media programs to online organizing strategies in more than 25 battleground states. During the primaries, he helped lead President Obama's mass email team, writing and editing fundraising, recruitment, and messaging emails and developing communications and segmentation plans. After that campaign, Teddy oversaw the creation and launch of the Obama Administration's new WhiteHouse.gov as a member of the Presidential Transition Team. Teddy lives in Brooklyn, New York. His work on the 2012 campaign has been written about in Rolling Stone, Bloomberg Business Week, New York Magazine, Time, and elsewhere. | |
| Brice Gosnell [More Info] Vice President of Publishing Lonely Planet Brice Gosnell is Vice President of Publishing for Lonely Planet. In addition to managing the Americas publishing program, Brice is responsible for Lonely Planet’s global ebook and mobile strategies. Before moving to the west coast in 2005, Brice was the Assoc. Publisher at Frommer’s in NY. Brice has managed high-profile global brands such as Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, For Dummies, and computer publishing brands Adobe Press, Sams & Que. | |
| Robert Gottlieb [More Info] Chairman Trident Media Group TALENT FINDER, AUTHOR CAREER BUILDER, BRAND DEVELOPER, PASSIONATE ADVOCATE, INNOVATOR These are just some of the phrases that Robert Gottlieb's clients use to describe to him. Robert says, "I have spent my career working with authors to help take them to the top of the bestseller lists and to grow their careers. I like the challenge of coming up with strategies that establish their brand on a worldwide basis." Gottlieb views his relationship with his authors as being pro-active career building and career management on a global basis. The culture of Trident reflects this philosophy. Robert explains, "I started Trident Media Group in 2000 so that I could inculcate the entrepreneurial spirit into the DNA of the firm from inception." And the results show that: For many consecutive years, Trident has ranked first in North America in the number of transactions for authors based on the statistics from a major trade website. Trident is also the leading agency in sales in the international markets. "For me, going to The London Book Fair and Frankfurt is not about wining and dining, but about having as many meetings as possible between my team and editors and publishing executives from around the world," says Robert. However, having a successful, direct-to-publisher, worldwide sales program involves more than just attending book fairs; it is a year-round effort of constant contact and interaction, negotiation, follow-through, and closing, directed by Robert and executed by Trident's foreign sales group, the largest in the business. Trident also brings to Frankfurt and The London Book Fair the largest contingent of U.S. agents. Because of his leading position in the agency business, Robert has access to all of the decision makers at publishing and media firms around the world. "While no one can guarantee results, we can guarantee that we will try harder and be passionate advocates for our clients," says Robert. He emphasizes that publishers respect that extra effort and commitment, which shows in the results that Robert achieves for his clients. Publishers around the world respect Trident and often will take a chance on an author who Trident strongly believes in. "Our goal is to achieve as much revenue for our authors as possible. Our interests and our clients’ are parallel. And one of the techniques that we use is to retain as many rights as we can, so that Trident can sell these rights separately." Trident seeks to keep foreign rights, audio rights, e-book rights, and a myriad of subsidiary rights. Robert points out each negotiation is different, so that what is retained depends on the particular circumstances, with the goal of maximizing revenue for Trident's authors in all media. Innovation has always been Robert’s focus. "I am never satisfied with the status quo. We are always looking for new ways to do better for our authors." Trident's new E-book Operations is the latest innovation. "I decided that we must develop this new, potentially huge income stream for the benefit of our authors. Trident's interest must be completely aligned with our authors’, so that Trident only receives its customary fee from authors’ revenues and does not act as a publisher." Trident has made a significant investment in personnel and services in E-Book Operations, which is rapidly growing. Authors who have joined the e-book effort are already seeing the results. Robert points out that Trident is unique in that it has the capital to invest in the business and the creative ideas about the investments to make for the benefit of its authors. Robert puts it simply, "I believe in our authors and all my colleagues at Trident."< | |
| Jeremy Greenfield [More Info] Editorial Director Digital Book World Jeremy Greenfield is editorial director of Digital Book World.Prior to DBW, Jeremy was editor of FINS.com, a new career site from The Wall Street Journal. He has been a journalist in New York for six years and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. | |
| Rachel Griffiths [More Info] Senior Editor Scholastic Rachel Griffiths is an executive editor at Scholastic Press. She is the editor of the groundbreaking multiplatform series The 39 Clues, which combines books, collectible cards, and an online game, and was the first series of its kind in the publishing industry. The 39 Clues debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list with Rick Riordan’s book, The Maze of Bones. The popular multi-author series for kids ages 8-12 currently has 15 million copies in print and foreign rights deals in 27 countries. The series maintains a global following with readers in all 50 states and 191 countries, and more than 2 million registered users for the online game. In addition to working on the 39 Clues books, Rachel oversees editorial for the online game and the creation of the series’ collectible cards. Rachel’s list includes bestselling authors such as David Baldacci and Kathryn Lasky, and newcomers to the young adult scene such as screenwriter Paul Rudnick. | |
| Mike Hale [More Info] Director, Publisher Relations Vital Source Technologies Inc., an Ingram Content Group Company Michael Hale is Director of Publisher Relations for Vital Source Technologies Inc., the preferred and most used e-textbook delivery company in higher education today. Michael joined the company in April 2004 from the University of North Carolina where he was director of a statewide college access program. Prior to joining Vital Source, Michael spent 14 years in the field of education as a high school and college professor, and as a co-founder and director of a successful charter school. He is the author of “The Teacher's Guide to Leading Student-Centered Discussions” as well as several articles and books chapters relating to educational transformation. He has a B.A. in Philosophy from Auburn University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina. | |
| Peter Harris [More Info] Director Penguin Development Group The Penguin Development Group is an in-house team generating original ideas and opportunities for books and series to be published in imprints across the house, including young readers, mass market paperback and adult hardcover. The PDG is also currently and actively pitching all of these books in Hollywood, so that they can be developed commercially into feature films, original television series, as well as video games and online entertainment. Pete Harris has worked on several novels that have gone on to become feature blockbusters such as TWILIGHT and DEAR JOHN while working at Temple Hill Entertainment as their Vice President.
