A Recap of BISG's 2024 Annual Meeting

BISG’s 2024 Annual Meeting, “Everybody Wins: Rethinking How the Book Industry Communicates”, delivered a day packed with insight, direction, and hope for the book publishing community. The meeting discussed BISG initiatives in areas that included rights, supply chain, and BISAC subject codes, before wrapping up with a call to action to create a supply chain that supports “Book Publishing Next”.

The day opened with BISG board members Joshua Tallent (Firebrand Technologies), James Miller (B&N), and Andrea Fleck-Nisbet (IBPA) discussing the board’s work to refine BISG’s strategy for the next three years. Outlining a “virtuous circle”, they described four strategies that focus on inclusion, research, standards, and education. The board members also talked about five initiatives planned for the next three years to implement these strategies. More details of this updated strategy will be shared in a post planned for early May.

BISG Rights Committee Chair Kris Kliemann (Kliemann & Company) then led a panel discussion of the opportunities available to the industry in developing a standard for how information is communicated when reporting on rights and royalty deals. The conversation was later bolstered by BISG Executive Director Brian O’Leary, whose closing keynote “Book Publishing Next” outlined BISG’s belief that revenue growth will increasingly rely on successful exploitation of publishing rights.

In “Moving Out of the Tower of Babel: Improving Efficiencies Across the Supply Chain”, BISG Supply Chain Committee Chair Ken Brooks (Amplify Education) led a discussion of work that BISG is leading to "transform supply chain communications". The result is a recommendation to let your systems do the talking, via APIs, enhanced EDI, and standards that allow for accuracy and scale while reducing errors. This project is one of the five initiatives included in BISG’s updated strategy.

The morning closed with a Bookscan look at trends in sales by BISAC codes, delivered by Circana’s David Walter. His talk was followed by a discussion of “How Standards for Product Metadata Reflect Shifts in Culture”, and overview of the work done by BISG’s Subject Codes Committee. Its chair, Connie Harbison (Baker & Taylor), offered an overview of the committee’s processes, while other members of the committee shared their experiences keeping BISAC both up to date and relevant to the industry. A notable takeaway was B&N's expressed support for widespread use of BISG's merchandising themes to increase book discovery.  

As had been announced in March, BISG recognized Phil Ollila (Ingram), Walter Mosley, and Scribd with its 12th annual industry awards. Respectively, the honorees were introduced by Lorraine Shanley (Market Partners International), Michael Pietsch (Hachette Book Group), and Brian O’Leary.

Closing the day, O’Leary provided an overview of the changes the organization is working to enable over the next three years in "Book Publishing Next." These efforts are motivated by a belief that revenue growth in book publishing will require the ability to exploit rights at scale, while relatively flat product sales will demand a commitment to efficiency and effective use of standards. He linked those perspectives to the work planned in and around BISG’s five standing committees, calling on those attending to support and get involved in that work.

The meeting adjourned to a well-attended closing reception, where conversations that started at the meeting continued until late afternoon. Press coverage included reports in Publishers Weekly, Publishers Lunch, and The Bookseller. BISG member companies Bowker, Woodland Group, and WoodWing provided invaluable sponsorship support that made the meeting possible.

The next BISG annual meeting will take place on April 25, 2025 at a location in New York to be announced later this year. Mark your calendars!