Keeping Track - Technology

The latest edition of Book Business Magazine just arrived in my box today, complete with a great article (Increasing Sales, One Chapter at a Time, Pg. 34) featuring Joe Wikert of John Wiley & Sons. As you'll recall, Joe is the VP and Executive Publisher of the Professional/Trade Division for Wiley and is also one of our general session keynote speakers for Pub U. Recently Joe also agreed to teach one of the Technology Track sessions dealing with the topic of Web Communities.

Coincidentally, in the Book Business interview with Joe he discusses this very topic. I would encourage you to take a look, it will be worth your time. If you don't have a subscription to BB, you can obtain one free of charge by signing up on their website. As of today, I didn't see the Wikert article on their website, but I am sure they will have it up soon. Also, be sure and check out Joe's 2020 Publishing Blog.

This Just In...

We just received word from Jane Friedman's office about her topic for the opening night keynote, here you go:

Keynote: Issues and Trends in Publishing Today - Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), Sunday, November 4, 6-8 pm

Jane Friedman will be speaking about her perspective on the essentials for growth and continued publishing success. In particular, she will discuss how the digital revolution is reshaping and revitalizing the publishing industry, and how HarperCollins has embraced innovative and dynamic developments to publish more books, explore diverse formats, reach an expanded group of consumers and serve existing customers in a whole new way. She will also focus on trends in the Christian marketplace and the success of HarperCollins’ own Christian media and publishing company, Zondervan.

It's Official!

The 2007 ECPA Pub U website is now officially up and running! Head over there now for detailed information regarding this cornerstone industry event. The site contains information regarding the eight various tracks and their leaders as well as information on each of the sessions and session presenters. Also, you will find out key information regarding our exciting general session keynote presenters. Additionally, you will be able to access the hourly schedule, information on booking your hotel room and a link to register for the event. Registrations have already been pouring in and we haven't even made the site public yet. Get your registration in today!

Keeping Track - Sales

It seems like the buzzword in sales the last year or so has been "collaboration". At the highest levels of the industry, on both the retail and publishing sides of the fence, people are exploring ways in which they can better work together. In fact, the need for greater collaboration has radically restructured some of our very own initiatives here at ECPA (a la Pubtrack).

For this reason, I was excited to see that Scott Blume has lined up Tony Witter, President of Witter Marketing Group, to talk about "Mastering Your Customers' and Buyers' Buying Habits".

In his summary outline, Tony has emphasized a strong approach to working with and for the retailer. Some of his key points are as follows:

• Know their business/who their customer is/where their stores are
• Know their sales (what they do well with)
• Know their departments/codes
• Start with THEIR “A” titles, not YOUR “A” titles
• Know their buying seasons
• Know their work habits
• Tailor make your presentation to both the customer and the buyer

I think these are essential tips on collaboration. It will be exciting to see how Tony unpacks this in his session.

Register Now!

You can now register for Pub U 2007. Follow this link, or click on the "Register Now!" link listed in the blog sidebar.

"Ahhh, A Heavenly Experience"

You can now book your hotel room for this year's Pub U by visiting our customized online reservation system. Select "book a room" at the top of the page and proceed to enter your preferred check-in and check-out dates. The official contracted conference room rate will be automatically applied ($108 per night, plus taxes), and a list of available rooms will be presented for your selection.

Be sure to make your reservations by October 12, 2007, in order to guarantee room availability at the group rate.

Keeping Track - Editorial

It's official! This year's editorial Track Leader is...Todd Hafer, Senior Editorial Director for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri. As well as running the publishing division of the greeting card behemoth, Todd is a veteran author with more than two dozen titles to his credit (Todd and his brother Jedd have tag-teamed on numerous juvenile-fiction titles, check out their website).
Although this was the last Track Leader spot we had to fill, Todd has wasted no time at all in putting together some incredible material (like any good author/editor) for this year's track. While he hasn't filled all of the presenter slots yet, as of our phone call yesterday, he has contacted most of his prospects and is hopeful that he will meet with good success.

To give you a sneak peek at what Todd has planned, here is the lineup he sent to me - subject to change of course:

1. Authors roundtable/panel discussion: What we wish editors knew about authors. My plan is to build a small panel of one newer author, one fairly established author, and one "grizzled veteran."

2. Acquiring/editing books for readers beyond the church. This could be expanded to include (or focus on) the "emergent church."

3(a) or 3(b) -- Working with literary agents [or] An agent's view of today's publishing world.

4. The basics: Do they still matter? In today's text-message and email-saturated culture, does anyone still care about grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.? Do they still matter? Can you craft a good book without them?

5. Creating books for non-readers. One of the present and future challenges for the publishing industry is that fewer people are identifying themselves as print-media readers. (Hence the severe decline in newspaper
sales/revenue.) Can today's editors acquire and craft books that will capture the attention of non-readers? What new formats might be the key to bridging this gap?

