“So frequently elided in the discussions of the value of legacy publishing and whether it is worth an effort to preserve it, are the investments publishers make in books that would simply not be written if they didn’t.”

—Mike Shatzkin, Founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company, and the industry blog “The Shatzkin Files”

Book industry professionals, from publishers to primary review outlets, self-publishing platform representatives to librarians, have plenty of opinions and outlooks on the controversial, yet growing, avenue of self-publishing in the marketplace. We read about it weekly in both our trade publications and in the popular media, articles questioning the efficacy or necessity of traditional (often referred to as legacy) publishing.

Do authors need us now that anyone can self-publish with retailers like Amazon? What does all this new content mean to the selling landscape, which is already populated with more books than readers could ever possibly discover? Whether it be via Amazon’s direct publishing program, Lightning Source, Lulu, or the growing number of self-publishing platforms and opportunities, many of us are trying to address and assess how self-publishing’s increasing influence in today’s retail environment is affecting our own traditional publishing businesses. What methods or initiatives can we utilize to counter its effects? How may we use it to our advantage by enhancing our core publishing programs? What can we learn from each other’s experiences?

Come and listen to an expert panel to discuss answers to these questions and more.

Panelists

Cevin Bryerman, VP and Publisher of Publishers Weekly, our industry’s primary magazine serving the trade. Cevin was Associate Publisher from 2005 to 2010, and previously was Director of Finance for Reed Business Information from 1987 to 2005. PW recently announced a partnership with Vook; under PW Select+, authors receive all the benefits of PW Select as well as a host of options for using Vook’s e-book creation and publishing platform.

Tom Kerber, Chief Publishing Executive of Beaver’s Pond Press. Tom has over 30 years’ experience as a business executive and entrepreneur in diverse industries. Founded in 1998 by Milt “Beaver” Adams, Beaver’s Pond Press has assisted over 600 independent authors to publish their books by providing a full range of publishing services that focus on mentoring the author through every step of the publishing process. Beaver’s Pond Press books are published in every genre and have won numerous book awards in the last few years.

Jenny Martin, librarian for Duncanville ISD, one of the largest school districts in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Jenny is also a district trainer for Design 4 Profound Learning, a staff development initiative to develop educators and bring 21st Century Learning into the classroom. When she’s not in the library, she’s writing book reviews, teaching Young Adult books for the University of Texas at Arlington, or plugging into the virtual library and publishing community. A member of ALA, TLA, YART, and AASL, Jenny has presented at conventions such as TCEA/ISTE and DFW Writers’ Conference. She will be participating via Skype.