Book Business Magazine

Like so many other industry trade shows, the Publishing Business Conference & Expo has seen many iterations. More than a decade ago it was a shrine to the power -- and profitability -- of print. The show took up three floors at the New York Hilton Hotel showcasing the latest and greatest equipment pressmakers, finishers, and printers had to offer publishers looking to drive their ink-on-paper-based publishing businesses forward.

Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) have announced early details of the conference program for the upcoming IDPF Digital Book 2014.

Book Business congratulates the winners of the 2013 Publishing Innovator of the Year Award, which recognizes the most innovative publishers of the past year.

The Yale Publishing Course is running this summer on July 14-19 for “Leadership Strategies in Magazine and Digital Publishing,” and July 21-26 for “Leadership Strategies in Book Publishing.” Today is the deadline to apply.

The new edition of Book Business magazine should be on its way to you — and can also be accessed online, in a full-featured digital edition or via your iPad through our app— was a lot of fun for us to put together. We've got an interview with Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook. We talk to Matt about the publicity process for his debut novel that was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film. We've also got a piece from one of our personal heroes, the great Bill Kasdorf, that demystifies the EPUB 3 ebook file format and helps ensure you're putting it to its best use.

You may know Book Business, Publishing Executive and Publishing Business Today as authoritative sources on topics, trends and technologies in publishing, but did you know we also have an online bookstore stocked with material for those looking to take a deeper dive into industry best practices?

I’ve left sunny, friendly Austin behind and returned to colder, crankier Philadelphia, and can now reflect on my virgin tour of SXSW. The verdict: good, but not great. I had looked forward to attending this festival for so many years, and I fear I may have missed my window, the window when I had the stamina to tramp all day from session to session, and still be alert and energetic enough for nighttime events that begin at midnight and beyond.

Perhaps it was good but not great because there was no big new thing announced at the fair. Perhaps it was good but not great because, while sessions were uniformly good, there were speakers who were disappointing and less than revelatory. But hey, I learned new things, met interesting people, and there was that free Samsung battery replacement for my Galaxy S3!

The Publishing Business Conference & Expo, the nation's largest conference and expo for book, magazine and journal publishers, will take place September 23-25, 2013, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. The Publishing Business Conference & Expo is produced each year by the Publishing Business Group and Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines.

Where is the book industry going, what will my workplace and career opportunities be like, what do I need to know to keep up with the times? Or, in a more cosmic vein, what does the future hold?

In an effort to answer these questions, publishers have settled each year into a series of industry meetings of general interest. Each has a unique theme, as noted below. They make the effort to bring together a cross section of publishers, associations, service providers and media professionals to connect with audiences ranging from first-time aspirants to seasoned managers and executives in every channel and of every level of responsibility.

Following is my own overview of the events with which I have become familiar through the years. I would say that a judicious choice of BEA or ALA and any one of the others whose focus comes closest to your own would provide a more than satisfying menu. If I had to attend only one: (a) I would pick BEA or ALA if my interest was in authors, reading, content and publishing as an enterprise, and (b) if my primary concerns were business development and operating management, I would choose any of the others from whose quality of attendee profiles and lists of presenters, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors I would expect to learn the most.

It’s my last day here at NAPCO. My internship is ending, my classes have wrapped up, my off-campus experience is over. Next week, I am leaving Philadelphia and heading back home to Michigan.

It’s bittersweet.

On one hand, I’m exited to get back to the friends, the family and the homemade cranberry sauce that await me this holiday season.* On the other hand, I’m sad to be saying goodbye to this office, these people and this city that I’ve called home for the past four months. I’ll be trading in the gray of the city for the white (at least, if Mother Nature gets her act together) of the rural area from which I hail. Leaving Philadelphia will be weird, and it’s weird that it’s weird. You know?