Keeping Track - Marketing

Okay, you've got that meeting coming up with those key people, you know...the decision makers, and now its time to develop your presentation, from visuals through to delivery. Do you have a plan? Are you still stuck using plain templates and white backgrounds with black bullets in PowerPoint? Break out of the pack and learn how to manage a phenomenal presentation by attending Presentation Revolution with Scott Schwertly, Founder and CEO of Ethos3 Communications, in this year's Marketing Track.

The main focus of this session will be on the design elements of a solid presentation, something sorely needed in many corporate settings today. However, Scott will also talk about aspects of delivery such as gestures, pitch, rate of speaking and how to appropriately use pauses. Another key aspect of Scott's session will be dealing with preperation. I know too many people who spend time the night before a presentation in their hotel room (or in seat 11E) trying to put together a presentation. NOT COOL! Solid preperation will show up in presentation and it tells the people that you are presenting to that they were important enough to you to invest the time in, not a bad feather in your cap!

For design, Scott will talk about the concept of less being more. He purports that there is often an "abuse of design and PowerPoint" and I couldn't agree with him more. If you read Mike Hyatt's (CEO of Thomas Nelson) blog, then you may have read his great post on effective presentations. He makes a similar point and it can't be repeated enough. A presentation should contain visuals, but the visuals should not contain the presentation.

Registration forms for Pub U are in the works at this very moment as most track sessions have been decided and the schedule is going through some final tweaking. So when you are deciding which sessions to attend, remember this one if you are one who gives presentations, this may very well bring some big payoffs down the line.

Keeping Track - Design

Had a conversation with Torrey this morning (that's him in the pic). I love it when everything seems to fall right into place for a track. The Design Track is now fully built out. Torrey informed me this morning that one of his speakers, David Baker, Lead Consultant for ReCourses, Inc. is a much sought after presenter in the design world and that some of the conferences at which he speaks cost $1000 or more to attend!

Additionally, Rodrigo Corral, Principal Designer for Rodrigo Corral Design will be presenting. It is my understanding that Rodrigo is a bit famous as well. What should all of this mean to you? Well, if you are in the design community, don't miss this track. Additionally, if you have any connection to the strategic direction within your house, you may consider showing up or sending someone to these sessions (particularly David's) as the content will be focused on in-house design culture.

One more thing related to this track. This year ECPA and Dickinson Press are partnering for the first ever ECPA/dp Book Cover Award. More information about the award program can be found by clicking here. In short (yeah right), you will not find a more comprehensive "conference" for the Christian publishing design community than at Publishing University. In fact, I would wager that you would be hard pressed to find content this strong at any national level publishing design conference. Don't miss out!

Operationally Challenged

Some things just aren't meant to happen, apparently a track for Finance/Operations is one of those things this year. For this reason, we have decided to not try and quickly throw something together that is less than excellent and instead focus on that track for 2008 as we have someone who is interested but wants to observe this year first. That's okay with us, we certainly have our hands full already and Pub U is already busting at the seams with fresh content and fabulous presenters and sessions. We still expect to make an announcement very soon on the Editorial Track, so keep checking in!

Keeping Track - Production

Due to an excellent lineup of sessions in the Design Track and the addition of the newly created ECPA/Dickinson Press Book Cover Awards, the necessity to split the "Production" portion of the track into its own program was born. Because of this, the need for a track leader was evident and Pete Larson, COO of Bethany Press International stepped up to the plate. Pete has already been hard at work thinking up content and contacting individuals to fill the presenter slots. I received an e-mail from Pete on Friday and here are the ideas he has for content thus far:

1) Keeping costs down (Print buyer’s best practices)

2) Offshoring

3) Current Printing Technology

4) The Facts on Using Recycled Paper

5) Printer's panel – Turning the Tables

Of course, we are fully aware that having a vendor as a Track Leader has proven to be a bit of a challenge in the past. However, Pete has assured me that he understands the need to make his track non-commercialized and to present information in an educational format. We appreciate Pete's willingness to take on this tremendous task. It looks as if he is well on his way to a phenomenal lineup.

A "Sticky" Situation

Have you read Chip & Dan Heath's book,Made to Stick? I haven't, however it has now quickly shot to the top of my list of must reads. Following a stellar review by Al Hsu, Associate Editor for IVP, I was already thinking that this was one that would need to find its way to my bookshelf.

Serendipitously, Wayne Hastings, this year's Marketing Track Leader, e-mailed me yesterday to let me know that he will be leading a session titled "On Becoming Sticky" in his track which he has appropriately titled "ReThinking Marketing". This is the fourth session in Wayne's phenomenal lineup of presenters with other sessions focusing on marketing to churches, women and branding. Four down and one to go! Wayne has been using this material with his team at Thomas Nelson, and after talking with the Heath’s felt like there would be value in presenting it to you at Pub U!

Relating to the overall Pub U program, much progress has been made on the content front and information has been coming in daily from our Track Leaders, so registration should be available in the coming weeks!