SPN Independent Publishing Conference 2016 program announced
The Small Press Network (SPN) has launched the program for its 2016 Independent Publishing Conference, which will run at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne from 9-12 November.
The four-day conference comprises a trade day and a ‘fundamentals’ day, as well as a day each for students and industry research.
The student day on 9 November, which begins at 1pm, includes an overview of the publishing industry, how to get into publishing, where to study, internships and volunteering, and the importance of community.
Highlights from the industry research day on 10 November include Christmas Press publisher and author Sophie Masson on ‘Going Over to the Other Side: The New Breed of Author-Publishers’; author Patrick Allington on ‘Australian Literary Magazines, Dissent, and the National Conversation’; and Industry Research Day co-convenor Millicent Weber on ‘Scandal at the Festival: Literary Festivals as Sites of Field Negotiation’. David Throsby will deliver a keynote address on ‘Arguing the value of the Australian book industry’, drawing on the three-year research project on the Australian book industry he leads at Macquarie University.
Australian Society of Authors CEO Juliet Rogers will deliver the trade day keynote on 11 November, with other sessions including a Nielsen BookScan presentation; new opportunities for publishers; international rights and programs; diversity; and literary awards.
Sessions at the fundamentals day on 12 November include the ‘nuts and bolts’ of running a business, legal basics, business planning, funding and ‘The Worst Book Cover Ever’, where designer Mark Campbell has ‘purposely designed the worst book cover art he possibly could for your edification’. Miscellaneous Press publisher Karen Andrews will deliver the keynote on the fundamentals day.
Three free evening events will also be run as part of the program. The Rag and Scribble Salon on 9 November at Embiggen Books; the 2016 Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA) presentation at the Wheeler Centre on 11 November; and SPN’s 10th birthday party at the Wheeler Centre on 12 November.
Tickets for the conference are on sale now and can be purchased here. For more information about the program, click here.
Category: Conferences Local news
