Discoverability and the New World of Book PR

A session at SXSW Interactive 2012

Shelf space isn't what it used to be. A search on "leadership books" on Amazon returns more than 60,000 results. The same search on Google returns more than 130 million results. With retail bookstores increasingly giving way to digital devices, success in publishing is no longer about distribution, it's about discoverability.

This session will detail the many changes that are taking place in the publishing industry and will explore how authors and publishers can set themselves up to succeed in this new environment. We will focus on teaching you how to leverage your platform and how to build meaningful relationships with media members ahead of a book launch.

Increasingly journalists are taking a 'don't call us, we'll call you' approach to publicity, looking to connect directly with authors, experts, sources and great ideas via social media. So, how can you widen your net online to snag these media queries and, most importantly, impact discoverability? You'll learn how in this session.

About the speakers

This person is speaking at this event.

Calvin Reid

Sr News Editor, Publishers Weekly

I'm a senior news editor for Publishers Weekly covering digital publishing, general publishing, African American publishing and comics and graphic novels. Also co-editor of PW Comics World, PW's monthly newsletter and website on comics and graphic novel publishing. On Twitter I'm @calreid and @PWComicsWorld and sometimes @PublishersWkly.

twitter

This person is speaking at this event.

Barbara Cave Henricks

Pres/CEO, Cave Henricks Communications

Barbara Henricks is CEO of Cave Henricks Communications, a media relations firm for authors and companies. Barbara has worked with Vice President Al Gore, Jack Welch, Marcus Buckingham, Tom Rath, Clay Christensen, Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder and Maria Bartiromo. Founded in 2007, the company represents firms such as IBM, Amazon, and Gallup, and publishing companies including Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins, Jossey-Bass, and Harvard Business Review Press. A former journalist with NBC, Barbara lives in Austin with her husband and three children.

twitter

This person is speaking at this event.

Rusty Shelton

Pres, CEO, Shelton Interactive

Rusty Shelton is the President + CEO of Shelton Interactive, a digital marketing agency that integrates publicity, website development, social media and design all under one roof. In the last year, the company has handled campaigns for nine New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Inc Magazine bestsellers, has inked long-term deals with major literary brands like Chicken Soup for the Soul and Harvard Health Publications and works with companies like IBM, Open Road Integrated Media, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan and others to create smart digital strategies for their books. Rusty sits on the PR committee for The University of Texas Texas Exes organization and lives in Austin with his wife and two young sons.

twitter

This person is speaking at this event.

Hollis Heimbouch

VP/Publisher, HarperCollins Publishers

Hollis Heimbouch is Vice President/Publisher of Harper Business and an Executive Editor at Harper, both imprints of HarperCollins. Prior to joining HarperCollins in 2008, Heimbouch worked at Harvard Business School Publishing for ten years in various editorial roles, most recently as Associate Publisher/Editorial Director of Harvard Business Press and as a contributing editor to Harvard Business Review. Before that, she was Director of Editorial Development for Wired Ventures in San Francisco.