MBPR’s May in-person event, Modern Marketing Methods, featured a panel of marketing and publicity experts. The panel discussed what has changed in book marketing in the last few years; new methods that surfaced during the pandemic and have stuck; generative AI and its place in their work; book banning; and how everyone in the publishing ecosystem can support marketing, among other topics.

Bryan Schmidt is the Sr. Director of Marketing at Britannica Education, where he leverages his nearly 20 years of experience in sales and marketing across higher education, publishing, and edtech. Bryan is passionate about exploring cutting-edge platforms, practices, and technology to transform the way his team and organization approach content creation to connect with current and future customers. He is currently focused on harnessing the power of ChatGPT and other AI tools to revolutionize the industry. Outside of work, Bryan enjoys summers by one of the many Twin Cities lakes and is a dedicated fan of the Minnesota United soccer team, which is his one true Minnesota sports love.

Rachel Zugschwert is the executive vice president of marketing at Lerner Publishing Group. Previously, she has worked in book marketing at 1517 Media, Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, and Simon & Schuster. She has a Masters in Publishing from Pace University, and delights in helping readers find the right books.

Steve Roth is a Senior Marketing Manager with Quarto, doing marketing and publicity for books on transportation, space exploration, gardening, rural living, and pop culture. Steve started with Quarto in 2011 (then known as Quayside Publishing) switching media formats after a 20+ year career in the music business. He’s lived in the Twin Cities area since 1994.

For more than ten years, Mallory Hayes has worked as a book publicist in the vibrant literary community of the Twin Cities creating and executing publicity campaigns focused on national and local media, event coordination, and influencer outreach. She’s secured national coverage at places like Marie Claire, The Washington Post, Essence, Vogue, NPR, and the Wall Street Journal. Mallory has led successful campaigns for a variety of book subjects including mind, body, spirit titles, highly-illustrated coffee table car books, adult nonfiction titles, and children and YA fiction.