For the first time since its inception, the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association’s annual conference is taking place outside of Marin County. The institute’s new venue is Nile Hall in Preservation Park. That means less of a drive for me as I head over to record it. For those who might be worried about parking in downtown Oakland, don’t. First, you have the option to take BART to 12th Street and not worry about a car at all, and second, there’s free parking at 1250 Martin Luther King Way, across from Preservation Park.
The topic for the 2011 conference is “How To Make Real Money Selling Your Books.” Given that most traditionally-published books don’t earn out their advances and most self-published books sell about 200 copies and net the authors about enough for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, this is guaranteed to be a subject of interest to authors and publishers alike.
There are three morning keynotes, two sets of afternoon breakout sessions, and a closing keynote. The keynote speakers are Jim Horan, Brian Jud, and the team of Jon Tandler and Lloyd Rich.
If you pre-register before February 28th, you also get to attend two webinars with Brian Jud:
February 28, 4:00 PM
How to Find More Buyers for Your Books in Non-Bookstore Markets
March 7, 4:00 PM
Preparing a Proposal And Making Presentations For Large-Quantity Sales
Registration is $139 for members and $159 for non-members—a steal by comparison with the cost of other writers’ conferences. And while BAIPA focuses on small publishers and authors who plan to self-publish, there’s a lot of useful information for any author here.
After all, whether you self-publish or go with a traditional publisher, you’re going to need to know about marketing, intellectual property law, the way e-books are revolutionizing the publishing industry, and what an editor can do for you—particularly in light of recent news that many publishing houses are laying off their editors and pushing responsibility for that task onto authors and freelancers.