Publishing 101:  Pre-Conference Track

This pre-conference track will be held on Sunday, November 12, from 10 am to 4 pm prior to the kick-off of Pub U. The Pub U opening session is scheduled for 6:30 pm that evening.  Combination registration for Pub 101 and Pub U is available.

Track Manager:

Allan Fisher, VP of Editorial, Crossway Books & Bibles

All Christian publishing companies find themselves filling entry-level openings with people who are new to the field. These employees need to learn the specific job for which they’ve been hired, but to do these jobs effectively they must also acquire a working knowledge of all aspects of publishing. With the pace of publishing picking up with every passing month, few of us have time to see to this in the office. Publishing 101 offers a unique opportunity for newer employees to be exposed to all facets of the business from experienced experts. This will be the start of a lifetime of learning about publishing, enabling employees to do their jobs better because they understand how their tasks fit with those of colleagues in other departments. Can interdepartmental teamwork, mutual respect, and increased efficiency be far behind? Publishing 101 also serves as an unparalleled educational opportunity for those who may wish to pursue a career in Christian publishing. This will be the second year Publishing 101 has been offered, and four of the presenters (all of whom received outstanding evaluations from attendees in 2005) return.

Sessions:

Content Development: Understanding the Editorial Department
Allan Fisher, VP of Editorial, Crossway Books & Bibles
Content is king, and the editorial department bears primary responsibility for bringing in high-quality, saleable content. How do editors go about acquiring the right content? Where do book-ideas come from? How do editors find their authors? Does anything good come from “the slush pile”? Who makes the final decision on what to publish, and how do they arrive at these decisions? What happens after these decisions are made? Track-advisor Allan Fisher will help fill in the answers.

Marketing and Sales: Knowing the Sales Channels, Your Customers, and Where They Shop
John Johnson, National Accounts Manager, Tyndale House Publishers
With Christian publishers now contributing to the general marketplace some of the best marketed and best selling books, we have become increasingly sophisticated in marketing and selling. John Johnson of Tyndale will introduce this area, including the principles of classic marketing and the role of marketing/sales data now available to publishers. He will also address the difference between marketing and sales methods employed by general publishers and those employed by Christian publishers.

Product Packaging:  Design and Production
Anne Gerth, Director of Production and Fulfillment, InterVarsity Press
Cindy Kiple, Art Director, InterVarsity Press
A book with outstanding content is far more likely to appear in stores and catalogs if it bears a striking cover. Selecting the right cover could not be more important, and Cindy Kiple of InterVarsity will help attendees see how this is done.An excellent book that has a first-rate cover but that is poorly produced will suffer in the marketplace. InterVarsity’s Anne Gerth will employ the training module she uses to orient that organization’s new employees to the inner workings of its production department.

The Economics of Publishing: Finance for Non-Financial Staff
Kent Wilson, Executive Publisher, NavPress
Kent Wilson of NavPress will reprise a presentation he originally gave to an ECPA seminar for editors—to rave reviews. He will introduce basic financial terms and reports (income statements and balance sheets), discuss new-title strategies, and account for such basic publishing expenses as royalties, printing, and marketing. After explaining how to calculate the financial return on a proposed book, he’ll have attendees review together a sample book proforma and answer the question, “Would you publish this book?”