Podcasters join FutureBook Live for symposium

A podcast symposium, involving some of the UK’s most established book podcasters, will take place at FutureBook Live, The Bookseller’s publishing conference, due to take place on 30th November in London.

Hosted by Clarissa Pabi, manager and executive producer of Mostly Lit, the session, "Podcast symposium: how podcasts work", will feature a number of podcast creators and experts, many of whom are shortlisted for the inaugural FutureBook Podcast of the Year award, to be presented at the end of FutureBook Live.

The symposium will feature Octavia Bright from Literary Friction, Alex Reads from Mostly Lit, Leena Norms from Banging Book Club and I'm Not Being Funny But, Jake Harris from Story Shed, and Mark Stay from The Bestseller Experiment.

Mostly Lit, Story Shed, and The Bestseller Experiment feature on the seven-strong shortlist for the Podcast Award, sponsored by Audible. Other shortlistees include The Penguin Podcast, Simplify, Not Another Book Podcast, and Down the Rabbit Hole.

The panel will speak about the rising influence of the podcast in an increasingly audio-first world. It will discuss what it takes to create a great podcast that attracts book lovers and light readers, how the panellists have engaged hundreds of thousands of people with their podcasts, and how the publishing industry can work more closely with podcasters.

Other speakers announced this week include agent Cathryn Summerhayes, Google Assistant's Alice Zimmerman, bestselling author Sophie Hannah, Joffe Books founder Jasper Joffe, subscriptions specialist John Philips, and Ali Albazaz, founder and chief executive of reader-powered publisher Inkitt,

The full programme can be accessed here, and tickets can be bought here. FutureBook Live takes place on 30th November in London, at 155 Bishopsgate.