The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua Tallent

Michael Johnson is the Vice President of Content at Benetech. In this role, he works directly with publishers, conversion houses, technology platforms, retailers, and educational institutions to help them understand and implement processes that allow for fully accessible content to get from authors all the way through to the end reader. He also has a long-time relationship to publishing standards having sat on several ISO, NISO, BISG, and MARC standards committees throughout his career and currently sits on the Board of Directors for DAISY.

With almost 40 years of experience in the technology, publishing, and distribution markets, Michael joins us on the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss the services that Benetech offers to create accessible ebooks, such as Bookshare, and provides advice on how to make books GCA (Global Certified Accessible) certified.
Visit the following links to learn more:

Kristina will be providing training for NetGalley users and publishers at the Publishing Innovation Forum, September 24-26, in Nashville, TN! This conference is open to the entire publishing community and will focus on the many changes our industry has faced, and how to prepare and adapt for the future.

Follow Kristina Radke on LinkedIn! Visit NetGalley.com for more information on their service.

Beat Barblan is the General Manager of Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the United States and Australia. As a senior level publishing technology and international standards executive, Beat joins us on the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss Bowker's evolving role in the publishing industry and their efforts to support authors and publishers, as well as the important of metadata in book discoverability.

To learn more about Bowker or to get in touch with Beat, visit myidentifiers.com.

According to a report released by the American Library Association, Gen Z and Millennials are visiting public libraries at higher rates than previous generations, and also prefer print books over other formats. Dr. Kathi Inman Berens and Dr. Rachel Noorda from Portland State University authored this annual survey to capture how these younger generations read and discover books. They joined the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss their findings in detail and talk about what some of the results mean for book publishers. 

The survey is titled: Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through Media Use. Results from the survey include (but are not limited to): 

Dr. Kathi Inman Berens is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar of digital culture, former Annenberg Innovation Lab Fellow, prize-winning author, and Associate Professor of Book Publishing and Digital Humanities at Portland State University. Dr. Rachel Noorda is Director

Miriam Warren is a Director at The Fisher Company, which provides international mergers and acquisition services for print and digital publishing media and technology sectors. Her eleven years in academic publishing give her a comprehensive knowledge of a publisher’s specific needs, from acquisition and peer review process through print and ebook production.

Miriam also served as President of the Board of Directors for PubWest for nearly six years. She joins the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss the process of The Fisher’s Company’s mergers and acquisitions and gives advice to publishers thinking about selling their company or acquiring an additional one.

Learn more about The Fisher Company at www.thefishercompany.com. Email them today for a free consultation!