PubU | ECPA

The Rights Playbook for Christian Publishers

For Christian publishers, rights management is more than a business function. It is part of the responsible stewardship of the content, authors, ministries, and communities they serve. In this practical session, attendees will learn strategies for licensing content in and out, maintaining compliance, identifying appropriate revenue opportunities, and extending the reach of their publishing programs while remaining aligned with the values of the Church. Participants will also receive actionable resources they can use to bring greater clarity, fairness, and accountability to everyday rights decisions.

James Whittaker

James Whittaker, is the VP of Sales & Business Development for MetaComet. He brings more than 27 years of leadership across global publishing and B2B SaaS sales and partnership development in North America, the UK, and Europe. Whittaker is recognized for his domain expertise in rights and royalties, metadata, and technology-enabled publishing workflows. A frequent industry speaker, he has presented at leading trade fairs including London and Frankfurt. He has held senior roles at Phaidon Press, Paperblanks, and Hachette Book Group.

Book Printing - Navigating Best Practices When Printing/Fulfilling Books

With buzzwords like POD, ultra-short-run, short-run, long run, fulfillment, distribution, and hybrid-inventory-management being used frequently (often interchangeably) in the print world, it's difficult to determine what print buying approach will be best for you. There are so many different situations that publishers find themselves in. Find out what printers mean when they use certain terms, and learn what approach may be best for situations you may encounter.

RJ Lindemann

Born and raised in the print industry, RJ Lindemann is the third generation at Total Printing Systems. He's devoted the last several years to management in the print business and has become one of the very few young executives remaining in the book business. With one eye on the future and one eye on the present, RJ knows what works for publishers now and what will work for them down the road.

Irreplaceable Ideas: How to Market Books in an AI-Saturated World

AI can create more content in seconds than most marketing teams could produce in weeks. But when everyone can generate endless posts, summaries, emails, videos, and ad copy, more content isn’t the answer. More value is. In this practical session, we’ll explore how publishers can move beyond simply marketing books to identifying and amplifying the irreplaceable ideas behind them—the insights, stories, expertise, experiences, relationships, and trusted voices that AI can’t easily replicate. You’ll learn how to uncover the distinctive value within a book, turn one title into an ecosystem of compelling digital content and experiences, and use AI to multiply that value without making your marketing sound like everyone else’s. We’ll also look at how to shift from marketing a product to marketing the transformation, question, or big idea the book represents. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for turning books into idea engines—and creating marketing that stands out in an increasingly AI-generated world.

Katie Nguyen

Katie Nguyen is Managing Director at FrontGate Media, an award-winning marketing agency specializing in reaching faith and family audiences. A seasoned digital marketer and communicator, Katie helps authors, publishers, ministries, and faith-based organizations turn meaningful ideas into digital strategies that connect with the right audiences. Her expertise spans digital and social marketing, content strategy, audience development, and creating campaigns that move beyond simply generating attention to building genuine engagement. Katie is passionate about helping authors and organizations identify what makes their message uniquely valuable and translating that value into content people want to discover, share, and act on. Katie is also a writer, speaker, and host of the Faith For Her podcast, where she combines her love of communication with her passion for encouraging others.

Introducing Covered: Ingram’s Digital Review Copy and Catalog Site

Join us for a look at Covered, Ingram’s new site designed to connect publisher digital review copies (DRCs), title information, and ordering tools with booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals. In this session, you’ll learn how Covered makes it easy for publishers to share catalogs and marketing information with more than 50,000 buyers in Ingram’s network and beyond.

Margaret Harrison

Vice President, Digital Services, Ingram Content Group

Emilie Obermiller

Digital Sales Manager, Ingram Content Group

Mastering Book Marketing: A Strategy for Every Stage

Book marketing isn't a one-time event; it’s an ongoing cycle that begins the moment a deal is signed and continues through the book’s entire life. In this master class, Joshua Tallent (Firebrand Technologies) and Kristina Radke (NetGalley) provide a comprehensive roadmap for navigating your marketing process. We will guide you through the full publication lifecycle—from pre-publication and launch to long-term backlist management—offering practical strategies to solve your toughest marketing challenges. You’ll learn how to:

- Shift from reactive marketing to intentional, strategic marketing moments
- Navigate the impact of GEO and direct-to-consumer sales on your strategy
- Implement metadata best practices that drive discoverability
- Leverage Amazon’s algorithmic flywheel to boost visibility

Kristina Radke

Kristina Radke has over 15 years of expertise in book marketing, publicity, and reader engagement. As Senior Vice President of Business Growth & Engagement at NetGalley + Booktrovert, she leads a global team specializing in high-impact discovery strategies for both frontlist and backlist titles. A firm believer that a book’s lifecycle extends far beyond its launch week, Kristina helps publishers leverage digital tools and community engagement to drive sustained ROI for their books.