| |
| Laura Hazard Owen [More Info] Book Publishing Reporter paidContent and GigaOM Laura Hazard Owen is the book publishing reporter at paidContent and GigaOM. She was previously the editor of Publishing Trends, a website and newsletter for the book publishing industry, and before that was an assistant editor at Skyhorse Publishing. She graduated from Harvard in 2006. She lives in Manhattan. | |
| Michael Healy [More Info] Executive Director (Author and Publisher Relations) Copyright Clearance Center Michael Healy (host) is the Executive Director (Author and Publisher Relations) at Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). Prior to joining CCC, Michael was Executive Director of The Book Rights Registry, and previously Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, a New York-based non-profit body dedicated to improving the efficiency of the book industry by providing standards, research, education and information. Michael has worked in the book industry for more than 25 years and has spent most of that time in senior editorial, sales and distribution roles in digital publishing. He has been closely involved in the development of standards for the international book trade, and is particularly associated with standards for metadata, product information and electronic commerce. Michael has led many international standards groups, was Chairman of the International ISBN Agency, a Director of the International DOI Foundation, and led the international ISO committee that developed ISBN-13. | |
| Lucas Hilbert [More Info] Vice President eCommerce F+W Media, Inc. Lucas Hilbert joined F+W Media in 2012 as VP of eCommerce. He gained vast eCommerce portfolio experience while working at Amazon.com for more than 12 years. There he had the opportunity to drive and shape their digital marketing and merchandising initiatives, editorial content, web analytics, system operations, customer service, and product management in multiple category verticals. At F+W Media, he has responsibility for the Company’s entire eCommerce division including online marketing, traffic generation, order fulfillment, and customer service across more than 25 community-focused eCommerce web sites. | |
| Peter Hildick-Smith [More Info] Founder & CEO Codex Group Peter Hildick-Smith is President of Codex-Group LLC. Founded in 2004, the firm pioneered book audience research. Codex tracks and forecasts digital book trends for book publishers, retailers and technology companies, using quantitative online research as a foundation for business strategy development. The company’s proprietary, digital Book Preview and Author Equity pre-publication market test programs help publishers and authors boost new book discovery, purchase conversion rates, expand audiences and increase sales—supporting the successful publication of numerous New York Times bestsellers. Prior to founding Codex, Hildick-Smith worked at GE Capital Global Consumer Finance, as Chief Marketing Officer, UK, and SVP, Customer Management, North America, supporting clients including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Exxon/Mobil, Gap, and JC Penney. At Bertelsmann’s Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, he was VP, Merchandising, and VP, Marketing for the Young Readers, School, College and Library businesses. He lectures regularly at The Wharton School, sits on the Wharton Digital Press Board of Advisors, and is a research advisor to the National Endowment for the Arts. He has an MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School (1981), and a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania (1976). | |
| Ted Hill [More Info] President THA Consulting With over 25 years experience in the publishing industry, Ted has launched dozens of new businesses and business initiatives. He has held business development positions at leading companies including Pearson, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Vista (now Publishing Technology), and About.com. As a business development consultant with deep knowledge of the publishing and information industries, client engagements range from raw startups to America’s largest companies including NetGalley, codeMantra, Above the Treeline, Bowker, Ingram, R.R. Donnelley, and Microsoft Corporation. In addition to frequently speaking at industry events on the subject of how new technologies impact the business of publishing, Ted is a long-standing member of the Board of Directors for the Book Industry Study Group. | |
| Jim Hilt [More Info] Vice President of eBooks Barnes & Noble Jim Hilt is the Vice President of eBooks for Barnes & Noble and is responsible for overall sales, marketing, strategy and operation for ebooks. He is a passionate believer that the combination of digital and physical books, along with the ability to buy and read them anywhere you want, is the future of reading. Jim’s career has encompassed a series of early-stage entrepreneurial ventures within large companies: Prior to joining Barnes & Noble, he was the head of Product, User Experience and design for Sears Holdings, the parent of Sears and Kmart. In addition, he has held roles in business development, technology and marketing at SAP and IBM. | |
| Linda Holliday [More Info] CEO Semi-Linear Linda Holliday is a serial-entrepreneur, digital media expert, adviser, director and angel investor, and adjunct faculty in the Masters Design Entrepreneurship program at the SVA in New York. She recently founded Citia, a software start-up focused on disrupting the digital media industry and reinventing the content experience. With Citia Linda brings her media, technology and business expertise together to solve a big problem. How do high quality media creators get paid in the next digital era where sharing and “everything everywhere,” are non-negotiable consumer needs? | |
| David Houle [More Info] Author and Futurist Ringling College of Art + Design David Houle is a futurist, thinker and speaker. Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. He has worked at NBC, CBS and was part of the senior executive team that created and launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News. Houle has won a number of awards. He won two Emmys, the prestigious George Foster Peabody award and the Heartland award for “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream”. He was also nominated for an Academy Award. Houle is consistently ranked as one of the top futurists and futurist keynote speakers on the major search engines and in the world today. In the last two years he has delivered keynotes on six continents and ten countries. He is often called “the CEOs’ Futurist” having spoken to or advised 2,000+ CEOs and business owners in the past four years. In February 2010 he also became a featured contributor to Oprah.com and his column can be found at www.oprah.com/davidhoule His first book, the influential and highly acclaimed “The Shift Age” was published in 2008. His second book, “Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12 Education” was published in April 2011 by Corwin. His third book, “The New Health Age: the Future of Healthcare and Medicine in America” was published by Sourcebooks in December 2011. “The Shift Age” with a new foreword was also published by Sourcebooks in December 2011. His fourth book “Entering the Shift Age” will be published in January 2013. Houle is a member of the faculty and the futurist in residence at the Ringling College of Art + Design | |
| Hugh Howey [More Info] Author Broad Reach Publishing After eight years working as a yacht captain, delivering boats from Chicago to Barbados and everywhere in between, Hugh Howey was finally lured away from the sea by the girl of his dreams. Sequestered in the mountains of North Carolina, he directed his energies into a childhood fantasy of writing novels. His first series,The Molly Fyde Saga, won endorsements and awards from bestselling authors and bloggers, but it was his publication of Wool that gave him the freedom to quit his day job and write full-time. Appearing on both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, Wool has been optioned for film by Ridley Scott and has been picked up in seventeen countries for translation. Random House will be releasing the Hardback in the UK this January. Hugh now lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Amber and their dog Bella, close enough to the sea for him to hear it beckoning once again. | |
| Eric Huang [More Info] Publishing Director Penguin Eric Huang is New Business/IP Acquisitions Director for the Penguin Children’s Group in London. His first ‘real job’ was as an assistant at Disney Publishing in Los Angeles where he worked for six years in a variety of editorial roles. Eric moved to Melbourne in 2001 as Managing Editor at Penguin Australia. Three years later he became Publisher at Aussie toy company Funtastic’s new book division, then moved to the UK as Head of Licensing at Parragon in Bath. Eric now lives in London and is always on the look-out for creative partnerships to tell stories on traditional and new media platforms. | |
| Murray Izenwasser [More Info] Strategy Practice Lead Biztegra With more than 20 years experience, Murray Izenwasser has planned and executed online marketing strategies on behalf of some of the world’s largest and most recognized organizations and brands. Murray is a creative thinker who understands the opportunities presented by the ever-changing Internet marketing landscape. His vast expertise across all interactive disciplines allows him to cut through the clutter of the current ‘hype’ and deliver marketing programs that drive business. Currently recognized as a top Interactive Social Media strategist, Murray has been invited to be a featured speaker at a variety of events and industry forums. His entertaining yet thoughtful presentation style distills esoteric ideas into actionable insights. He was recently named as one of the five Social Media Masters by Social Media Club International. Murray’s pragmatic approach not only comes through in his presentations but also in his work as Strategy Practice Lead for Biztegra, an interactive and social media strategy agency. His focus is on helping Biztegra’s clients drive their businesses by designing appropriate interactive and integrated marketing strategies and tactics to fully engage their customers. Over the years, his clients have included organizations such as: Pepperidge Farm, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Wilson Sporting Goods, Tupperware, ADT, Burger King, Volvo CE, BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, among many others. His previous positions include Global Director of Marketing for Sapient, as well as Director of Strategy for Razorfish, two the world’s premier interactive agencies. He began his career as a business/management/technology consultant for Andersen Consulting (Accenture). He graduated (with honors) from the University of Florida, with dual majors in Computer Science and Finance. | |
