eBooks For Everyone Else Conference

On November 2nd, I had the opportunity to attend the Publishers Launch eBooks For Everyone Else Conference held at the Parc 55 Wyndham Hotel in San Francisco at Union Square. The conference was well attended by authors, publishers, literary agents, vendors, and others in the publishing industry committed to staying informed as the publishing climate and definition of "traditional publishing" changes.

The conference was organized in forty-five minute segments for the first half with such presenters as host Michael Cader of Publishers Marketplace (all authors should subscribe to this online publication to keep current on the "business" of writing); Mark Coker of Smashwords; Michael Tamblyn of Kobo; Kelly Gallagher of Bowker; Iris Blasi (social-media maven) of Hilsinger-Mendelson East, among many other industry heads and companies.

One of many speakers I enjoyed was Iris Blasi of Hilsinger-Mendelson East. She spoke on the importance of social media. She had great suggestions for authors, reminding them, "You are advertising the best version of yourself. Please be real, but not too real." She suggested, and I second, the importance of authors building their social-media platform. If you aren't on Facebook, Twitter and writing a blog on Blogspot or Tumblr, you should be. I also suggest taking a look at HARO (Help A Reporter Out), especially if you are an expert writing nonfiction. One author I work with has been interviewed more than 15 times in the four months she has been a member of the site! Get your name out there.

Other sites of presenters worth looking at are those such as Bowker (link above), Copyright Clearance Center, PubIt by Barnes & Noble, Vook, Book Country by Penguin, and WAE Network. I sat next to a couple of board members of the Independent Book Publishers Association, who assured me there are plenty of resources for literary agents and authors as part of a non-publisher membership they offer.

The eBooks For Everyone Else Conference was a boon for those of us who attended. It was a day packed with information. Although Kimberley doesn't see focusing the Agency as a full-service eBook publisher, she wants to make sure that we are up-to-date on the most current information and are able to present the best perspective on the publishing climate when called to do so.

Click this link to see the list of presenters as well as their presentations: http://www.publisherslaunch.com/events/launch-san-francisco/