Announcing the Day of Code, as part of FutureBook Live 2019

Delegates at this year’s FutureBook Conference will have the chance to receive a full day of training into coding, as part of the event. The initiative of publishing software business Consonance, FutureBook’s Day of Code will take place on Friday 22nd November, ahead of the conference on Monday 25th November.

Modelled on the global initiative Rails Girls, where the Consonance team volunteers to coach every year, up to 40 delegates will build a live book-catalogue website, with a list page and a dedicated page per book, using free technology and book data provided by Nielsen. The course is aimed at both publishers and booksellers.

Sara O'Connor, former publisher turned software developer, said: "Day of Code will empower the next generation of booksellers and publishers to make better decisions, save millions of pounds and demand more of the software they use every day. You will see that coding isn’t the impossible mystery it’s made out to be, but is instead a practice incredibly well-suited to people who love words, grammar, language, story, process, the narrative arc, and poetry. Book people, in other words."

The training day will take place at Hachette's head-office in London, Carmelite House, with attendees supported by about 15 coaches.

George Walkley, Hachette UK group digital and development director, said: “Hachette is the UK’s leading digital publisher and we’ve come a long way in our digital transformation. But as the world around us changes we’re also aware of how much more there is to do, so we are delighted to be hosting the FutureBook Day of Code. From managing the universe of data available to us to producing new digital products and services, coding skills allow publishers to work more effectively and innovatively. We hope that both our colleagues and our guests on the day will come away enthused and empowered."

The cost of the training is included in the price of the FutureBook ticket, with up to 40 places available, including 5 reserved for under-represented groups in the book industry. Details for how to apply will be released nearer the time; for now register your interest on the Day of Code website. Or for more on FutureBook, visit the conference site.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Bookseller's annual publishing conference, FutureBook, the leading international business conference for the books sector, with speakers from Pearson, Hachette, Waterstones, Bonnier, Springer Nature, Faber, Booker, the BBC, Penguin Random House, Blackwell, and Lonely Planet, already confirmed for the 2019 event.