An overview on the themes for 2018

This year’s theme is "grabbing attention for books”. The conference will look at the campaigns that soared and books that roared, and how today’s marketers and publicists use every trick in the, ahem, book to maximise exposure for individual titles and authors.

In a crowded media market, where publishers lack the financial muscle to outperform rivals, we’ll be looking to highlight those David and Goliath moments where publishers have punched above their weight and books have defied the odds to become headline-makers.

While smaller publishers are challenged to create campaigns with limited budgets, the pressure is on larger publishers to deliver for heir brand authors as well as break-out new names.

We’ll be looking at how publishers are creating imaginative and effective campaigns to sell more books, and doing things differently to grab attention where they can.

We’ll be hearing about the relaunch of one of publishing’s boldest brands, the reinvention of a national newspaper, how to manage crisis during an election, how clever experiential can launch campaigns, how literary prizes continue to have an impact on sales, how smart integrated PR and marketing campaigns still successfully have impact and many, many more examples to help publishers get more books into the hands of readers.