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’s background is deeply rooted in ebook development, metadata, and other publishing technologies, and he is an acclaimed teacher and guide on the role of data and AI in publishing. He serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the BISG Board of Directors 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 AI coding projects.

U.S. BookScan 101: Turning Market Data into Business Insights

Join Brooke Borneman, Senior Director, Client Sales & Insights at Circana Books, for an overview of U.S. BookScan, the publishing industry's most trusted source for point-of-sale data. Go beyond your own sales results to gain a deeper understanding of what's driving the market, uncover emerging trends, benchmark performance, and identify new opportunities to grow your business. Whether you're acquiring, publishing, marketing, or selling books, BookScan provides the insights needed to make smarter decisions with confidence.

Brooke Borneman

Brooke Borneman is a Senior Director, Client Sales & Insights at Circana, a leading global advisor on consumer behavior and market intelligence. In her role, she partners with publishers and other industry stakeholders to maximize the value of Circana's data, reporting tools, and market insights by helping clients make informed strategic decisions, uncover growth opportunities, identify emerging trends, benchmark performance, and strengthen their competitive position in the marketplace. A publishing industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Brooke has built a diverse career spanning sales, marketing, business development, and client strategy. She works closely with a broad range of publishing clients, including Augsburg Press, Baker Books, Broadman & Holman, Charisma Media, Christian Art Gifts, Crossway, David C. Cook, Loyola Press, HarperCollins, Intervarsity Press, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, Tyndale House Publishers, Westminster John Knox, Passion Publishing, Our Daily Bread and many others. Prior to joining Circana, Brooke worked at Random House, Dorchester Publishing, Diamond Book Distributors, Penguin Random House and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Practical Advice for Book Publishers on Successful AI Usage

Publishers large and small are struggling to find ways to take advantage of what AI offers while mitigating the risks. This Master Class consists of three conversations with three different publishers on their AI journey- one Christian publisher, one trade publisher and one University Press, all of whom have spent a lot of time and resources evaluating AI for their publishing business. The conversations explore the obstacles to be overcome, the risks and the potential benefits. The takeaway will be tips and practical advice on navigating the journey and minimizing the risks.

Larry Bennett

Executive Director, North America, Nord Compo (moderator)

Theresa Hoffner

Theresa Hoffner is Divisional Vice President of Technology at InterVarsity Press, where she has served for the past four years. With more than 30 years in publishing, Theresa has held a range of roles including technology, print and digital production, marketing operations, and human resources. Her career reflects a deep understanding of how strong operations and technology strategy work together, and how that work ultimately equips the people who carry out publishing's mission. She currently leads IVP's exploration of AI tools, an effort that, like much of the industry, she still considers very much a work in progress.

Joe Matthews

Joe Matthews joined Independent Publishers Group in 2006 and has represented the company as the CEO since January 2016. He’s spent the last 10 years building traditional relationships, streamlining operations, and propelling IPG’s strategic initiatives. Under his leadership, IPG continues to find ways to innovate and grow in the changing landscape of publishing while remaining loyal to its core principle to support the expression of ideas, art, and culture from independent presses around the world. Now in 2026, Joe has seen IPG come to be one of the last independent distributors in the US.

Gianna Marsella

Gianna Marsella is Interim Editorial, Design, and Production Manager at University of Hawaiʻi Press, where she oversees the post-acquisitions lifecycle of all UHP titles and supervises the EDP Department. She does double duty as Managing Editor, and in that role currently manages the production of about four dozen titles annually across the humanities and the natural and social sciences, with a focus on Asia, the Pacific, and Hawaiʻi. Her curiosity about artificial intelligence evolved into her role helping lead UHP's AI efforts.

Gianna started her publishing career as a development editor at Pearson Higher Education and as managing editor grew the American Cancer Society's Book Publishing Division from a nascent imprint to an award-winning consumer health publisher. After some years as a full-time mom and part-time freelance writing coach and editor, she returned to her Hawaii home and settled into production and leadership roles at UHP.

She believes that access to knowledge, arts, and culture can transform lives, and that belief shapes her time outside the office as well. In her spare time, she volunteers and fundraises for local schools and arts organizations, tends a small tropical garden, and voraciously consumes novels and cups of tea.

