2025 PubU Brain Trust

PubU is developed BY Christian publishers FOR Christian publishers.
Here are the industry leaders developing this year's program in these training tracks:

LEAD
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Jerri Helms

Senior Vice President of Marketing
HarperCollins Christian

EDITORIAL
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Katara Washington Patton

Executive Editor, VOICES
Our Daily Bread Publishing

MARKETING & PUBLICITY
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Bob Gaudet

Executive Vice President of Marketing and Publicity
Baker Publishing Group

SALES - Debut Track!
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David Almack

Director of Sales, Marketing and Acquisitions
P&R Publishing

PRODUCTION & OPS
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Jenn Butenschoen

Director of Production & Digital Content
Harvest House Publishers

RIGHTS
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Tim Thornborough

Founder and Publishing Director
The Good Book Company

CHILDREN'S SUMMIT
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Shannon Marchese

VP and Publisher
Tommy Nelson, the children’s imprint for Thomas Nelson

CHILDREN'S SUMMIT
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Dr. Mary Manz Simon

Children's Author and Speaker

EMERGING LEADERS
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Deborah Sáenz

Acquisitions and Developmental Editor
NavPress

Keynote - Jerri Helms

KEYNOTE WITH JERRI HELMS: OCTOBER 31

Beyond the Algorithm:
Why Curiosity Matters More in the AI Age

In a world where AI is great at crunching information and creating content, the real superpower for us as publishing professionals is our ability to ask, ‘What if?’ Curiosity helps us break out of routines, stretch our understanding and find solutions that AI can’t dream up (yet!). This keynote is meant to inspire you to tap into that natural curiosity and open your mind to think critically, keep your work meaningful, creative, and unmistakably human.


Jerri Helms is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP), where she leverages over 15 years of extensive experience in digital marketing strategies. A regular speaker at industry conferences, Jerri has delivered engaging presentations at numerous Digital Summit events. Her sessions highlight her expertise in the intersection of artificial intelligence and advanced SEO techniques for maximizing digital visibility and audience engagement. Additionally, she has contributed valuable insights as a panelist in high-profile discussions, such as "AI and Re-shaping Marketing" during the DMWF Expo North America. Since 2018, Jerri has provided strategic leadership to HCCP's Marketing Operations team, guiding key initiatives across various digital marketing areas. Her responsibilities also include overseeing the Consumer Insights team, driving data-informed decisions to shape publishing strategies, and managing the Online Optimization Team, championing consistent SEO and metadata best practices company-wide. Furthermore, Jerri serves on the SEO Global Council at NewsCorp, the parent company of HarperCollins.

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WINNERS WEBCAST: OCTOBER 31

Celebrating Design Excellence in Christian Publishing


The Top Shelf Book Cover Awards recognize design excellence in Christian publishing in four categories: Fiction, NonFiction, Bibles, Children. This webcast will honor the important role of design and present the year's best designs in each of these categories. More information at TopShelfAward.org.

Emerging Leader Scholars & Mentor Program

Invest in the new and diverse voices in your organization by nominating them for an Emerging Leaders scholarship to PubU. After PubU, scholars will be matched with an industry veteran for a year-long mentor program.

Nominate

Training, Connecting, and Inspiring the Christian Publishing Professional

Informing-U

PubU is a U-Build-It event. Our BrainTrust develops a variety of sessions you can choose from that will inform your role in Christian publishing.

Training-U

PubU is developed BY the industry, FOR the industry. Industry leaders and experts lead sessions to train up current and next-gen publishing leaders, offered in publishing tracks based on publishing roles in Marketing, Editorial, Production, and more.

Inspiring-U

PubU's signature value is learning from industry colleagues and leaders through panels, Q&A, sessions, and discussions about best practices, case studies, and challenges they've faced and overcome. Plan to leave PubU with a few more friends and mentors, inspired and encouraged in your publishing role.

Connecting-U

PubU is the place to network and meet others in the industry who do what you do—or not. In any case, the connections you make at PubU will enlarge your vision for the mission of Christian publishing while you hone and appreciate your craft as a vital component of that mission.

What people are saying about PubU

  • "PubU is the boost of energy and creativity that we all need each year."

  • "There is a special place in my heart for the ECPA PubU conference. The care, transparency, and laughter I receive from fellow laborers is refreshing and inspiring."

  • "The highlight of PubU is the opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends from across the industry."

  • "The lobby conversations alone were well worth the cost of the conference."

  • "The value of PubU is the networking and ability to get to know those in the industry. We share so much in common with each other and love learning together."

  • "Gathering with other individuals in the Christian publishing industry at PubU was an encouraging experience."

  • "The emerging leaders track at PubU provided foundational information and a community with other individuals who are equally new to the industry and passionate about publishing."

  • "It was beneficial to meet like-minded individuals and learn from experts in the industry at PubU."

  • "The speakers provided not only statistics and overviews but concrete suggestions that were great takeaways for me."

  • "PubU gathers publishing professionals to help them hone their area of expertise."

  • "PubU was a very valuable event. I loved the opportunity to learn from industry experts and meet other professionals from the industry."

  • "The highlight of my time at PubU was meeting others in the industry and being able to connect with and learn from them."

  • "Being able to bounce new ideas off of people who fully understand your role is invaluable."

  • "The most significant experience for me was spending time chatting with fellow editors."

  • "Had a blast hanging out with amazing colleagues."

  • "I love getting to meet other people in the industry and learn more about how to effectively market our books and reach readers in the growing digital age."

  • "PubU provides a great opportunity to network with other professionals in the Christian publishing industry."

  • "In the span of two days you learn about current tools, resources, and trends that might've taken months or years to come across otherwise."

  • "My first PubU experience was energizing and educational."

  • "Having worked from home for a number of years, this was an excellent opportunity to meet new friends, catch up with old, freshen my editing skills, and be inspired."

  • "The highlight of PubU is the valuable knowledge from the sessions and the contacts I meet."

  • "PubU refreshed me and sparked a desire to exercise my God-given creativity that I haven't felt in years."

  • "Without exception, the PubU sessions are excellent."

  • "The plenary sessions are a wonderful opportunity to gather as industry professionals and think about the place of creativity, justice, and theology in the world of Christian publishing."

  • "The sessions gave us tangible tools to apply to our strategies and got us rethinking how we tackle projects entirely."

We are grateful for the support of our sponsors:

PREMIUM

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GENERAL

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For more information on sponsoring this event, contact [email protected]