| Michael Jacobs [More Info] CEO Abrams Books Michael Jacobs is the Chief Executive Officer at Abrams Books. He started out in publishing as a page in the main branch of the Oakland (CA) Public Library and was the first sales rep hired by Bookpeople, the innovative and much missed employee-owned Berkeley wholesaler of independent press books (which is when I first met him – late 1970s). From there Michael moved to Penguin USA, starting as a sales representative based in the Pacific Northwest and quickly rising to become President of the Viking Penguin division and a member of the board of directors. He then served as Executive Vice President of Simon and Schuster’s Trade division, Publisher of the Free Press, and Senior Vice President in Scholastic’s trade book group. At Scholastic, Michael was responsible for the publishing, marketing, sales and distribution of the most successful books in publishing history—the first five Harry Potter books, which sold over 80 million copies in the US. He joined Abrams in 2004, and has directed the company successfully through virtually a complete business makeover. During his time at Abrams, the company has launched the best-selling Wimpy Kid series – which has sold 42 million copies in North America and has been published in over 36 countries, as well as a number of other highly successful books and series. | |
| Jess Johns [More Info] Director of Operations The Idea Logical Company Jess Johns has been Mike Shatzkin's right hand at The Idea Logical Company since the first Digital Book World in 2010. She manages Idea Logical's day-to-day operations and coordinates the conference programming efforts for DBW and Publishers Launch Conferences. She works closely with the company’s clients and partners to deliver quality, value, and insight across all their conferences and consulting projects. Jess’s background is in data and analysis, art and photography, early education, and literacy development. She is a proud alumna of Brown University, a former AmeriCorps member, a sci-fi/fantasy geek, and a devoted aunt. | |
| Rick Joyce [More Info] Chief Marketing Officer Perseus Books Group Rick is the Chief Marketing Officer for the Perseus Books Group, and has been involved since 2004 in the growth and digital strategies for the company. Rick is one of the co-creators of Constellation, the one-stop digital solution for independent publishers, and serves on its Leadership Team. He was the force behind the BEA 2009 experiment known as Book:The Sequel crashing a book in all formats from the show floor, and the pioneering NY Times Bestseller and transmedia sensation Cathy’s Book: If Found, Call 650-266-8233. Rick has also been the producer of enhanced books and apps like JFK:50 Days and Roots: The Enhanced Edition. Prior to Perseus, Rick was a strategy partner at Accenture, working in publishing, music, magazines and newspapers for clients like Simon & Schuster, Viacom, Harper Collins, Houghton Mifflin, Tribune Corp, the AAP, Primedia, and Disney. Rick was VP of Strategy and Marketing at ASCAP, and a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton in their Media practice. Rick has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and MBA from Columbia and an MFA from the New School. | |
| Bill Kasdorf [More Info] Vice President and Principal Consultant Apex Content Solutions Bill Kasdorf, General Editor of The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing, is Vice President and principal consultant of Apex Content Solutions, a leading supplier of data conversion, editorial, production, and content enhancement services to publishers and other organizations worldwide. Active in many standards initiatives, Bill serves on the IDPF Working Group developing the EPUB 3 standard (he was coordinator of its Metadata Subgroup and is now active in the Indexing Working Group); the IDEAlliance working group developing the nextPub PSV source format for magazines and other design- and feature-rich publications (chairing its Packaging PSV as EPUB Committee); he is Chair of the BISG Content Structure Committee; and he is a member of the Publishing Business STM/Scholarly Advisory Board and the NISO eBook SIG. Past President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) and recipient of SSP’s Distinguished Service Award and the IDEAlliance/DEER Luminaire Award, Bill has led seminars, written articles, and spoken widely for publishing industry organizations such as SSP, O’Reilly TOC, NISO, BISG, IDPF, DBW, AAP, AAUP, ALPSP, STM, Seybold Seminars, and the Library of Congress. Most recently, he is the author of the chapter on EPUB metadata and packaging for O’Reilly’s EPUB 3 Best Practices. In his consulting practice, Bill has served clients globally, including large international publishers such as Pearson, Cengage, Wolters Kluwer, and Sage; scholarly presses and societies such as Harvard, MIT, Toronto, ASME, and IEEE; aggregators such as CourseSmart and netLibrary; and global publishing organizations such as the World Bank, the British Library, and the European Union. | |
| Christopher Kenneally [More Info] Director, Business Developement and Author Relations Copyright Clearance Center Christopher Kenneally (moderator) is Director, Business Development, at Copyright Clearance Center. In addition, he is host/producer of CCC’s weekly podcast series, “Beyond the Book.” As a freelance journalist, he contributed frequently to the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and The Independent of London, among many other publications. Kenneally also reported for WBUR-FM (Boston), National Public Radio, and WGBH-TV (PBS-Boston). He is author of “Massachusetts 101” (Applewood Books). | |
| 0 | Naomi Kennedy [More Info] Senior Digital Production Associate Penguin Group USA |
| Cyrus Kheradi [More Info] SVP International Sales, Marketing and East Asia Business Developmentr Random House Cyrus is a veteran of the global book trade arena with over two decades of international sales, marketing and distribution experience. Before joining Random House in 2010, Cyrus held various international sales and marketing positions with Simon & Schuster, the former Time Warner Book Group, St. Martin’s Press, and Bantam Doubleday Dell.
| |
| Arthur Klebanoff [More Info] CEO Rosetta Books Arthur Klebanoff is the founder and CEO of RosettaBooks LLC, the leading independent eBook publisher, responsible for such timeless classics as Brave New World, Slaughterhouse-Five, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the complete works of Winston Churchill, and the first-time digital release in the U.S. of 35 titles from renowned science fiction author Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Publisher of ten Kindle Singles, including Ray Bradbury’s The Playground, RosettaBooks has launched nine of them to bestseller status. For more information, please visit RosettaBooks.com and follow the e-publisher on Facebook. He also owns the Scott Meredith Literary Agency (www.scottmeredith.com ). The agency has a backlist of over 1,500 titles and represents publishing programs for Mayo Clinic, Roger Tory Peterson, Janson’s History of Art and Paul Krugman. | |
| Skott Klebe [More Info] Product Evangelist Copyright Clearance Center Skott Klebe (presenter) is Product Evangelist at Copyright Clearance Center, and has worked in copyright and licensing technology for more than fifteen years, leading the development of some of the largest licensing systems in the world. Skott was the architect of RightsLink, Copyright Clearance Center’s point-of-content licensing system, and is the inventor on several patents in the fields of content and licensing. He speaks regularly at publishing industry events on topics including copyright, technology, and disruption in the ebook marketplace. | |
| Marion König [More Info] International Sales Manager E-Publishing Bastei Lübbe As International Sales Manager E-Publishing for Bastei Lübbe – one of Germany’s top trade publishers – Marion is developing and expanding international business relations as well as seeking out new digital opportunities. In this role, she is in charge of the nternational sales and marketing strategy, with a focus on the UK & US markets, China and Spain. Prior to joining Bastei Lübbe, she was the Executive Director Content Licensing at Jesta Digital, where she was globally responsible for negotiating content acquisition contracts with record labels, publishers, film studios, networks, broadcasters, digital distributors and producers for company’s online and mobile entertainment service. Marion holds a law degree from University of Tübingen, Germany. | |
| Marcus Leaver [More Info] CEO The Quarto Group, Inc. Marcus Leaver became Chief Operating Officer of The Quarto Group Inc in April 2012. Prior to that he was President of Sterling Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, from January 2008, having joined in 2005 as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Leaver started his publishing career when he served as CEO of the Chrysalis Books Group, in London, from 2002-2004 having previously been Corporate Development Director of Chrysalis Group plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed media company, and in a number of different general management roles, from 1998-2002. Mr. Leaver graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Art History, and received his MBA from London Business School. | |
