PublishingNext to Immerse You in Different Facets of Publishing Wherever You Come From

The future of publishing conference in Goa on 14 and 15 September 2012

Mid-September has become a time for a sojourn in the pristine land of Goa, the Portuguese citadel in India till Independence, not for a stroll down its famed beaches or a visit to those marvellous ancient churches that speak of imposing architectural beauty. For two days, various stakeholders, when from publishing or not, gather together in PublishingNext, in eager expectation of debating, discussing, and stressing what’s happening in publishing in India and what the future holds forth. Last year, the impact has been tremendous. Partnerships were formed, and two startups came into being, just taking a cue from ideas taken from the conference.

This year, the format has been altered to accommodate many specialists – publishers, editors, translators, those eager to startup in publishing, writers, digital publishing service providers, printers, illustrators, bibliophiles, book retailers, and others who would deem themselves apt – just to give a sneak peek into various aspects related to publishing and its present status.

The overarching single-point agenda of Publishing Next is "future of publishing" and within this broader ambit, the conference this year in its second edition, to be held on September 14 and 15, has expanded its scope to include panel discussions, "how-to" workshops and insight talks. 

Speakers and the three tracks (panels, workshops, and insight talks)

The new and swanky Krishnadas Shama State Central Library in Panaji, Goa, will be the venue, which will see participants from all over the country as it did last year. Some of the publishing houses that will be represented by speakers on various panels include Sage India, Springer India, Pearson Education, Duckbill Publishing, Chhatim Books, Hachette India, Penguin India, Madurai Press, Jyotsna Prakashan, New Horizon Media, Pratham Books and many others.

There will be panel discussions on how to get children and young adults to read, the state of Indian language and academic publishing and the steps that can be taken to encourage new authors and publishers as also to preserve oral traditions through publishing alternatives. In parallel, there will also be workshops on how to self-publish, how to measure the ROI on digital investments, how to work with online retailers and how to develop books for the mobile platforms. Perhaps for the first time in any conference of this type, there will be workshops introducing new printing techniques. The conference’s highlight this year is the insight talks, which are basically experience-sharing sessions, by speakers such as Ashish Goel (formerly ACK), R Sriram (ex-Crossword), R Sundar Rajan (Just Books), Ganesh Devy (Bhasha Research Centre) and Badri Seshadri (New Horizon Media)..

The full programme can be viewed here.

What’s in it for you?

The format has thus been made three-tracked so that there is something in it for everyone. While publishers can meet and network, they will also be introduced to new trends in technologies and business practices that will directly impact their businesses. People who have recently stepped into a career in publishing will do well to attend so they can understand how publishing has evolved, the gaps in publishing that can be exploited and meet new people who can help their businesses. The panel discussion titled "Expanding the publishing pie", for instance, will look at the publishing sector from an entrepreneurial perspective and will have investors on the panel who will offer advice on how to obtain funding for a publishing house.

Editors, illustrators and other service providers will also benefit tremendously from the conference, given the opportunity to meet others from the publishing sector, especially publishing editors and decision makers from reputed publishing houses. In the first edition of the conference, held in September 2011, such meetings proved very valuable as they offered many people the opportunity to offer their services to these publishing houses. Given that there is a panel discussion on the distribution and retail aspects of books, there is much that booksellers will also benefit from the conference. For bibliophiles themselves, the conference offers the opportunity to know more about the publishing industry, little of which is documented, and meet with various publishers. The opportunity to discuss a manuscript is also always there.

What you shouldn’t miss

Two exciting panel discussions – one on the state of Indian language publishing and the other on the preservation of oral traditions through publishing – will, perhaps for the first time, allow an insight into "non-English publishing", which, quite unfortunately, hogs much of the print media space allocated to the publishing sector. These two discussions will bring together people who have done tremendous work in these fields and who have an in-depth knowledge of the issues involved.

So, have you booked your tickets to Goa? Register here.

[YourStory is the online media partner for the conference]