We all know that publishing now is different to twenty, ten or even five years ago but just how much has changed?
At Publishing: Now and Then, hear from some of the most influential MDs and CEOs about their experiences in the industry (were the parties really as grand as rumours suggest?), their guidance on making the most out of opportunities (how much more difficult is progression nowadays?) and their insights into the book trade’s exciting future (is it evolving and innovating as quickly as it should?). We’re going to delve into what publishing used to be, where we currently are and where we’re going – we can’t wait!
Join us on 15th March from 6pm to hear about Publishing, Now and Then.
Please note, this is a pre-recorded event.
This event will have auto-captioning provided by Otter.AI
David Shelley, Hachette UK
David Shelley joined Little, Brown as Editorial Director in 2005, after five years running the publishing at independent publisher Allison and Busby. Initially commissioning mainly crime and thriller novels and overseeing the audio and ebook lists, he became Sphere publisher in 2007, then Little, Brown Deputy Publisher in 2009, and Publisher in 2011. Authors he published include Mitch Albom, Mark Billingham, Carl Hiaasen, Dennis Lehane, Val McDermid and J.K. Rowling. He became CEO of Orion and Little, Brown in 2015, and in January 2018 became Group CEO of Hachette UK. David is a Director of the Publishers Association and leads the Consumer Publishers Council.
Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown
Jonny Geller is the CEO of The Curtis Brown Group, the parent company of Curtis Brown agency, Ed Victor Ltd, Curtis Brown Creative, Tavistock Wood, Markham Froggatt and Irwin and Cuba Productions. He is also Chairman of the books division and CBC. He represents a wide range of globally significant writers, from authors of first class best-selling fiction to memoirs; from former Prime Ministers, and thought leaders to public figures, business people and journalists.
Meryl Halls, Booksellers Association
Meryl Halls was appointed Managing Director of the Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland in April 2018, having worked at the BA in a variety of roles for many years, including as Conference Manager and Head of Membership Services. Meryl has been instrumental in all the key BA initiatives of the last two decades, as well as being a key driver of high street consumer campaigning on behalf of booksellers, as well as delivering membership commercial services to UK and Irish bookshops. Taking on the role of MD added lobbying and policy work to an already deep understanding of the UK bookselling sector. Meryl is a Trustee of World Book Day, Vice President for International Affairs of the European & International Booksellers Federation, a Policy Board Member of the British Retail Consortium, Vice Chair of the Independent Retailers Confederation and Board Member of Bookshop.org; she was awarded the FutureBook Person of the Year Award 2020 in recognition of the work done by the BA Group on behalf of booksellers during the COVID crisis.
Perminder Mann, Bonnier Books UK
Perminder Mann is CEO of Bonnier Books UK, a major publisher that is home to 12 adult and children’s imprints. Perminder was one of only seven BAME women to appear in a survey of the UK’s 1000 most powerful leaders, conducted by The Guardian and Operation Black Vote. She also appears annually in the UK’s top 100 most influential people in book publishing, a list compiled by the industry’s trade magazine, The Bookseller, and in 2015 was named as one of the top 10 most influential people in publishing and writing, at the prestigious Hospital Club h100 awards.
Stephen Page, Faber&Faber
Stephen Page began his career in bookselling before moving into publishing to work in marketing and sales. In 1994 he joined Fourth Estate, becoming its Managing Director in 2000. In 2001 he moved to Faber as Chief Executive and the positive impact of his leadership was officially recognized by the industry in 2006 when Faber was named Publisher of the Year by The Bookseller. Since then Faber has been named Independent Publisher of the Year three times, in 2011, 2018 and 2019. In 2019 Faber won Trade Publisher of the Year and Independent Publisher of the Year at the IPG (Independent Publishers Guild) Awards.
Stephen is a former President of the Publisher’s Association and is now a member of its council. From 2011-2018, Stephen was a member of the Board of Creative Skillset, the industry body supporting skills and training for the UK creative industries. He is still involved in representing the interests of the Creative Sector to government as a member of the Creative Industries Council, for which he chairs the Skills and Education Working Group. Stephen has also been a non-executive director of Bloomsbury Publishing and is a former member of the Board of the Clore Leadership Programme. In 2020, Stephen was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Creative Access, a social enterprise dedicated to recruiting under-represented talent in the creative industries.