Wilson, Kenyon and Missingham confirmed for first IPG international forum

Nosy Crow m.d Kate Wilson, Nielsen BookScan director for UK and Ireland Hazel Kenyon, and Empowered Author founder Sam Missingham are among the speakers confirmed for the first IPG international publishing forum.

The virtual event will see the IPG facilitate one-to-one meetings with a wide range of UK and international retailers, publishers, distributors, suppliers and experts, running from 9th-10th March.

Sessions will be scheduled for networking and discussions in specific areas of publishing, including trade, children’s, academic and professional sectors, and online content to help members improve their knowledge of markets. The platform will have interactive features that are designed to encourage 'chance meetings' between attendees over the two days.

Content will include sessions tailored to issues in global children’s and academic publishing, with guests including Wilson, Christie Henry of Princeton University Press and Ben Ashcroft, commercial vice-president of academic publisher De Gruyter.

Overviews of global sales trends will be presented by Kenyon, while a session on global rights trends from scout Louise Allen-Jones, Sarah Rigaud at Les Escales in France and Lisanne Mathijssen at HarperCollins Holland will follow.

Opinions from industry leaders including Sourcebooks c.e.o and founder Dominique Raccah will also feature, alongside a Q&A on the Brexit-related export and import issues with supply chain experts.

Opportunities in audio will be explored with publishers including Ingrid Hölzel of Leonine Studios in Germany, Lasse Korsemann Horne of Saga Egmont in Denmark and Esther Van Dijk of Singel Uitgeverijen in the Netherlands.

Missingham will offer insights into what authors want from their publishers, including the results of a major new survey.

Commenting on the line-up, IPG c.e.o. Bridget Shine said: “Our first ever forum meets a pressing need for international networking and knowledge-building. It’s the IPG at its best—connecting publishers with counterparts and collaborators, all freely sharing advice—and it’s going to be an exciting couple of days.”

Registering for the forum is a two-step process. Attendees will be given the option to sign up for the networking sessions after completing the registration form.