PubU | ECPA

As sessions and speakers are confirmed, they will be added here.

Colour Management

Friesens Corporation’s PrePress and Colour Expert, Brad Schmidt, walks you through colour management and how to prepare your files for print on either a digital or offset press.

Paul Cibulka

Paul Cibulka has been in the printing industry for over 35 years. He joined Friesens in 2010 as the Great Lakes Region Account Manager serving clients in IL, IN, MI, OH, VA, WV and Washington DC). His clients include self-publishers, indie presses, small businesses, major publishers, and large corporations. They publish books in several categories: Religious, Art & Entertainment, Educational, Children’s, Biography & Memoir, Cookbooks, Classics, University, Museums and Graphic Novels. Paul’s depth and breadth of experience helps him serve clients by developing a printing solution(s) to help them meet their business and publishing needs. As an employee-owner, Paul is committed to the Friesens vision, “We help others share their best story with the world!”.

Brandie Herrell

Brandie Herrell is the Southeast US Sales Executive for Friesens Corporation. Brandie manages publishing accounts throughout AR, KY, TN, GA, SC, and NC. She is a proud single mother of 4 children and lives on the coast of Georgia. Brandie is very involved in her faith and her community, both personally and professionally. She serves on the planning committee and hosts an annual workshop for the Protestant Christian Publishing Association. At home, she is a member of Community Church and serves as a board member at a Christian, re-entry program, Newpoint Partnership, in Brunswick, GA. Brandie brings books to life for ECPA publishers, such as: Harper Collins Christian, Lifeway Christian Resources and Hachette. At Friesens, she has spearheaded our application into and sponsorship of ECPA, because our involvement was very important to her. Brandie feels certain her role in printing Christian titles is her calling and she looks forward to meeting you all at PubU!

Brad Schmidt

Brad Schmidt started working at Friesens Corporation in 1994. He started as a camera operator and has experienced the many changes in Prepress equipment and technology over the last 30 years. His experience and innate ability to connect with customers lead to Brad becoming Friesens Tech Support person in April of 2000. Since then, Brad has fielded thousands of calls and emails from customers on a wide variety of prepress related questions. Since colour management and system calibration have become a critical part of file creation the focus of the tech support calls has shifted somewhat since he started in 2000. Brad has presented at many seminars hosted by Friesens in various regions and is a key presenter at the Book Manufacturing Seminar that Friesens hosts twice annually.

An Overview of U.S. BookScan: The gold standard for POS tracking in the publishing market

Join Brooke Borneman, Senior Director of Client Sales & Insights at Circana Books, for an overview of U.S. BookScan—the gold standard in POS tracking for the publishing market. Go beyond your own data and discover how you can take your publishing insights to the next level by identifying trends and opportunities to grow your business. Brooke will be available throughout the session responding to questions about Circana BookScan data and tools.

Brooke Borneman

Senior Director, Client Sales & Insights – Circana Books

Circana Books Report: Snapshot on the Christian Market

ECPA PubU attendees will have access to this special report in the BookScan session listing on the Whova platform (available to all registrants in October). Learn how this data is collected and how your company can receive actionable sales data directly from Circana in the Master Class about Circana BookScan, scheduled on October 31 after the opening session.

Key factors affecting Christian book discoverability: Supadu Trends Report

Discoverability is essential for helping Christian books reach their intended readers in a crowded marketplace. Supadu’s report examines the key factors that influence the discoverability of Christian books in online and physical marketplaces. The insights reveal that strategic categorization and metadata optimization are essential for connecting books with their target audience. Supadu is the global, leading provider of website and direct-to-consumer eCommerce solutions for trade and academic publishers, and university presses; and part of the Firebrand Group suite of companies.

Angus Regan

Sales and Partners, Supadu

GEO, SEO, and Metadata: Best practices and practical advice

As AI chatbots and AI search summaries become more common, the need for high-quality book metadata has never been greater. In this master class, Joshua Tallent will explain how GEO is different from SEO, what kinds of metadata matter for each, and how to ensure your books are not lost in the new era of search. You will also learn practical best practices for your metadata that will stand the test of time.

Joshua Tallent

Joshua Tallent is the Director of Sales and Education at Firebrand Technologies, where his focus is on helping publishers of all sizes learn about, and find solutions to, their workflow and metadata problems. Joshua is an acclaimed teacher and guide on the role of data in publishing and is the host of the BookSmarts Podcast, which features practical discussions and interviews about publishing data and technologies. In his spare time, Joshua enjoys teaching Bible studies, playing complex board games, and fiddling with his home automation system.

BLACK + EVANGELICAL FILM

from Christianity Today and Wheaton College

Black + Evangelical is a 90 minute feature-length documentary that profiles the history, struggles, and contributions of African American evangelicals. Taking us to the crossroads of faith and racial identity, Black + Evangelical is filled with candid interviews and eye-opening portraits of the resilient men and women who find themselves straddling the often clashing worlds of Black and white evangelicalism in America. Black + Evangelical challenges us to hear anew the voices of these men and women whose unique theological and social journeys have much to say about challenges faced by today's church.

Narrator and co-creator Vincent Bacote, Ph.D., is Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL.

THIS SPECIAL FEATURE HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO ECPA PUBU 2025 ATTENDEES.