Solomon, Williams and Felone headline FutureBook 2023

The Bookseller has revealed the programme for its AI-themed FutureBook conference, taking place next month. 

The conference will take place on 27th November in London and will open with a keynote from The Glass Cliff author and activist Sophie Williams who is also known for her viral TED talk on changing the landscape for female leaders. 

Other keynote speakers include Nicola Solomon, outgoing c.e.o. of the Society of Authors, who will reflect on her 13 years in the role, Knights Of m.d. Aimée Felone sharing insights from leading the renowned indie bookshop and publisher as well as Dan Conway, c.e.o. of the Publishers Association, delivering a presentation on "What can we do on AI? How we should approach the coming wave".

Following the morning keynotes there will be sessions around themes such as the new audiobook deals with Spotify, "The Spotify dilemma: is streaming the new a la carte?", structural changes that could better support publishing teams, how to do more with IP, as well as a cultural report from Nancy Adimora, who recently launched her own consultancy, Other Stories.

Now in its 13th year, the 2023 Futurebook conference is focused on AI and how the book trade can respond to the rapidly changing landscape in this area. Altogether there will be more than 50 speakers across 20 sessions focused on publishing, entertainment, tech and education. 

The conference will conclude with the announcement of the FutureBook Awards, with the shortlists to be announced soon.

The conference is co-programmed by The Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones and comment editor Molly Flatt.

This year’s sponsors are Audible, Midas PR, Nielsen BookData, W F Howes and Zebralution. 

Early bird, group, freelance, small press and bookshop rates are available. Please email polly.smith@thebookseller.com for more details. 

The programme can be viewed here.