| Doug Lessing [More Info] President Firebrand Technologies In 1990, Doug Lessing graduated from St. Michael's College in Winooski (Onion), Vermont. After working for Andersen Consulting, he followed in the footsteps of big sister Susan Burke and joined Firebrand in December 1990—spending many years developing software, then managing projects. In the spring of 2007, Doug transitioned into a Client Relations role, setting out to make sure Firebrand's current clients are continually well served and ensuring that Firebrand establishes new relationships through marketing and sales. In this role, he is given the opportunity to preach about the Firebrand philosophy. "The greatest reward working with Firebrand," he says, "has been the friendships forged both in house and with publishers through long days of hard work." Born and bred on the south shore of Long Island along the Great South Bay, Doug can't be away from the water for long, even though he loves visiting Lincoln, Nebraska for a day or two. Husband to Grace and father of three young girls, Doug has the clear advantage of always being informed instantly if he has done or said something wrong. The closest thing to male companionship in the Lessing household is his beloved, albeit neutered, English springer spaniel named Bentley. (Bentley quietly accepts Doug's flaws.) The family lives to cruise on their boat "Tide Pool" or lounge around and dive in the tropics. To avoid being one dimensional, Doug mixes in a love of reading books, woodworking, watching the girls play lacrosse and messing with the family saltwater coral reef aquarium. | |
| JP Leventhal [More Info] Publisher Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers J.P. Leventhal has spent his entire career in the book industry creating and publishing visual books. From 1970 to 1992 he worked in various capacities at Crown Publishers ending up heading, as EVP and Publisher, Crown’s/Random House’s promotional book division Outlet Book Company. In 1993 he founded Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers and has published more than 400 titles over a wide range of non-fiction subjects including the internationally best-selling visual reference titles Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker, The Elements, Skyscrapers, The Louvre: All the Paintings, New York Times Complete Front Pages, and most recently Monty Python’s Flying Circus Complete and Annotated. | |
| 0 | Brent Lewis [More Info] Executive Vice President, Digital Harlequin |
| Simon Lipskar [More Info] President Writers House Simon Lipskar is President of Writers House, a leading literary agency in New York. As an agent, he represents a wide range of writers, including many major bestselling and award-winning authors in literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, and fiction for young readers. | |
| Karen Lotz [More Info] CEO Candlewick Press Karen Lotz is group managing director of Walker Books Ltd (London, England), and also serves as president and publisher of Candlewick Press, located in Somerville, Massachusetts. Candlewick Press, one of the nation's largest independent publishing companies, is the U.S. subsidiary of the Walker Books Group, which also includes Walker Books UK, Walker Books Australia, and Walker Productions, a children's television development company. Collectively the Walker/Candlewick group constitutes what is perhaps the largest employee-owned publishing company in the world, with more than 100 long-time writers and illustrators also sharing in the company's ownership in a unique business model. Specializing in children's books and young adult literature, Candlewick Press publishes many best-selling and award-winning authors and titles, including Kate DiCamillo, M.T. Anderson, Megan McDonald, Jon Klassen, Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford, the Maisy books by Lucy Cousins, and the Ology series, which began with Dragonology. Prior to coming to Candlewick, Karen was president and publisher of Dutton Children's Books, a division of Penguin Putnam. A mother of two children, ages two and eight, she attended Harvard College and currently divides her time between Boston and London. | |
| Dan Lubart [More Info] Principal Iobyte Solutions Dan Lubart is a technology strategist and data junkie who founded Iobyte Solutions in 2000 following a previous decade of solo consulting. Dan currently works with HarperCollins as S.V.P. of Pricing and Sales Analytics while concurrently managing Iobyte and the eBook MarketView service providing retail data and analytics on both physical and ebooks. Still fairly new to the publishing industry, Dan has been involved with digital disruption in the past, spending a year at Universal Music Group right around the time Napster was rearing its head and now focuses mainly on the familiar challenges and opportunities of the eBook marketplace. With Iobyte, Dan also developed a very cool consumer learning site for Scholastic, and has consulted with major clients in banking, pharmaceuticals, retail and media. | |
| Sharon Lubrano [More Info] General Manager & Vice President Bowker Sharon Lubrano is Vice President and General Manager of ProQuest affiliate Bowker, the global provider of bibliographic information and management solutions de¬signed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. The official ISBN Agency of the U.S. and Australia, Bowker creates products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience. For publishers, Bowker provides pivotal research and resources that enable them to understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker Market Research is a recognized leader in plotting trends that impact publishers and organizations serving book consumers. The Bowker consumer research panel reaches more than 100,000 book consumers in the U.S., U.K. and globally. With the publishing industry experiencing a dramatic shift as consumers move to electronic formats, Bowker Market Research teams monitor and analyze market movement providing critical insights to the industry. An active member of the publishing community, Ms. Lubrano serves on the Board of Directors for the Book Industry Study Group. | |
| Matt MacInnis [More Info] CEO Inkling Matt MacInnis is Inkling’s Chief Executive Officer. He founded Inkling in 2009 on a mission to rethink the way people learn using technology, a journey that began with the textbook, but has led to much more. Today, Inkling is defining a new medium for publishers and consumers alike. Before founding Inkling, Matt spent eight years at Apple, beginning in marketing, moving into product, and then running Apple’s education market development team in Asia for over two years, based in Beijing. After helping to grow Apple’s business in the region, Matt was called back to Apple’s California headquarters to coordinate Apple’s growth in education globally. A native of northeastern Canada, Matt earned a degree in Electrical Engineering with a Citation in Mandarin Chinese from Harvard University. Both Matt and Inkling are based in San Francisco. | |
| Swanna MacNair [More Info] Founder Creative Conduit Swanna MacNair is the founder of Creative Conduit and co-founder of Electric Yarn. While Creative Conduit focuses on cross-platform consulting and IP management, Electric Yarn is a next generation Transmedia firm developing, building and (soon) digitally publishing multi-platform children’s media franchises. Past and present clients include Funny or Die.com, Hyperion & Soho Teen. MacNair previously worked as a literary agent and Head of Film/TV Development and Packaging at Fletcher & Company before which she was the Vice President at Misher Films (based at Paramount Pictures) and a Creative Executive at New Line Cinema. At New Line Cinema, MacNair worked on many literary adaptations including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Golden Compass, Inkheart, Love & the Time of Cholera and He’s Just Not That Into You. She currently lives in New York City. | |
| Nathan Maharaj [More Info] Director of Merchandising Kobo Inc. Nathan's been a bookseller all his life. Since 2009 he's headed Kobo's ebook merchandising team in their quest to be the world's favourite ebookseller. | |
| Jay Mandel [More Info] Agent William Morris Endeavor | |
| Joseph Mangan [More Info] Chief Operating Officer Perseus Books Group Joe is the Chief Operating Officer of Perseus Books Group, where he oversees the Company's physical and digital operations and helps set and execute the company's strategy. During Joe’s tenure, Perseus has emerged as the leading services provider to independent publishers, with more than 350 publishing clients across the company’s three business lines: Perseus Distribution, PGW and Consortium. Joe has been with Perseus since 2004, prior to which he held managing director and principal positions with Razorfish and Booz Allen respectively, where he helped media companies pursue transformational opportunities. Prior to that, Joe worked as an independent computer consultant. | |
| Bruce Marcus [More Info] Chief Digital and Information Officer McGraw-Hill Education Bruce D. Marcus is chief digital and information officer for McGraw-Hill Education with overall responsibility for the acceleration of the company’s continued digital transformation.He is responsible for leveraging existing digital platforms and capabilities across the organization, and identifying and developing key technology solutions for K-12, higher education and professional markets worldwide. Before joining McGraw-Hill Education, Bruce was executive vice president and chief information officer for The McGraw-Hill Companies, providing overall technology leadership for the corporation and its businesses and working with business management to expand the application of effective technology solutions across the enterprise. He also served as a member of the corporation’s CEO Council. Earlier, he was senior vice president, Enterprise Systems, with responsibility for systems development across The McGraw-Hill Companies. Before that, as vice president of Business Operations and Technology for Platts, he was responsible for Platts’ global technology development, administration, and operations, as well as its Content Management Services and Internet businesses. Bruce also served as a business systems consultant for McGraw-Hill Higher Education and as senior director of software systems development for Standard and Poor’s. Prior to joining The McGraw-Hill Companies, he served as the managing editor of Pathfinder Press, a small trade publishing house. | |
