The Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) Publishers Conference 2020 (1-3 November), a key event in the international publishing calendar, will be the first hybrid rights publishing event to take place during the pandemic.
Leading voices from the global publishing world will participate in person and virtually in an engaging series of panels spanning from lessons learnt from the pandemic, virtual events, reaching new audiences with translation, book piracy, home schooling virtual learning, the audiobook phenomenon, women in publishing, Emirati authors and more.
The socially distanced rights centre will safely host 200 participants from across the world.
The seminar programme includes:
Perminder Mann, CEO, Bonnier Books (UK)
Global publishing spotlight: Surviving and thriving during a pandemic
Lisa Milton, Executive Publisher, Harlequin, HarperCollins (UK)
Nicolas Roche, General Manager, BIEF (France)
Ravi DeeCee, CEO, DC Books (India)
Sherif Bakr, Director, Dar Al Arabi for Publishing and Distribution (Egypt)
Moderator: Jacks Thomas, International Book Industry Consultant (UK)
Books in translation: Finding new audiences
Hassan Yaghi, Editorial Director, Dar al-Tanweer (Lebanon)
Marcia Lynx Qualey, Founding Editor, ArabLit (Morocco)
Sandra Tamele, Founder and Editor, Editora Trinta Zero Nove (Mozambique)
Moderator: Trevor Naylor, Associate Director, AUC Press/AUC Bookstores/Rights (Egypt)
Is it a woman’s world? Global women in publishing
Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi, CEO, Parresia Publishers Ltd (Nigeria)
Hala Omar, Owner and CEO, Dar Hala for Publishing & Distribution (Egypt)
Judith Rosenzweig, Foreign Rights Director, Gallimard publishing (France)
Reagan Arthur, Publisher and Executive Vice President, Alfred A. Knopf (USA)
Moderator: Emma House, Managing Consultant, Oreham Group (UK)
Home schooling and virtual learning: What is next for education publishing?
Lawrence Njagi, Chairperson, Kenya Publishers Association and Managing Director, Mountain Top Publishers (Kenya)
Malak Obeid, Product Development Manager – Publisher, Pearson (UAE)
Matt Santaspirt, Regional Manager MENA, Cambridge University Press (UAE)
Moderator: Seth Russo, Consultant, Sharjah Book Authority (US)
Book Piracy: What can be done about this problem?
Adel Zaini, Founder and CEO, Dar Al Khayal (Lebanon)
Lawrence Aladesuyi, Country Manager, Cambridge University Press (Nigeria)
Moderator: Bill Kennedy, Founder, Avicenna Partnership Ltd (UK)
Listen up! The audiobook phenomenon
Nathan Hull, Chief Strategy Officer, Beat Technology (Norway)
Sebastian Bond, Co-founder and CEO, Kitab Sawt – part of Storytel (Sweden)
Stacy Creamer, VP, Audible Content Acquisitions & Development, Audible (USA)
Moderator: Daniel Mesino, Literary scout and External Editor, HarperCollins (Mexico)
