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The Big Questions

May 15, 2013
By Michael Cader

Our Publishers Launch Conference BEA, on Wednesday, May 29 aims to bypass the usual cross-section of digital fragments and aim straight at the issues on people’s minds and of greatest strategic consequence right now. So we’ll evaluate the coming Penguin Random House merger from a number of angles, along with Amazon’s ever-growing footprint — all of which leads to our major theme of assessing scale in its many forms.

Scale isn’t just about size, though. It’s about leverage and resources (not just financial ones) and how you deploy them to strategic advantage. And it’s about deciding which core functions and features you build and control yourself, and which ones you can best deploy by taking advantage of a service provider’s scale instead. In a different context, the issue is really about experimenting with and building scalable new initiatives and solutions.

The PLC event will examine scale in all of these ways and more, in presentations that include:

– Vertical publishers like F+W Media use the scale of a couple of very strong ecommerce communities to build a platform that efficiently serves over 20 niches

– Hachette Book Group is building scalable systems to tackle marketing, metadata and more — for themselves, their sister companies, and license across the industry

– Random House will address their programs to use scale in both supply chain/distribution efficiency, and how to market at scale (rather than title by title)

– The Toronto Star is publishing a new ebook every week; Start-up Frederator is launching series with dozens of titles — we look at new publishing entrants with scalable business plans

– Agents are looking to scale, too, whether by building agencies of a size more like what you find in the movie business, or by building fast-growing epublishing operations alongside their agencies

– Publishers are sprouting business development departments to expand their leverage; 4 executives will explain the frontiers they are pursuing

– There is no scaling without access to capital. Investor and former Macmillan executive Brian Napack helps understand where they money is going, and what it’s looking for.

– Can new tools help translate illustrated books into viable digital markets of scale? A number of top executives will examine.

– We take our own scaled approach to industry data, presenting a blended profile of what all the studies tell us about digital reading, and pointing to the next frontiers in deep and specific consumer data that can drive sales and marketing campaigns

There’s plenty more on the full program or you can look at a different description of the line-up on the Shatzkin Files. We are very proud to present a broad and strategic view of some of the most important and difficult issues the community faces today. And since there are some essential topics that are hard to book speakers for but essential to address, PLC partners Mike Shatzkin and Michael Cader will conduct a free-wheeling discuss with candid and provocative thoughts to share.

Now come some important choices! You can:

Join us for the whole day, by registering here, at the BEA site; using the main BEA registration form; or enrolling at our own simple one-page sign-up form.

Pair PLC BEA with the IDPF’s parallel conference — so you can go back and forth between both paid events — with the very popular “Digital Combo Pass” (a bargain-priced ticket to both events, presented in answer to customer requests through a joint effort among BEA, IDPF and PLC).

Our space is limited at BEA, so both options are likely to sell out some time before the show begins. (NB that a separate paid PLC or combo pass ticket is required for admission; a “regular” BEA badge does not provide entrance to these separate, parallel conferences.) We hope to see you there.

Filed Under: Book Fairs, Free

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