As it happened, I was lucky enough to visit two publishing conferences in less than a week. Whereas the attendance of the SYP conference last Saturday was purely my own pleasure (read all about it here), my FutureBook experience was part of a two week internship with the Bookseller's marketing team. There was no better way of finishing that amazing internship than with being part of the FutureBook Conference and gaining some insights behind the scenes.
One of the biggest topics discussed was (again) consumer insight. In relation to that stands the important role of social media. Consumer insight is not seen as a big mysterious word anymore but has become an integral part of modern publishing, Sara Lloyd (Pan Macmillan) pointed out. As an example, she mentioned Pan Macmillan's backquistion. This concept describes the use of consumer insight to develop an initial story idea.
Sam Aspinall (Touchpress) sees apps as a great way to engage with readers. Also, apps offer the possibility to get an insight into the user's reading behaviour. Even though a lot of content can benefit from a transition into an app, not all content is suitable for such a transition.
Another crucial topic in this context is social media. They not only present a cheap but rewarding way to engage with readers but also offer new marketing possibilities. Tumblr and Youtube were the two platforms presented at the conference. Rachel Fershleiser from Tumblr demonstrated the benefits of that platform in a stirring talk that, I am sure, encouraged everyone to join the community.
Sanne Vliegenthart and Rosianna Halse Rojas, both famous booktuber, displayed the importance of Youtube for the publishing industry. Unfortunately, publishers have not yet made enough use of the great opportunity vloggers offer them. Rosianna Halse Rojas claims that "publishers need to view booktubers as expert collaborators." Now working as a digital coordinator, Sanne Vliegenthart got her job by submitting a youtube video demonstrating an exemplary use of the platform. She pointed out that Tumblr is the place where trends go viral and therefore should be used for marketing campaigns and for finding new trends.
It becomes clear that it is highly important for publishers to make use of social media. Therefore, they are more and more looking for people who know their way around these platforms. But as crucial as social media and computing skills are, Marissa Hussey (Orion) said that the most important characteristic to look for in employees is curiosity.
I do not consider myself (unfortunately) as one of these desperately looked for smart creatives. Also, there have been talks at the conference which were rather discouraging for newbies like me. But people like Marissa Hussey, Crystal Mahey-Morgan and the two amazing booktubers made me leave the conference with a positive feeling. Social media and new digital innovations are not completely new ground for me. It is something I grew up with and it is part of my everyday life. For me, the current changes in publishing are extremely exciting and not so much frightening. I cannot wait to be part of it.
Additional information and insights from the FutureBook Conference can be found here:
http://www.thebookseller.com/tags-bookseller/futurebook-conference
http://www.thebookseller.com/futurebook
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FutureBook14&src=tyah
http://anabundance-ofkatherine.tumblr.com/
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