On June 3, 795 publishing professionals from across all sectors of the book business converged on the New York Academy of Medicine in Harlem for the fifth annual U.S. Book Show, hosted by Publishers Weekly. The daylong event featured panel discussions, breakout sessions, and industry mixers.

Kicking off the program was a keynote conversation between Joy Bivins, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, and Randy Winston, creative director of fiction at The Black List. Bivins discussed the Schomburg Center’s upcoming centennial exhibition, "100 Years of Collections, Community, and Creativity," which draws from its 11-million-item collection and features materials from such literary giants as Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry, alongside a festival and other programming initiatives.

Bivins described the Schomburg Center, which is part of the New York Public Library System, as "one of the most impactful institutions preserving and providing access to Black history and culture” and said its existence reflects "that impetus to preserve and steward one's own heritage.” The Schomburg Center’s roots trace back to Puerto Rican–born scholar and bibliophile Arturo Schomburg, who "utilized these materials—books, manuscripts—as part of a collective ethos to signify and provide evidence that people of African descent had deep and rich history," Bivins said.

Reflecting on her tenure, Bivins said, "When I look back, I'll get to say I was the leader of the Schomburg Center when it celebrated 100 years, and now I'm part of a legacy that is bigger than I am."

CEOs in Conversation

At the first panel of the day, moderated by PW editorial director Jonathan Segura, Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp and Hachette Book Group CEO David Shelley discussed AI, data-driven decision-making, indie publishing, book banning, and DEI.

Shelley described AI as "definitely the biggest development that I've seen" in his 30-year career, adding, "I think in this position, I would be remiss not to feel concerned about it." Both executives also emphasized concerns about intellectual property protection. "The works that we create and put into the world digitally should not be stolen by these AI companies for their platforms," Karp said. "There are a lot of lawsuits going on, and I certainly hope that the creator communities that are waging these lawsuits will prevail."

The executives also described how data analytics have transformed publishing operations. "It's transformative in terms of something like print runs," Shelley said. "Now with pre-order data and analytics, we can make much smarter decisions about print quantities, which is great for the environment as much as anything. The amount of wastage we have now is so much lower than before."

When asked about supporting independent publishers, Karp acknowledged that he “[hasn’t] given that much thought to that question." Meanwhile, Shelley identified distribution services as one area of support. "We sell and distribute for a number of smaller presses," he said. "We've definitely lowered our thresholds in terms of revenue."

Recent legal challenges to book banning efforts also came up, with Shelley praising industry coordination through the Association of American Publishers. Karp emphasized grassroots resistance as the most effective response: "I think the most important thing is to remember that in a democracy, we have the power to organize and fight these book bans at the community level.”

As DEI also becomes a hot-button issue under the new administration, Karp said, "We certainly are not going to back down on a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Shelley framed diversity initiatives in business terms, noting that around 30% of the books HBG publishes in the U.S. are sold outside the country.

“We're serving a wide world of readers, a wide diversity of readers," Shelley said, adding: "To serve those communities, we need to be representative of the wider world. If we don't have diverse organizations, then we're monocultural. If we're monocultural, we can't serve a variety of cultures."

Passing the Torch

At “Passing the Torch: Cultivating the Next Generation of Publishing Leaders” a panel of industry experts stressed the importance of cultures of open communication, mentorship, and peer support to empowering young employees and increasing retention rates.

Devi Pillai, president and publisher of Tor Publishing Group, said it’s important to to create “an environment where [people] feel comfortable speaking up.” The Tor team, she said, “has no problem telling me what I’m doing wrong,” adding that she relishes the feedback because “a lot of young people are smarter than I am,” particularly about media and publishing trends.

Sloan Harris, co-head of the books department at CAA, said he encourages his younger colleagues “to read anything I’m working on” and offer feedback. “The most fun part of my job, Harris said, “is having someone who’s new in the business read me the riot act first thing in the morning about what I’m not getting right about a manuscript.”

Erinn McGrath, founder of Full Story, stressed that a core part of managers’ jobs is “getting to know someone, and what their strengths are and what they’re interested in.” Sally Kim, president and publisher of Little, Brown, said she did just this when she took over the publisher. Kim met with all 65 LB staffers one-on-one and asked about “their hobbies [and] what they liked to read” so that when LB acquired a book that aligned with their interests, she could ask for their perspectives. Involving employees in this way, Kim said, “makes us better publishers.”

McGrath and Harris concurred that coming into the office creates unparalleled opportunities for mentorship. Harris said in-person work is “the only way” he can mentor younger colleagues, and stressed that companies need to incentivize those workers to come into the office as a way to participate in what he called “an old fashioned apprenticeship program.” However, Emi Ikkanda, executive editor at Tiny Reparations Books, noted that for many people of color, being in the office often comes with enduring microaggressions, creating a preference for working from home, which in turn leads to lost opportunities for mentorship.

Ikkeda also noted that low retention rates are “a huge problem” in publishing and stressed that “finding a peer group outside of your company,” as well as “peer mentorship” from colleagues, are essential to keeping entry-level employees in publishing for the long haul.