How to use your website to drive sales, lower costs, and showcase your books

A great website is now a must for every publishing house. Your website is the online home of your books, and the best source of information about them. It can also be a vital sales channel and a powerful way to engage with readers, authors, donors, and other important audiences. This session will focus on best practice examples drawn from a diverse portfolio of publisher websites, including small literary presses, children's publishers, educational publishers, and scholarly presses.

Participants will learn how to:

• Structure the press website to save staff time and costs
• Boost title discovery through better bibliographic metadata
• Effectively present your catalogue online and make it easier for readers to explore
• Do more with less when it comes to book sales and marketing
• Drive consumer sales with effective promotions
• Organize efficient fulfillment for direct orders

Our presenter, Craig Riggs, has worked in and around publishing for more than 20 years. He is a principal in the industry consultancy Turner-Riggs, and a co-founder of ReaderBound, a specialized builder of customized e-commerce websites for book publishers. His current portfolio emphasizes the development of new web platforms, publishing technology, and reader engagement. He leads the 49thShelf.com project for the Association of Canadian Publishers, and is actively engaged in commissioned research on book marketing, book discovery, and consumer behaviour. He holds a Masters in Publishing and is an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University.