| Peter McCarthy [More Info] Founder McCarthy Digital Peter McCarthy is a multi-channel marketer with 15 years experience in publishing, working in roles from Editorial to IT, from Design to Marketing. A former executive with Penguin and Random House with a focus is emerging digital businesses and marketing innovation, he recently founded the consultancy McCarthy Digital. | |
| Heather McCormack [More Info] Collection Development Manager 3M Cloud Library Collection development manager of the 3M Cloud Library, Heather McCormack has been navigating the worlds of librarianship and book publishing since 1998. For nearly 14 years, she worked as an editor at Library Journal magazine, where as head of the Book Review she launched a regular review forum for ebook originals and fostered constructive communication between publishers and librarians about ebook access. She continues that work today for 3M. | |
| Bill McCoy [More Info] Executive Director IDPF Bill is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the IDPF, the global trade and standards organization for digital publishing. An experienced manager and entrepreneur, Bill most recently served as General Manager, Digital Publishing at Adobe Systems Incorporated. Bill previously served two terms on the IDPF Board of Directors, playing a key role in the development of the IDPF EPUB standard, and has been actively contributing to the development of EPUB3, the forthcoming major revision to the standard. | |
| Todd McGarity [More Info] VP Distribution Sales & Services Hachette Book Group USA Todd McGarity joined Hachette Book Group as VP, Distribution Sales & Services. Todd is responsible for overseeing all relationships with existing distribution services clients. Additionally, Todd is responsible for continuing needs assessments to grow HBG's portfolio of distribution services, as well as market research, opportunity evaluation, selling and promotion, and client integration. Todd was most recently the Director of Client Development for Random House. Prior to that, he held management roles at Von Hoffman Corporation, Drake Beam Morin, and FT Knowledge. He has a Bachelor's degree from Penn State and an M.B.A. from Baruch College. | |
| Michael McGinnis [More Info] Senior Vice President of Digital Technology Services HarperCollins Publishers Mike is the Senior Vice President of Digital Technology Services at HarperCollins Publishers after previously leading the Application Development team beginning in May 2007. Before joining HarperCollins, Mike spent 14 years in Systems Integration consulting as an accomplished Management and Technology solution provider and Client Partner with extensive experience in Business Integration, Application Design, Development and Implementation for Fortune 500 and Global 1000 Corporations. Mike has spent the last 12 years focused specifically on Media and Entertainment delivering multiple projects relating to Digital Content Services including Digital Supply Chain, Digital Asset Management, Web Content Management and related business processes and technologies spanning the entire content management lifecycle. | |
| Kristen McLean [More Info] Founder & CEO Bookigee.com Kristen McLean is the founder and CEO of Bookigee.com, an innovative early-stage tech venture in the publishing industry. Before founding Bookigee, Kristen was the Executive Director of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), a non-profit trade association that networks the children’s book industry. In 2011, ABC merged with its larger sister association, the American Bookseller’s Association where its work on behalf of children’s booksellers continues. Prior to ABC, Kristen spent twelve years in the book and toy industry in a wide range of roles from frontline retailing and commission sales, to trade marketing for a major US publisher. As part of her role as an industry strategist, Kristen lectures nationally and internationally on issues facing the publishing world including the effect of technology and culture on books and reading, the role of bookstores and libraries in the lives of 21st century readers, and new models for the Publishing Industry. Bookigee represents the synthesis of more than a decade of thinking about new paradigms for books and content. You can find out more about her including her writing and presentations at www.kristenmclean.org. | |
| James McQuivey [More Info] Vice President & Principal Analyst Forrester Research James McQuivey, Ph.D., is the world's foremost analyst tracking and helping clients prepare for digital disruption. His consumer models anticipate what consumers will do next with their newly found digital power and his strategy models prepare clients to serve those consumers. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Digital Disruption, available January 29, 2013. James is routinely sought after for comment by The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and appears often on CNBC and is interviewed by for various programs on National Public Radio. He earned his Ph.D. from Syracuse University. | |
| Sendil Mourougane [More Info] Director of Business Development Digital Publishing Solutions Sendil Mourougane is Director of account management, sales and new business development of digital publishing solutions for Datamatics. Sendil joined the company in 2010. Prior to joining Datamatics, Sendil spent 10 years in the field of publishing services working with several major Hi-Ed, School, STM and Trade publishers across the United States. He is based out of India and travels often to the United States for business. He has a B.Sc in Science and a MBA in international sales and marketing. | |
| Brian Napack [More Info] Senior Advisor Providence Equity Partners Brian Napack is a Senior Advisor at Providence Equity, a private equity firm specializing in media, education and communications. He serves on the board of directors of Blackboard Inc., a global educational software company, and of Education Management Corporation, a leading provider of post-secondary education. Mr. Napack has a broad background as an executive and entrepreneur in both media and education. He served as President of Macmillan in the US from 2006 through 2011, overseeing businesses in consumer book publishing, education, magazines, and digital media. During his tenure, he led Macmillan’s successful transition from print to digital and from traditional to new business models. Prior to Macmillan, Mr. Napack was a partner at L.E.K. Consulting where he was a leader of its media practice and its publishing practice. Mr. Napack was the founder and CEO of ThinkBox, a digital education company. At The Walt Disney Company, he was a co-founder of Disney Interactive and founded Disney Educational Publishing. Earlier, he held senior roles at Simon & Schuster, the diversified publishing company. Mr. Napack graduated from Middlebury College and received an MBA from Columbia University. He currently serves on the board of Zero-to-Three, a national advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of infants and toddlers. | |
| Mary Ann Naples [More Info] Chief of Business Development Zola Books Mary Ann Naples is Chief of Business Development for Zola Books (www.zolabooks.com), a revolutionary social ebook retail platform startup building deep connections between authors, readers, booksellers, publishers, and book-loving curators. Prior to Zola Books, Mary Ann was Vice President of Talent and Business Development at OpenSky, a social retail platform named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world by “Fast Company” magazine. Mary Ann’s roots in publishing go deep; she was co-founder of The Creative Culture, Inc., a boutique literary agency known for its emphasis on lifestyle books, strong, branded nonfiction, and authors with platforms, and before that was an editor at Simon & Schuster, Hyperion, and Doubleday. | |
| Bob Nelson [More Info] President, Digital Group Baker & Taylor Bob Nelson joined Baker & Taylor in 2008 as Executive Vice President for Global Business Development and was promoted in 2010 to President of our new Digital Group. Bob has more than 25 years experience as a senior executive and has run businesses in the United States and abroad. Bob’s Digital Group is focused on winning new business contracts and managing digital services implementation for targeted device manufacturers and retail clients worldwide. The Group’s strategy is to provide an outsourced digital media infrastructure for these customers with services that include content aggregation, e-reader software application via Blio and fully merchandised digital media retail storefronts. Before coming to Baker & Taylor, Bob held various positions with RR Donnelley & Sons Co., a print services provider. As President of Global Document Solutions, he was based in London. He has also held executive positions with Moore Wallace Inc., Moore Corp., EnfoTrust Networks and World Color. Bob earned his Bachelor of Science in business administration at the University of Southern California. | |
| Kristin Nelson [More Info] Agent Nelson Literary Agency Kristin Nelson is President of Nelson Literary Agency, LLC. Founded in 2002, right on the cusp of traditional publishing morphing to digital, Kristin became known as "that agent sporting some newfangled tablet PC thing" while visiting editors in New York in 2003. In 2004, her agency went completely paperless much to the astonishment of her fellow agents. She also started blogging in 2006 along with only four or five other intrepid agent early adopters, and http://pubrants.blogspot.com is still active today. She represents several self-published authors who have hit the New York Times Bestseller list, including Courtney Milan and Hugh Howey. Clients also include bestselling authors Jamie Ford, Ally Carter, Marie Lu, Gail Carriger, and Simone Elkeles. When she is not busy selling books, Kristin loves playing Ultimate Frisbee (where she is the oldest person on her team), playing Bridge (where she is the youngest person in her club) and taking hikes with her husband and their dog Chutney.