Navigating the Audiobook Market

In the U.S., the Audiobook Publishers Association reported that audiobook revenue reached $2.43 billion in 2025, up 9% from the previous year and continuing a long-term trend of strong year-over-year growth. For Christian publishers, this represents an opportunity to put life-changing books in front of people who may never sit down to read them.

Bookwire has a team of experts to help publishers navigate the audiobook landscape. In this session, they will weigh the pros and cons of AI narration versus human narration, offer tips and tricks to ensure your audiobook is set up for success, and provide an overview of Bookwire’s own WAY (We Audiobook You) program.

Kassara Meek

Senior Business Development Manager, US Audio

What AI Really Costs a Publisher: Tokens, Time, and the Realities of AI in the Publishing Industry

Join industry experts Rodney Elder and Cameron Verrells for an exclusive webinar unpacking the realities of implementing Artificial Intelligence in the publishing industry. While AI offers incredible potential, navigating its integration can be complex. In this session, Rodney and Cameron will draw directly from their real-life experiences working alongside publishers to reveal what truly works, what doesn't, and why setting up an integrated, trained AI model into your existing workflow is the most sustainable way forward.

What You Will Learn: We are cutting through the hype to bring you practical, actionable insights based on actual publisher experiences. During this session, we will explore:

- Real-Life AI Scenarios: Discover how publishers are actively using AI right now, highlighting the tangible benefits they are seeing and the critical pitfalls they must avoid.
- The Integrated Approach: Understand the negative consequences of isolated AI interactions versus the operational power of embedding a trained model directly into your publishing workflow.
- Strategic Decision-Making: Explore the various AI options available for specific publishing tasks and how to choose the right tools for your unique process.
- Cost & Output Implications: Learn how to navigate the financial impact of different AI decisions and anticipate the varying qualities of output based on your chosen strategy.

Who Should Attend? Publishing professionals, workflow managers, and operational leaders looking to understand the practical applications, costs, and necessary strategies for successful AI implementation.

Rodney Elder

Rodney Elder is EVP, North America at Virtusales. He has worked in the publishing industry for 20 years across North America, Europe and Australasia, with clients including Macmillan, Harvard, Princeton and the United Methodist Publishing House, implementing new technologies to support process efficiencies and best practice. Over the past 18 years, Rodney has led the operations at Virtusales North America.

Cameron Verrells

Cameron Verrells joined Virtusales in 2022 after graduating with a BSc in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. With a background in Natural Language Processing and Supervised Machine Learning, he leverages his expertise to collaborate with customers on AI and Machine Learning developments within BiblioSuite.

Sprayed Edge: A Lasting Trend - What publishers need to know about creating beautiful and impactful sprayed edge books

Create standout sprayed edge books with confidence! In this Master Class, Friesens Prepress, Production, and Project Specialist teams walk through the full process, from design choices and color strategy to manufacturing considerations, timelines, and best practices, so publishers can plan more effectively and bring eye-catching books to life.

Brandie Herrell

Brandie Herrell is Friesens' Trade Book Sales Representative for the Southeast U.S., New Jersey, and Delaware. She enjoys helping authors and publishers bring their vision to life, guiding them through choices that make their books both beautiful and affordable. Known for her responsiveness and dependable service, Brandie takes pride in treating every project with care. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, especially at the beach.

David Thiessen

David Thiessen is an Electronic PrePress (EPP) Cover Operator at Friesens, where he works with customer cover files to ensure they are accurate, production-ready, and meet quality standards. He enjoys the variety of designs he gets to work on and takes pride in his attention to detail. Before joining the cover team in 2024, David worked as a Planner and VPS Checker. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, target shooting, and following his favorite motorsports, including Formula 1 and WEC.

Kailyn Hildebrand

Kailyn Hildebrand is Friesens’ Trade Book Project Specialist serving Canada's East Coast, the U.S. West Coast, and the Rocky Mountain region. She enjoys helping authors and publishers bring their ideas to life and loves seeing those "ah-ha!" moments when customers gain confidence in the book manufacturing process. With strong production knowledge and a practical approach to problem-solving, Kailyn helps customers turn their vision into a finished book. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, traveling, time at the cottage, and cheering on her son at hockey games.

Phil Funk

Phil Funk is a Kolbus Stamper Operator at Friesens and has been part of the team for 23 years. For the past two years, he has specialized in stamping operations, where he enjoys keeping equipment running smoothly and helping bring covers with unique design features to life. Phil takes pride in producing quality work and solving challenges on the production floor. Outside of work, he enjoys gardening and tackling projects around the house.