BBC's Speirs to headline IPG autumn conference

BBC Radio 4’s Di Speirs is one of the headline speakers appearing at the Independent Publishers Guild’s fully-booked autumn conference which will also feature a new partnership with the Booksellers Association.

The IPG's "biggest ever conference" on 19th September features more than 20 speakers including Speirs, who will discuss radio coverage for books, and Saatchi & Saatchi London chairman, Richard Huntington, who will give a keynote address about “debunking some popular myths and sharing advice for publishers seeking to improve their image and communications”.

A new partnership between the IPG and the Booksellers Association will see more than 25 retailers visiting the conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London “to deepen their understanding of publishing and establish contacts with the UK’s best independent publishers”.

Forecasting agency the Future Laboratory will help publishers to explore how technology is transforming office life and attitudes towards work as well as director of agency partnerships at Facebook UK, Ed Couchman, who will cover social media marketing. There will also be media-related sessions on selling books to TV and film producers and via newspapers’ websites.

The IPG has revealed on its website that the event is now sold out but the next conference, the annual spring event, will take place from 7th to 9th March 2018.

IPG chief executive Bridget Shine said: “We have been overwhelmed by our members’ response to our autumn conference, which will have something to help all independent publishers do better business."

She added: “With IPG membership at its highest ever point, the day will be a great opportunity to celebrate independent publishing, as well as to consider some of the current challenges and stimulate our thinking.”