Wow! What a wonderful time in Austin, TX, for the Independent Book Publishers Association Conference known as Publishing University.
We love the energy of Pub U and had a wonderful evening celebrating alongside all of the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Awards winners. What a treat!
Everyone is home now (Josh didn’t have far to go – he lives in Austin!) and we are “unpacking” all of the wonderful experiences and ideas from the weekend. With 280 (!) attendees for this sold-out event, there is a lot to process.
As an event sponsor, the Mom’s Choice Awards had a very visible presence at the show. We didn’t get to attend as many of the educational sessions that we had planned … but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get a TON out of being there.
So let’s get started, shall we?
Publishing University 2015 was not the place to be if you were looking for quiet! IBPA staff and Board Members walked the talk when it came to exchanging ideas and best practices. The sense of helping each other was palatable and showed in the energy everyone (still) had after two days!
Publishing University – Attendee Perspective
Even though we didn’t get to attend many of the sessions, in those more informal moments, we learned about them. It was obvious that everyone was taking in and thinking about all of the things they heard in both general and smaller breakout sessions.
“The key to any great blockbuster is turning over rocks no one else is looking under.” ~ @leeklancher @ibpa‘s #PubU2015
— Rana DiOrio (@ranadiorio) April 11, 2015
There is so much positive energy at Publishing University, both when we’re celebrating where indie publishers are as an industry AND in looking beyond the horizon. Exciting times lie ahead for yet-to-debut authors, new publishers, and readers, as well.
Interesting insight: The Big Five look at self-pubbed authors as a farm team. —Jim Milliot of @PublishersWkly #PubU2015
— Brooke Warner (@brooke_warner) April 10, 2015
Publishing University offers recordings for each of its sessions. They are available to anyone to buy, not just Pub U attendees. As soon as that link is available, we will add it to this post. In the meantime, enjoy Christopher Kenneally’s panel discussion Indie Publishing: Who Holds the Power? That also includes MCA Award-winning author and publisher Rana DiOrio, of Little Pickle Press.
What we learned:
- Independent publishing represents diverse interests and is forward leaning.
- The esprit d’corps is unmatched, as is the willingness to share.
- This is a come-where-you-are community that welcomes the opportunity to mentor and grow together.
At the closing session, one gentleman suggested renaming the organization the “Interdependent Book Publishers Association.” Don’t know if that will come to be, but he was spot on.
Publishing University – Sponsor Perspective
Our table was situated between fellow sponsors Lulu.com (whose Lulu Jr. subsidiary has two Mom’s Choice Awards winners) and Thompson-Shore, who had a copy of the MCA award-winning Neon Tiki Tribe picture books on display at their table.
Rare is the show where we have time to chat in-depth with anyone. So, it was very educational for us to learn more about the services distribution, printing, and marketing services companies can offer our Honorees.
Several other vendors had Mom’s Choice Awards winners on display, as well. Some had actual copies of the products; others had incorporated book cover images into their marketing material. It always makes us smile when we can spot an MCA award-winning product.
What we learned:
- Not only are there ideas for collaborative marketing, there is a community looking for shared opportunities.
- Mom’s Choice Awards Honorees are not taking full advantage of the value of the Honoring Excellence seal.
As I mentioned above, we spotted a number of MCA award-winning books. Some were parts of displays (like to the left), others were incorporated into marketing material. Yet no one but us knew they were award-winning books.
Even the people at the sponsor table didn’t know they were Mom’s Choice Awards winners. My takeaway is that we need to do more to help you identify – and take advantage of – all of the links in your marketing chain.
Make sure your distributor, graphics company, and/or printer has an updated copy of your image. They helped create an award-winning product, and they’ll want to market that!
Want to learn more about Publishing University, check out the IBPA Publishing News blog and this article in Publisher’s Weekly.
Next up … BookExpo America!