While last year the discussions around AI, already very well attended, remained at the stage of generalities, during the 14e Publishers Conference in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) which was held this Sunday, November 3, concrete solutions were presented by players from around the world for all types of publishing projects.
“We talk about AI in a more uninhibited way than in Europe”
It’s a relevant format. The day was punctuated by masterclass of a general nature with major international leaders who came to present their vision of the book world, like this year John Ingrampatron d’Ingram Industries Inc., ou Chantal Restivo-Alessidigital director at HarperCollins. The latter was delighted with the way “ more uninhibited to talk about AI here rather than in Europe ».
The moment also offered over four sessions the opportunity to listen to an expert in a small group. Thirty tables with a dozen seats were set up and everyone was free to attend those that interested them. From the distribution and production of audio Books to the focus on the book market in the United States through co-publishing in children's literature, the subjects were divided into four themes and, like last year, these are the tables evoking the 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) which have been the most attractive.
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Ici, Brooke Dobson presents the start-up Shimmr which it is developing on the production of marketing content for books using AI. “ This is a real opportunity for the deep back listthe back of the catalog of a publishing house », she boasts, exposing her technology which highlights the content of a title in no time to create digital advertising around it. Based in London and launched in September 2023, the start-up, which counts among its investors Marcus Dohlformer CEO of Penguin Random House, omnipresent in Sharjah as a member of the board of directors of the Sharjah book authority which organizes the meeting, is for the moment restricted to the English-speaking book market but should become international as soon as 2025.
A conversational robot, a real virtual bookseller
Another revolution presented in Sharjah and which will be launched next January, the conversational robot Chai reader from the Indian company Ailaysa, is similar to a real virtual bookseller. This time, no language barrier: like chatGPT, the application offers to answer readers' questions on a particular title. “ There is no question of disseminating the content of the bookspecifies immediately Senthil Nathanfounder of the company based between Chennai (capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, India) and New York, but to answer the question like a person who has read it “. The fascinating tool obviously allows you to purchase the book via a link to an online marketplace. The company is paid by subscription for this BtoC service, with the publisher paying nothing by securely providing its titles in PDF format which are analyzed by AI.
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As for French guests, there is also talk of AI with Virginia Clayssendirector of heritage and digitalization of the Editis group who presents to French-speaking publishers the points of vigilance and opportunities of AI. “ You have to know it to criticize it and fight it on the level of intellectual property, the oil of publishers “, she insists.
Personalization of books
Not far from there, the Franco-American Anna Lamp discusses the programs developed by the small team of six people of which she is a part at Hachette in the innovation laboratory of the third largest group in the world. “ We are looking for devices that allow us to increase our income », explains the young senior project manager.
Recovery of reader data, a device for analyzing the way people look at covers or even animation of the latter when the reader scans them with a smartphone in a bookstore are all programs recently launched by this office which connects start-ups and publishers to direct the products of the former towards the needs of the latter. “ One of the major issues we are working on today is the personalization of books. », confides the one who believes that the emergence of generative AI has swept away the development of the metaverse. At least temporarily. “ The metaverse is a good marketing tool but still too expensive. We'll come back to that later “, she assures.
Moving to the table dedicated to business models in the audiobook, we see that the subject of AI is better known, because it has been discussed for a longer time. However, here too, developments remain possible, always thanks to AI. “ The UK market is expected to double by 2029 »assure Jon Watts by Bonniers Books. Projections which are based on “ the possibility of integrating booksellers into the audiobook sales force », continues the Norwegian Nathan Hull from Beat Technology. Here too, one of the challenges is personalization in the sales process.
An issue which will also, in the paper edition, “ call into question the already fragile economic model of printers » sighs the Italian Diego Radicipresident of the Italian printing group Elcograf who, like many in Sharjah, believes that with AI we are only at the beginning of a dizzying revolution for the book industry.
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This informative meeting on projects developed throughout the entire publishing world is being held before two days of rights exchanges with rights directors, such as Shashank Gupta of the Media Participations group representing the DC Comics catalog and agent, as Raphaël Thierry from the Ægitna agency, as well as a delegation of 24 French-speaking African publishers, all invited by the Sharjah Book Authority.
« Bringing people, books and ideas together is our mission », declared at the opening of the congress Cheikha Bodourformer president of the International Publishers Association and host of the event. “ Be sure that every voice and every culture has the opportunity here to be seen and listened to “, she concluded. According to our count, almost 500 people attended this conference.
