The NYU Advanced Publishing Institute 2026 Agenda: A Sampling

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Theme: Building Consumer Connections: Companies Shaping the Industry

1. Opening Keynote
   Jon Yaged, CEO of Macmillan Publishers, rings in API 2026, sharing his overview of the current publishing landscape, and the challenges and growth opportunities that lie ahead.
2. Ideas with Impact: A Leading Journalist and a Bestselling Author Speak Out
   In this session two influential literary forces, author Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times Book Review Editor Gilbert Cruz, meet for a fireside chat to discuss the importance of the book industry, now more than ever, in shaping and communicating the key ideas of our times.
3. From Audience Reach to ROI: LinkedIn's Content Strategy
   Catherine Taibi, LinkedIn’s Director, Business Development, explores best practices for leveraging the platform's unique offerings like video, newsletters and live events to support authors, campaigns, and brand awareness, as well as how to unlock revenue growth with creator monetization programs like BrandLink. 
4. Audio, AI and Globalisation: Navigating the New Era of Publishing
   Helena Gustafsson, Storytel’s Chief Content and Publishing Officer, discusses the importance of discoverability and where tech, sales, and markets are heading.
5. Closing Talk/Workshop: Gravitas Unleashed: Your Authentic Path to Influence 
   True gravitas is not about a powerful voice; it's about a powerful message delivered with a foundation of integrity and trust. In this closing workshop, Executive Coach Stacey Staaterman will guide attendees to translate their expertise into genuine influence. The session will review foundations in presenting in person and online, as well as overcoming imposter syndrome, and how to cultivate a powerful presence that secures buy-in and inspires collaboration to fuel results.

Theme: Consumer Insights: Your Instant Access to Discoverability

1. Data by the Numbers - The Current Landscape
   How can data help us identify business opportunities? David Walter, Executive Director of Circana, presents a comprehensive analysis of book industry sales with a focus on formats, demographics, and high-level trends in the US book market, along with competing publishing adjacencies such as toys and games. The latest insights into the purchasing power of Gen Z will round out the session.
2. Consumer Insights Reimagined: Data and Behavior
   Bethan Ferguson, Director of Consumer Insights, Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK, examines a practical, decision-focused approach to help shape acquisitions, positioning, and creative strategy. Drawing on real-world experience supporting editors and marketers across markets, she’ll explore how cultural and behavioral signals can sharpen publishing instincts and support more confident, audience-aware decisions.
3. What are People Reading? How to Use Data to Spot Trends in the Book Marketplace
   Reid Welsh, Penguin Random House’s VP of Insights & Analytics, outlines how to use data and analytics to determine trends and buying patterns, as well as how to inform book acquisitions and sales decisions.
4. The Shifting Sands of Search: How AI is Changing the Publishing Landscape
   Keith Riegert, CEO of Ulysses Press, VeloPress Books, and Perfect Bound, and President of The Stable Book Group, shares how AI has impacted SEO and metadata. Using case studies of Google SGE, Amazon A10, and other tools, this session will deepen your understanding of how to make your books and authors as discoverable as possible.
5. The New Value Proposition of Public Libraries
   Brad Rose, Vice President of Content Strategy at Hoopla Digital, discusses the changing digital landscape of public libraries today, and how the library reader differs from the book buyer. What are the discovery and sales strategies that will best attract the library market, and how can publishers reach this critical part of the digital distribution ecosystem? This session will share insights into the unique opportunities that libraries are positioned to deliver.

