PI Trade Day 2019 – “Looking Inwards, Looking Outwards”

The Seventh annual Publishing Ireland Trade Day boasted a wide and varied cross section of speakers from the industry. 

Philip Stone from Nielsen BookScan began by looking at trends in the Irish market followed by a talk from the frontlines of Irish bookselling from Bob Johnston of the Gutter Bookshop. A panel discussion followed with Irish publishers Gills Books, Eastwood Books and No Alibis Press outlined the opportunities and challenges involved in identifying new areas within the Irish market. 

Philip Stone took to the stage again later, taking attendees through global publishing trends and how they compare in the context of the Irish publishing industry. 

The Keynote speaker for 2019 was Tony Potter of iSeek who shared his extensive experience as a writer, designer, packager and publisher. 

The day concluded with a panel discussion of three experts whose businesses are constantly looking to take the book in new directions. On the panel were Simone Drinkwater, Vice President of Casemate, Ben Drury of Yoto and Sheila Crowley of world renowned literary agency, Curtis Brown.