IBPA Publishing University 2025

Come and join your peers for interactive small group breakfast meetups around topics you have a shared interest in!

Tell us your top 3 topics after you sign up (using this form here) and get ready to make new friends. Small Group Breakfast topics include:
-Distribution
-Systems & Operations
-Children’s Publishing
-Working with Libraries
-Direct to Consumers
-Marketing and Technology
-Hybrid Publishing
-Diversity in Publishing
-Other – suggest your own!

When you arrive, register on the First Level in the Great River Court and then head down to the Minnesota Court (lower level. You can choose the table you'd like to sit at—and move around—according to topics posted at the various tables! (Be sure to bring business cards and/or be ready to share your contact information.)

We'll shuffle the room seating so you'll have the opportunity to join three different group discussions over the hour and 45 minutes.

While we wish we could offer this event for free, there is an additional fee of $65 to register for a small group breakfast, which only partly offsets the cost of food. (The breakfast buffet will have vegan options as well as gluten-free options.) You can sign up for the small group breakfast here.

Our program begins!

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, IBPA's CEO, will welcome everyone and introduce Maria A. Pallante for our opening keynote:

The Pillars of Publishing – Copyright and Freedom of Expression
The legal framework that supports the publishing industry has never been more important. Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, will discuss the bedrock principles that underpin the global publishing ecosystem: copyright and freedom of expression. The discussion will explore the landscape of copyright law and regulation, with a particular focus on exclusive rights of authors and publishers in their creative works, as well as the crucial role of freedom of speech and freedom to publish to our democracy and an informed citizenry.

Grab lunch and meet our sponsors!

Join us to thank our outgoing – and welcome our incoming – members of the IBPA Board of Directors.

Breakout 1 (Author Publishers) - Your Brand and Value PropositionDetails to be announced.

Faculty include Lindsy Bivens and Brandon Birkmeyer, with moderator and host Jeniffer Thompson.

The author publisher breakout sessions are intended for author publishers (a.k.a. self-published authors) who are creating and publishing their own works. 

Consumer marketing
Faculty Juliet Wills and Django De Gree, II, with moderator and host Andrea DeWerd.

In today’s fast-evolving publishing marketplace, indie authors and small presses are outpacing traditional publishing by embracing nimble, data-driven, and low-cost marketing strategies. This session—moderated by Andrea DeWerd (the future of agency) with panelists Django De Gree (Focus On Words and WroteBy.Me) and Juliet Wills (Galaxy Press)—will explore what’s actually working right now, from direct-to-consumer marketing and sales, to SEO, trend-spotting, and new technology—including the AI-powered tools that are actually helpful. We'll dig into the growing gap between traditional and self-publishing, highlight the value of tracking and attribution in the advertising and sales funnels, and share practical tools and tactics that every author-publisher or small press can use to drive discoverability and sales today.

The author publisher breakout sessions are intended for author publishers (a.k.a. self-published authors) who are creating and publishing their own works. 

In this panel discussion moderated by Keith Riegert (President of the Stable Book Group and CEO of Perfect Bound), Mary Rasenberger (CEO of the Authors Guild), Amanda Zila, PhD (Co-Founder of Inkbloom), and Trip Adler (Founder and CEO of Created by Humans) will address the various opportunities, challenges, and transformations happening as AI impacts the publishing landscape.  

Topics will include: 

• Acquisition management 
• Copyright protection 
• Fair use and ethical considerations 
• Licensing opportunities  
• Editorial, production, and marketing tools 

These industry experts will provide their insights into the emerging technologies that are rapidly changing our industry. With ample time for Q&A, the audience will also have the opportunity to share and engage on these topics.