Theme: Capturing Consumer Interest through Mindful Marketing

1. The Art of Writing and Rapport: How an Author Markets to Connect with Readers
   Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one fiction and nonfiction books, discusses her life as a writer as well as her approach to connecting with her readers in multiple ways, marketing across multiple platforms. Using her new bestseller The View From Lake Como as a case study, she will take us inside the marketing campaign and how she shaped the concept and delivery from day one.
2. Setting Up For Marketing Success (Panel):
   Top marketing executives Kristin Fassler (SVP, Director of Marketing Strategy and Engagement, Penguin Random House), Leigh Marchant (CMO, Hachette Book Group), Alyson Forbes (Publisher & COO, Catapult Book Group), and Brandon Grant-Walker (VP of Content Marketing and Brand Development, Simon & Schuster) discuss how to craft an unstoppable marketing and social media strategy, including the importance of content and brand marketing, and structuring a top-notch marketing and social media department.
3. Communication Strategies for Tomorrow Shifting Missions = Shifting Messaging
   Gabrielle Gambrell, Chief Communications Officer at Hachette Book Group, US and UK shares the ideation behind her branding and marketing communications strategies, outlining how corporate decisions translate into creative messaging. For any company, large or small, contemplating a different or wider audience, corporate structure, or overall brand awareness, matching the mission with the message is key.
4. Substack & The New Independent Media Movement
   Dan Stone, Head of Culture Stars at Substack, shares strategies and best practices to demonstrate how Substack has grown beyond newsletters to include community chats, author conversations, podcasts, live video, and more, and how these tools help authors build their communities, expand their reach, and form deeper connections with their audiences in ways other social media apps are not designed to support.
5. Finding your Marketing Niche
   How do you transform and reinvent a 100 year old company into a household name that consumers know and trust? John Lippman (Executive Chairman) & Brianna Goodman (Editorial Director) share the secret marketing sauce behind the reinvention and relaunch of Book of the Month, providing actionable strategies and key takeaways for any company considering not only a subscription model, but also targeted title marketing to reach a niche audience.

Theme: The Future of Audio and AI

1. Data Dive into the Audio Juggernaut
   Javier Celaya, Founder of Dosdoce.com, shares his findings and takeaways from more than 150 studies and reports on the use of new technologies around the globe and their impact on audio. This session will provide key data points and information on worldwide content creation, business models, distribution, marketing, and more.
2. Expanding Your Audience: How Spotify Transformed Listeners into Readers
   Niamh Parsley, Director of Product Design, Audiobooks for Spotify, shares insights into the company’s rapid advancements and evolution from music, to podcasting, and now to audiobooks, video content, and self-publishing, revealing the ideation behind Spotify's growth, and how publishers big and small can pivot, innovate, and grow their audiences.
3. The New Voice of Publishing: How AI Audio is Transforming Audiobooks
   Madeline Shue, Head of Publishing Partnerships at Eleven Labs, offers an industry overview of the AI text-to-speech landscape, including which areas are successfully working and scaling, what this means for backlist and translated/foreign titles, and where the space is moving in the future.
4. More Straplines, Fewer Stress Lines: AI Customization for Creative Acceleration
   In this hands-on presentation and workshop, NYU faculty member and nonprofit digital strategist Boris Kievsky offers practical skills through hands-on training that move beyond generic AI prompts. You'll learn to build your own customized Gems, AI "assistants" to help automate repetitive work and ensure that every output reflects your unique brand voice. From crafting book titles to impactful marketing and sales handles and more, these tools will become your next competitive edge.

Theme: Publishing Plus: The Global Conversation…and More

1. Inside Book to Screen
   What's working in the book to screen marketplace around the globe? Hear from key players representing the studio, the streamer, the agent, and the book editor as they share trends, decision making. and best practices from multiple vantage points. Publishers big and small will benefit from this candid conversation on what really influences the process. Case studies and some surprising successes will round out this important discussion.
2. Eye on International: How an Indie Publisher Created Global Collaborations Christie Henry, Director of Princeton University Press, will discuss how small to mid-sized publishers with limited resources can expand into global markets on an international scale, while maintaining and strengthening their core business. Christie will provide a case study on Princeton's strategic initiative to develop an institutional, retail, and online presence in the Asian market, and how their experience can provide ideas and inspiration for other indies.
3. Global Voices: The Expanding World of Works in Translation
   Creating a strong presence in translated works, both fiction and non-fiction, is now a key part of a global publishing strategy for publishers big and small. Juan Milà, Editorial Director of HarperVia at HarperCollins, takes us inside the world of storytelling for a borderless audience, sharing strategies for title selection, creating covers that resonate across the globe, and insights into trends and tactics influencing the rights market.