| |
| Alison Norrington [More Info] Founder storycentralDIGITAL Alison Norrington is an English author, playwright and journalist, and founder of storycentralDIGITAL. She consults to publishers, broadcasters and authors globally on transmedia strategies, participative experiences, production, architecture and planning, and utilizing social media. Alison has written for WIRED magazine on transmedia publishing and runs various transmedia workshops and boot camps in London, New York and Europe. She commenced her practice-based PhD in January 2009 researching Transmedia Storytelling in Publishing, and has presented at a variety of conferences, including Digital Book World, TOC (Tools of Change in Publishing) and others. | |
| David Nussbaum [More Info] Chairman and Chief Executive Officer F+W Media, Inc. Named one of MIN’s Most Intriguing People and as Industry Influencer on the FOLIO: 40, David Nussbaum has served as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer since 2008. Nussbaum is credited as the driving force behind the transformation of F+W Media, Inc. from print-focused publisher to today a leading digital-first, content and e-commerce Company. From 2004 through the sale of the company in 2007, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Penton Media Inc. and as Executive Vice President there since 1998. He was responsible for the launch and acquisition of many iconic business media brands including New Hope Natural Media, Mecklermedia, PC Expo, Digital Book World, among many media properties in the print, event and emedia communities. Prior to joining F+W, Nussbaum formed Sundance Business Enterprises a joint venture with ABRY Partners, LLC, to seek digital media and information/communication services acquisitions. Nussbaum is a Board Director for Summit Business Media and had served on the Board of Directors of Thomas Nelson Publishing, before its sale to Harper Collins. He also serves on the Advisory Boards for Metamorphic Ventures, a leading early stage technology venture firm and Boston University’s School of Communications, and as a Mentor with IDC Elevator, a mentorship-driven accelerator program for Israeli-based technology start-ups. | |
| Dr. Bob Oeste [More Info] Senior Programmer/Analyst The Johns Hopkins University Press Bob Oeste, Ph.D., is a Senior Programmer/Analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Press and chief developer of Allbooks, a title management system currently under license to more than a dozen publishers. He has served as advisor on a federally funded project to develop DocTracker, a free software suite to facilitate digital-only publication of historical documentary editions. Prior to his IT career, he worked for the U.S. State Department, managed a variety of successful book promotional campaigns, and published a novel with Random House. Bob is a frequent presenter at conferences and has worked as a consultant with both large and small publishers in the U.S. and abroad. | |
| Rajiv Paul [More Info] Vice President - Content IT Outsourcing Aptara A 12 year veteran of Accenture, Rajiv provides domain expertise for all Aptara content management solutions, including consulting direction for program management, technology architecture, and multi-channel digital and mobile delivery. While at Accenture, Rajiv led large scale system development efforts, application and technical architecture design, application outsourcing, and program management. His background includes over 16 years of experience working with financial service, telecommunication, healthcare, and media publishing clients. Having designed and managed projects for AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Nextel Communications, and McGraw-Hill Publishing, Rajiv has a successful track record of improving organizations’ content output agility and advancing new revenue opportunities through well-planned and well-directed content management and delivery solutions. | |
| Patricia Payton [More Info] Senior Manager of Publishing and Content Development Bowker Patricia Payton, Senior Manager of Publisher Relations and Content Development for Bowker, is responsible communicating metadata requirements and best practices to publishers of all sizes. Patricia has experience in retail bookstores as well as international markets. She also holds a Master’s degree in Library Information Science specializing in Digital Libraries as well as an MBA. She actively contributes to BISG, AAP, and other industry committees. You can find her on twitter @DiscoverBowker | |
| Jack W Perry [More Info] Owner 38enso Jack W Perry is the owner of 38enso Inc, a publishing consulting company. Current and past clients include Total Boox; oEbra; Open Road; 3M; Bowker; Writers House; Abrams; Perseus Constellation; ESPN Books; the Authors Guild; and Mercury Arts. Perry has been a sales executive at Random House; Scholastic and Sourcebooks. Twitter - @38enso. Website - www.38enso.com | |
| Carolyn Pittis [More Info] SVP, Publishing Transformation HarperCollins Carolyn Pittis is Senior Vice President, Publishing Transformation of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. In this role, she is responsible for leading internal publishing teams to develop new capabilities and processes that drive editorial and marketing excellence. In her two decades at HarperCollins, Pittis has played key change-oriented roles, including positions in marketing, web development, consumer sales forecasting, sales administration, digital asset management, business development, managing editorial, change management, and author services. Pittis teaches in the Columbia, Yale, and New York University publishing programs, and was named, in 2009, as one of the Top 50 Women in Book Publishing by Book Business magazine. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history from Colgate University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively, and is a 2004 graduate of the Executive Information Technology Management program at Columbia University. She is reachable on Twitter @carolynpittis and connects with people she’s met through LinkedIn. | |
| Tina Pohlman [More Info] Publisher Open Road Integrated Media Tina Pohlman is Publisher of Open Road Integrated Media. Pohlman was formerly Vice President and Publisher, Trade Paperbacks, at the Crown Publishing Group. She began her editorial career at Houghton Mifflin in 1993 and went on to work at Vintage/Anchor, Carroll & Graf, Harcourt Trade Publishers, as Editorial Director of Harvest Books, and Spiegel &Grau. Pohlman's authors have included MacArthur Fellow and NBCC finalist Colson Whitehead, Man Booker Prize finalist Patrick deWitt, National Book Award finalist Christine Schutt, and New York Times bestselling authors Rebecca Skloot, Temple Grandin, and Natalie Angier. She has also worked with many literary luminaries, including Amos Oz, Chinua Achebe, and Naguib Mahfouz, and overseen the treasured backlists of writers such as Virginia Woolf, Eudora Welty, and Daniel Keyes. In 2009 Tina founded Moulinarn Mobile Books LLC, a digital publisher and software developer of literary content for sale in the iTunes App Store. | |
| John Prabhu [More Info] Vice President, Solutions Architect SPi Global John Prabhu has 19 years of experience in developing solutions through all stages of the publishing cycle. John’s focus has been in developing a unified approach to print-digital publishing and operational workflow strategies around eBook / XML production, semantic coding and enrichment, CMS / LMS and customer back-office support. John is a member of the IDPF working group evolving EPUB3 specifications and IMS Global Consortium (Common Cartridge & QTI standards) towards Educational Technology industry. As the Vice President, Solutions Architect at SPi Global, John is focused in developing new services and products; implementing models for simultaneous digital publishing workflows with a goal of ensuring customer voice integrated to product development. | |
| 0 | Gary Price [More Info] Co-Founder and Editor Library Journal's INFOdocket.com, FullTextReports.com |
| Glenn G. Pudelka [More Info] Senior Associate Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP Glenn G. Pudelka (presenter) is a senior associate at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP in the firm's Intellectual Property Department, based in Boston. His practice focuses on various intellectual property issues (concentrating in the area of copyright), licensing and collaborations, copyright litigation, as well as general corporate and privacy law. He represents individuals and companies in publishing/entertainment, information technology, and biotechnology fields, as well as numerous colleges and universities. Prior to joining the firm, Glenn worked for eight years as a book editor for several publishing houses in New York City. | |
| Dominique Raccah [More Info] CEO & Publisher Sourcebooks Innovative book entrepreneur Dominique Raccah is the founder of Sourcebooks, where she serves as publisher and CEO. She is fascinated by the transformation of the book and wonders whether digital books might well be changing everything. | |
| Asra Rasheed [More Info] CEO RR Kidz Taking imagination and innovation to new levels combined with entrepreneurship has been a driving passion for Asra Rasheed throughout her career. As CEO of RRKidz, Asra’s vision is about making a meaningful and positive impact on today’s digital children through experiences they will grow to remember, love, and learn from. Asra brings over 16 years of entrepreneurial leadership and interactive experience to RRKidz. Previously Asra was Co-Founder and President of Thumb Media Group; content publishing platform for mobile and tablet devices. She was also Founder and President of NextRental, an online videogame rental service, later acquired by Gottaplay. Asra also served as Business Advisor for Peanut Labs Media (acquired by E-Rewards). She currently serves as Advisor for The Los Angeles Film School Game Production Degree Program, Yetizen (a game start-up accelerator), and is an Executive Board Member for Women in Games International (WIGI) where she continues to advocate and promote the inclusion and advancement of women in the global games industry. Asra holds a B.A. in Finance from California State University-Fullerton. When Asra’s not “geeking” out with her team, she loves to travel the world, explore different cultures, food, and music. | |
| Evan Ratliff [More Info] Editor and CEO Atavist Evan Ratliff is the editor and CEO of The Atavist (www.atavist.net), which publishes bestselling narrative journalism in the form of e-singles and produces software tools that enable new types of digital storytelling. He is also an award-winning journalist whose feature writing on science, technology, crime, privacy, and terrorism appears in Wired, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and many other publications. | |
| Chantal Restivo-Alessi [More Info] Chief Digital Officer HarperCollins Publishers Chantal Restivo-Alessi is the Chief Digital Officer for HarperCollins Publishers, leading the overall global digital strategy for the company. She manages the commercial relationships with existing and new digital partners to grow digital revenues worldwide. She works with each division around the world, and is member of the company’s executive committee. She was appointed to this role in May 2012. Restivo-Allessi has extensive expertise in strategy development and execution, as well as change management in the media space. She has held numerous senior strategy positions and has more than 20 years of international media management experience. She joined HarperCollins from ING Bank in London, where she was Head of Media Corporate Finance. In addition, she has worked at Aegis Group PLC in senior strategy and operational roles, EMI music, and Booz & Company.
