On 22 Sept 2016, we put on From Zero to Hero, a full day event at Rich Mix, London. We decided to bring together a whole range of new publishers who are doing things differently in the digital age. All of our Heroes had one thing in common – they all have managed to get their companies and projects going from scratch. Each speaker had a unique tale to tell about how their project began and how they’ve kept it going.
Aimed at anyone who had thought about setting up a publishing company, a magazine or tried to work out how to get a publishing project off the ground; we looked at how to get creative content out into the world and asked what it meant to publish in the digital age.
The sessions included:
KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE. To begin the day, we explored the importance of understanding who you’re publishing for and how to reach them. Chaired by Miriam Robinson, with Martin Usborne (Hoxton Mini Press), Miranda West (Do Book Company), Kirsty Allison (Sylvia Plath Fan Club / COLD LIPS zine), Valerie Brandes (Jacaranda Books).
FINDING YOUR MODEL. To compete in a crowded and changing marketplace, more publishers are turning to new models to reach readers. In this session, we explored the steps to defining your model and making it work for you. Chaired by John Bond (whitefox), with Anna Jean Hughes (Pigeonhole), Michael Bhaskar (Canelo) and David Cadji Newby (Lost My Name).
DEVELOPING CONTENT AND VISUAL STORIES. Both physical and digital publishers are harnessing the power of the visual in storytelling – our final session of the day explored this visual trend and its ability to disrupt content as we know it. Chaired by Molly Flatt (The Bookseller), with Dorothea Martin (oolipo), Crystal Mahey-Morgan (OWN IT!), Anna Gerber & Britt Iversen (Visual Editions).
The event was attended by around 90 people across publishing, digital agencies, education sector, British Council, Arts Council England and Spread the Word and was partnered by Aesop, Aive Water and Mast Brothers.
In the lead up to the event, many of our speakers participated in a ‘5 Minutes with our Heroes’ online series. Read these here.
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