Book-Marketing Summit Planned Saturday in Clayton

Maria Rodgers O'Rourke said the recent shuttering of a major bookseller generated public awareness of issues facing the book industry. Now, her organization is planning a weekend summit in aimed at helping participants market effectively in the changing world of publishing.

"I don't think that the general public really understood what was happening in the book industry until Borders announced their bankruptcy earlier this year," said Rodgers O'Rourke, vice president of the St. Louis Publishers Association.

The group's book-marketing event, titled "Masters of Book Marketing Summit," runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the . It is open to the public, including people who have never written a book. Speakers will include Judith Briles, author of The Book Shepherd; Brian Jud, a book-marketing consultant who hosts the TV show The Book Authority and is the author of How to Make Real Money Selling Books; and Dan Poynter, a well-known figure in the self-publishing industry.

The publishers association, which has more than 120 members, meets monthly to discuss topics of interest to those in writing and publishing, to network and to share ideas. It attends events such as The Big Read in Clayton. They also conduct workshops at bookstores.

It also generally offers a workshop toward the end of the year with in-depth information about the industry. About 50 people planned to attend this year's event as of last week, and organizers hoped to get an additional 50 signed up.

The event aims to show participants how they can can articulate the subject and value of their publications and how they can get the word out through print ads, Facebook, blogs and other mediums. Additionally, many sales opportunities available today didn't exist in the past, Rodgers O'Rourke said. Authors can now sell to non-retail buyers such as corporations, industry associations, schools and the military.

"There's a whole strategy behind how to position your book and get it in front of people," Rodgers O'Rourke said. Authors would be wise to think about sales before publication, she said.

In the future, successful publishing companies will continue printing certain material while also maintaining an online presence, Rodgers O'Rourke said.

"I believe that there is always going to be a market for paper books. … And I think that moving forward, the successful publishing companies will have a very savvy approach that is both the paper book in the traditional format that we're so used to, and they understand the online world and how people are gathering their information on that platform more and more," she said.

Registration for Saturday's event may be completed online and costs $149. Members of the publishers association get a $20 discount. For an additional fee, participants may have dinner and a round-table discussion with the speakers. An agenda for the book-marketing summit is available online.