Restivo-Alessi is fluent in six languages, holds an MBA from Columbia University, a Masters in Foreign Trade and International Marketing from ICE Italian Institute, and a Laurea (MA) in International Political Sciences from University of Rome. | |
| Rick Richter [More Info] Founder & CEO Ruckus Media Rick Richter is a recognized leader in children’s intellectual property development and digital strategy. As President and Publisher of the Simon & Schuster Children’s Division from 1996 - 2008, Rick quadrupled revenue and profit and established the company as a consistently award-winning children’s and young adult publisher. During his tenure bestselling brands created under his direction included, among many others, OLIVIA (Nickelodeon, Spring ‘09) and THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (Paramount, ‘08), HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (New Line, ‘08) and YES MAN (Warner Bros '08). In 1990, Rick co-founded Candlewick Press, a prestigious children's publisher based in Boston and launched the now children’s classic, GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU. Ruckus Media Group, launched in September 2010, is Rick’s next great adventure. Ruckus is new award winning mobile media family entertainment company back by venture capital firm Alsop Louie. | |
| Bonnie Russell [More Info] Technical Project Manager WSU Press Bonnie Russell joined the staff of WSU Press in July 2011 as the first Technical Project Manager. Bonnie has over 15 years of experience in relationship management, technical project management, web design / construction, quality assurance, usability / user experience, application management, problem resolution, and customer service. In addition to implementing the Press’ new title management database Bonnie will be running the Press’ website and helping to shape digital strategy. Ms. Russell holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wayne State University where she was a Merit Scholar, and is active in several local charitable organizations. | |
| Rebecca Joines Schinsky [More Info] Associate Editor & Community Manager Book Riot Rebecca Joines Schinsky is the associate editor and community manager of Book Riot, an online literary publication dedicated to the idea that writing about books and reading should be just as diverse as books and readers are. Since its launch in October 2011, Book Riot has built a social following of more than 60,000 - all organic, unpaid growth - through multiple social media platforms and has traffic approaching 500,000 monthly unique visitors. Rebecca has given social media workshops at literary events and independent bookseller conferences around the country, including the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Decatur Book Festival, SIBA, and NAIBA. Prior to joining Book Riot, she created and edited The Book Lady's Blog and worked as a social media consultant for authors and publishers. When she isn't reading books and writing about them, Rebecca co-hosts the Bookrageous podcast and enjoys cooking, travel, and more television than she'd like to admit. | |
| Ben Sevier [More Info] Editor-In-Chief Dutton Ben Sevier is Editor in Chief at Dutton. His list includes the #1 New York Times bestsellers Harlan Coben, Tami Hoag, and Lisa Gardner, as well as the New York Times bestselling and award-winning novelists Jonathan Tropper, Linda Fairstein, Selden Edwards, Daniel Suarez, Brad Taylor, and Jussi Adler-Olsen. Prior to joining Dutton, Ben worked as an editor at St. Martin's Press, where he acquired and edited the acclaimed novelists Marcus Sakey, Ken Bruen, Louise Penny, Charles Finch, Paul Neilan, and Ben Rehder, among other distinguished debut novelists. | |
| Phil Sexton [More Info] Publisher and Community Leader Writer's Digest, F+W Media, Inc. Phil Sexton is the Publisher and Community Leader of Writer’s Digest. Over more than 20 years in the book business, he has served in numerous capacities, including Vice President of Sales for F+W Media, Sales Director for Adams Media, Director of Merchandising for United Magazine Company and Independent Bookseller. He is the author of A Picture is Worth 1000 Words, Legends of Literature and The Writer’s Lab (Oct 2012), and co-author of The Writer’s Book of Matches. He is also the co-founder and co-editor of the much loved (and sorely missed) literary journal, Fresh Boiled Peanuts. | |
| Lorraine Shanley [More Info] President Market Partners International Lorraine Shanley is a principal of Market Partners International, a consulting firm that specializes in traditional and digital publishing in the US and internationally. Her expertise includes market research, development and planning; multi-channel marketing, distribution and fulfillment, and executive search. | |
| Mike Shatzkin [More Info] Conference Council Chair, Founder & CEO The Idea Logical Company Mike Shatzkin is the Founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company and a widely-acknowledged thought leader about digital change in the book publishing industry. In his nearly 50 years in publishing, he has played almost all the roles: bookseller, author, agent, production director, sales and marketing director, and, for the past 30 years, consultant. His insights about how the industry functions and how it accommodates digital change form the basis of all of the company’s consulting efforts. | |
| Suzie Sisoler [More Info] Director of Consumer Engagement Penguin Group (USA) Suzie Sisoler is the Director of Consumer Engagement for Penguin Group (USA) where she is responsible for creating and sustaining a direct relationship with readers. In this role, Suzie develops and implements results-based marketing strategies to identify and communicate with consumers across all digital channels. Suzie has over 15 years experience creating online promotions for nationally best-selling publishing properties and direct-to-consumer initiatives that target a diverse, wide-reaching audience in both the trade and children's markets. | |
| Rebecca Smart [More Info] CEO Osprey Group Rebecca Smart is CEO of Osprey Group, a UK-based international publishing company focused on producing the best content for enthusiasts across a broad range of specialist areas including military history, heritage and nostalgia, transport history, crafts, antiques, science fiction and fantasy, and mind, body and spirit. Osprey Group publishes in four divisions: Osprey, Shire, Angry Robot and Watkins. What defines the company is not what it creates but for whom it creates. Osprey Group publishes books and content based on subject enthusiasms and passions, whether it be authoritative technical data on the military technology of World War II, a positive psychology guide, a history of the Great Western Railway or an edgy genre novel set in near-future South Africa. | |
| Eric Smith [More Info] Social Media and Marketing Coordinator Quirk Books Eric Smith is the social media marketing guy over at Quirk Books, and indie publisher nestled in Philadelphia. He's also the co-founder of Geekadelphia, a popular hyperlocal blog covering all-that-is-geek in the City of Brotherly Love. He's written for the Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Philly.com, and has published essays with The Apirary and The Bygone Bureau. | |
| Michael D. Smith [More Info] Professor of Information Technology and Marketing Carnegie Mellon University Michael D. Smith is a Professor of Information Systems and Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and Tepper School of Business, and is co-director of CMU’s Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics (IDEA).He received a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) and a Masters of Science in Telecommunications from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in Management Science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Professor Smith has received several prominent awards including the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Research Award and recognition as a top 100 “emerging engineering leader” by the National Academy of Engineering. | |
| Pamela Spengler-Jaffee [More Info] Senior Director of Publicity Avon Books & Harper Voyager A lifelong reader, Pamela Spengler-Jaffee channels her passion for books into creating sweeping publicity and integrated marketing campaigns for Avon Books and Harper Voyager, HarperCollins’ powerful romance and sf/f genre imprints. As senior director of publicity, Pam is charged with concepting and implementing traditional, digital media and social network campaigns for single titles and series; creating branding strategies to build author awareness; and generating engaged consumer awareness at key trade and genre shows. Pam also helps spearhead Avon’s digital-first publishing imprint, Avon Impulse, and is currently working with her colleagues to expand the program to other imprints and divisions of HarperCollins. | |
| Mindy Stockfield [More Info] Vice President Hyperion As Vice President, Marketing and Digital Media, Mindy Stockfield leads Hyperion’s ePublishing business. This includes the management of eBooks as well as product development for content on digital devices. She has been instrumental in the digital publications of the enhanced eBook edition of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, Food Network Magazine Great Easy Meals, the Nigella Lawson app, and many Disney/ABC tie-in books including the Richard Castle novels, The Secret Life of Damien Spinelli, and ABC News video books. Previously, Stockfield served as Vice President for the Disney Channel & Jetix (now Disney XD) Digital Media Group where she oversaw development efforts of broadband, mobile, and interactive television applications for the Disney-ABC Television Group’s kids channels and brands including DisneyChannel.com, PlayhouseDisney.com, and RadioDisney.com. Stockfield joined Disney in January 2006 from Cartoon Network, where she served as Senior Director, Marketing. During her eight years there, she oversaw marketing efforts related to the launch of numerous original series, spearheaded the creation of pro-social and multi-cultural marketing initiatives, and played an integral role in the original launch of CartoonNetwork.com. | |
