SYP Southwest Publishing for Everyone Convention Round Up!

Posted on June 22, 2020 in Uncategorized

Before we were all forced to work from home and resulting to video calls rather than face to face relationships, the Southwest committee had grand plans for our first publishing convention dedicated to industry in the Southwest.

As we entered lockdown and had to remain at home, our thought turned to how we can still bring this wonderful event to people across the southwest who are eager to learn about the vibrant publishing industry we have. The result was our wonderful chair, Jo de Vries and her fantastic Bath Spa students, putting together the most splendid virtual conference courtesy of Zoom.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say, what a day it was! It was filled to the brim with brilliant, engaging, and thought-provoking conversation across four panels with guests from each and every corner of the industry.

Caroline Sanderson kicked the day off with her keynote speech that read as a love letter to an industry we all hold dear. One thing we all could agree on during Caroline’s speech was that publishing truly does run on tea and cakes.

Panel one, ‘Publishers Big and Small’ featuring Holly Tonks, Kesia Lupo, Madiya Altaf and Simon Wright highlighted the key to surviving the current publishing climate is diversity, Kesia also emphasises the importance being open to different opportunities when starting out in publishing.

Panel two brought us ‘Connecting Books to Readers’ with Jason Hewitt, Lyndsay Fineran, Emma Ronan and Laura Lichtensteiger. The importance of social media in giving everyone a voice was highlighted but we must be aware not to become myopic through social media. This panel also discussed the influence of publishers on education and culture, an important and heavy burden to bare!

Panel three, ‘Creating a Nurturing Industry for Everyone’ featured our own Natalie Dale, Aki Schiltz, Amy Barrett and Jessica Harris. We saw some very important discussion about the lack of people with disabilities being hired in the industry, the gender pay gap and salary transparency. Aki Schiltz also hit the nail on the head by stating that unpaid internships are the bane of our industry!

The final panel of the day, ‘The Road Less Travelled’, with our Jo de Vries, Chris McNab, Cathryn Charnell-White and Emma Milman touched on how to get into freelance, overcoming anxieties about asking for work and the importance of being reactive to what’s happening at the moment.

The day was completed by breakout sessions giving panellists the chance to chat with guests about their hopes and fears for a career in publishing. It was an all-round fantastic day with something for everyone.

By Amy Potter, SYP Southwest Communications Manager