Featuring special guest speakers: Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, IBPA Chief Executive Officer, and Lee Wind, IBPA Chief Content Officer
“Attending a national or regional publishing conference can transform your career and your business—if you know how to work it.”
Whether you’re planning to attend IBPA’s PubU 2025 (coming to the Twin Cities in May 2025!), a regional bookseller expo, an author festival, or a major trade event like ALA, preparation is the secret to turning opportunities into results.
In this lively and insightful session, our friends at IBPA will discuss how to look at your current needs as a publisher and
- Build your knowledge by targeting the right sessions, speakers, and discussions to fuel your growth.
- Boost your confidence with a strategy to meet the right people—publishers, authors, vendors, and industry experts.
- Open your eyes to new markets, partnerships, and trends you might not have seen before.
- Set clear goals for author-focused events, publisher education programs, industry sales expos, and consumer book fairs—and tailor your approach to each.
With years of hands-on experience navigating the highs and lows of conferences, and hosting the largest annual conference for independent publishers, our IBPA guests will share real-world tips, stories, and strategies.
Learn how to walk into any event with focus and purpose, make meaningful connections, and come away inspired, informed, and ready to take action.
Don’t miss this chance to learn how conferences can build your network, elevate your business, and ignite your publishing journey.
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Time: Networking “open mic” starts at 6:30 PM CT; program starts at 7:00 PM CT
Location: On Zoom
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIsd-Csqj4jEtbtYL6xROOGXURFOwcweOba
Speakers
Andrea Fleck-Nisbet is CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association. Previously, she was founding VP and publisher at Harper Horizon, a nonfiction imprint of HarperCollins. She has also held positions at Ingram Content Group as Director, Content Acquisition and Workman Publishing, where she spent 15 years learning the business and craft of good publishing. Andrea is especially passionate about educating publishers on efficiently managing their business so they can focus on the joy of making good books.
Lee Wind (he/him) aims to make IBPA education both informative and actionable, and is constantly iterating IBPA’s book marketing programs to help members’ books achieve and succeed. A book blogger and author-publisher himself, Lee is passionate about empowering and amplifying independent voices. As an author, Lee writes stories to empower kids and teens to be their authentic selves and change the world—the same books that would have changed his life as a young gay, Jewish kid. Visit Lee’s author website at leewind.org
PubU Dates and Deadlines
- This event: MiPA “Getting the Most” meeting: Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (free)
- Early bird PubU registration deadline: January 31, 2025
- Pre-event in-person mixer: * Updated * Thursday, March 20, 2025 (free)
- “As the Expert” sign-ups begin in advance of the conference
- Conference workshops: Thursday, May 15, 2025
- “Literature and Libations” Open Mixer (cash bar): Thursday, May 15, 2025
- Main conference: Friday, May 16, 2025 – Saturday, May 17, 2025
- Includes keynotes, multi-track seminars, and “Ask the Expert” one-on-one sessions