| Joshua Tallent [More Info] Founder/CEO eBook Architects Joshua Tallent is a well-known eBook expert and teacher, and is a vocal advocate for beautiful, functional, accessible eBooks. eBook Architects, his eBook design and consulting business, provides services to both publishers and authors, specializing in complex and enhanced eBook development projects. Website: www.ebookarchitects.com; Twitter: @jtallent. | |
| Michael Tamblyn [More Info] Chief Content Officer Kobo Inc. At Kobo Michael is responsible for sales, publisher and industry relations, content acquisition, and the merchandising experience across all of Kobos web and mobile services. He co-founded Canadas first online bookstore Bookshelf.ca, which was purchased by Indigo Books & Music in 1998, where he served as vice president of online operations. Most recently, Michael was the founding CEO of the supply chain agency BookNet Canada, where he launched the national sales reporting service BNC SalesData and authored the publishing technology call-to-arms, Six Projects That Could Change Publishing for the Better. Michael has a Masters in Business Administration from University of Western Ontario. | |
| Sanjay Tangri [More Info] Vice President, Sales Operations Innodata Sanjay is a Publishing technology executive having extensive experience in Editorial processes, Multi-Channel Publishing, eBooks, XML and content management. For past 12 years at Innodata, he has led sales, engineering, sales support, and project delivery teams to help publishers, information providers and media companies meet their content creation and publishing challenges. He is an Electronics Engineer with MBA in Marketing (Gold Medalist). He is PMP and Six Sigma Black Belt certified. | |
| Angela Tribelli [More Info] Chief Marketing Officer HarperCollins Publishers Angela is a marketing executive with 16 years of digital experience, including P&L management, revenue generation, strategic planning, brand building, content development, operations and team building. She has an expertise in creating award-winning digital properties from the ground up, with an extensive background in the media, travel and local space. | |
| Peter Turner [More Info] Ampersand Peter is a long-time publishing executive with extensive experience in direct marketing, brand building, and business development. Formerly the publisher and president at Shambhala, Peter now heads up Ampersand, a consulting firm working with publishers and start-ups on digital strategy and niche marketing solutions. | |
| Lyle Underkoffler [More Info] Vice President, Digital Media Disney Publishing Worldwide Lyle Underkoffler was named vice president, Digital Media, of Disney Publishing Worldwide in 2010. In this role, he is responsible for leading the development and management of the digital strategy, positioning DPW as the leading provider of high-quality, interactive content for children.
Underkoffler maintains a keen sense for digital trends in the marketplace, consumer buying patterns, emerging hardware platforms, and the e-tailer landscape. He currently works in conjunction with the books and magazines content team to develop strategic plans, create contractual arrangements with digital marketplaces, and leverage DPW content to drive innovative product and experience opportunities.
Previously, Underkoffler served as director, Strategy, for Disney Publishing Worldwide. He was responsible for the annual strategic plan process and partnering across The Walt Disney Company businesses to analyze and help drive global growth initiatives. Underkoffler was also director of Strategy and Business Development at Zagat Survey, where he established a roadmap for growth through acquisitions, partnerships, and new ventures. In this role, he developed and executed a strategy across interactive products, both online and mobile.
He received his Bachelor's degree in Business from Boston College, and earned his MBA in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. | |
| Allison Underwood [More Info] Senior Marketing Manager Open Road Integrated Media Allison Underwood is a Senior Marketing Manager for Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company that markets ebooks by creating connections between authors and readers across multiple platforms. In her role, Underwood specializes in emerging digital platforms, social media optimization, and content driven marketing. Prior to Open Road, Allison worked in digital content management and marketing for Macmillan Audio and in online marketing and content management for the Knopf Doubleday imprint of Random House. | |
| Dan Vidra [More Info] Vice President Americas txtr Dan is the first US- based employee of the Berlin-based eBookseller, txtr. txtr maintains the largest international multi-language catalog and operates local eBookstores in more than fifteen countries. txtr partners with ODMs, retailers and operators and is pre-loaded and pre-installed on many of the world's most popular devices. The txtr dedicated eReading companion device, the Beagle, has just been announced. Prior to joining txtr, Dan held senior international sales positions at Simon & Schuster, Time-Warner, and Bantam Doubleday Dell. | |
| Len Vlahos [More Info] Executive Director BISG Len Vlahos is the executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, a national not-for-profit trade association whose mission is to create a more informed, efficient, and empowered book industry. Prior to joining BISG, Len spent nearly 20 years at the American Booksellers Association, where has served as ABA’s communications director, e-commerce director, education director, and most recently, chief operating officer. Len has worked for Internet marketing pioneer Yoyodyne, and for Kratz & Co. public relations. Prior to joining ABA, he worked in independent, chain, and university bookstores. | |
| Nina von Moltke [More Info] SVP, Director of Digital Publishing Development Random House Inc. Nina is overseeing the Digital Publishing Development Group at Random House Inc. In that role, she is responsible for three main areas of focus: the corporate digital product development teams that are focused on creating and bringing to market new digital experiences beyond the narrative text-based eBook formats; the Audio, Fodor’s, and Living Language group – business lines that derive large parts of their revenues from a range of digital formats; and the Author Platforms team that is managing the Random House Author Portal, Newsletter, and related tools. Nina joined Random House after grad school in 2002 and has worked in various divisional and strategic corporate roles before taking on her current responsibilities in 2010. | |
| Jennifer Weltz [More Info] Vice President Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency Inc. As Vice President of JVNLA, Jennifer Weltz has sold books domestically, internationally, and for film for nearly two decades. Coming from a mediation background, Jennifer sees herself as a liaison between her author and the editor and publishing house that acquire her author's work. This role takes on a myriad of forms — business manager, confidant, task master, preliminary editor, and matchmaker — to name a few. Since Jennifer takes up an author's career and not just a project, she is very careful and selective about signing on new authors. | |
| John Wheeler [More Info] Senior Vice President, Strategy and Emerging Technologies SPi Global John Wheeler is an industry veteran with over 20 years experience in publishing and expertise in the development and deployment of ePublishing, eLearning, and Multimedia solutions, bringing a unique perspective to the discussion having worked on both sides of the business. As SVP for Strategy and Emerging Technologies, he works closely with SPi Global’s operations team in developing technology-enabled solutions that offer higher-value services and position the company as a strategic partner to its clients. Prior to joining SPi Global, John was with Elsevier for more than six years as Director, Multimedia Production where he was responsible for the production of all electronic products supporting Elsevier’s global publications. | |
| David Wilk [More Info] President Booktrix David Wilk is a publishing veteran with broad and deep experience in book publishing, sales, distribution, marketing and online communities. At Booktrix, he provides content owners with a full suite of publishing services, from editorial to sales, and marketing strategy and execution, especially social media. Websites include booktrix.com (publishing services, marketing, consulting), livewriters.com (dedicated to author and book videos), writerscast.com (author interviews and industry podcasts), armorynewmedia.com (digital publishing). He frequently writes and speaks about book industry matters, and is the publishing consultant for A+E Television Networks, Publisher of Frederator Books and works with many other publishing clients. | |
| Kate Wilson [More Info] Managing Director Nosy Crow Kate has 25 years’ publishing experience, mainly in children’s books. She started her career as a rights seller, and held senior management roles in publishing including MD of Macmillan Children’s Books and Group MD of Scholastic UK Ltd. She cares about good books, design, literacy and technology. In September 2011, she won the title of Inspirational Business Mum of the year at the MumpreneurUK awards. Since starting Nosy Crow, she likes waking up in the morning. | |
| Eric Zimmerman [More Info] Founder Atlas Labs Eric is the Founder of Atlas Labs, a mobile application publisher that combats climate change through sustainable, social commerce. Prior to founding Atlas Labs, Eric ran Courier Publishing, which includes Dover Publications, Creative Homeowner and Research & Education Association. As Vice President of Publishing, Eric drove the strategic, organizational and cultural change required to transform these businesses into direct-to-consumer marketers and sellers. | |
