Readmagine 2018 included the 5th International Digital Distributors Meeting, organized by IPDA and FANDE. During the meeting there was a dialogue on self-publishing which aimed provide with some insights about this issue to the audience -composed by professionals of the book industry- and visualize the business opportunities that could emerge from the self-publishing.
The participants were moderated by Javier Celaya and were the three of them experts on self-publishing: Orna Ross, Ashleigh Gardner and Mattias Matting. The participants discussed on the data on self-publishing figures or the overproduction.
Orna Ross is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and poet and founder of two influential online creative communities: The Alliance of Independent Authors and The Creativist Club. A storyteller, word lover and creative connector, she shows indie authors and other creative entrepreneurs how to make a living doing the work they love… the creative way. “One of the 100 most influential people in publishing.” The Bookseller-. Previously Orna Ross publishes guidebooks for self-publishing authors and creative entrepreneurs as well as cross-generational, trans-Atlantic, historical fiction, multi-layered stories in which buried secrets from the past erupt into the present. She also writes inspirational poetry and has recently begun adapting her novels for screen.
The power and potential of digital publishing led her to take her rights back from her publisher in 2011 and she founded the Alliance of Independent Authors at London Book Fair in 2012. She is now a passionate advocate for self-publishing as artistic expression, viable business option for authors, and necessary skill for every business in today’s digital, networked economy.
Matthias Matting is the founder of Selfpublisherbibel.de, Germany’s most important source on all aspects of self-publishing. After studying physics, he worked as a journalist for major German media for 20 Years to finally become a self-published bestselling author. He writes Science Fiction under the pen name of Brandon Q. Morris.
Ashleigh Gardner is the Deputy General Manager, Wattpad Studios, Publishing at Wattpad, a company that creates meaningful promotional and editorial partnerships with the publishing, advertising, and entertainment industries. Before joining Wattpad, Ashleigh was director of content management at Kobo, where she focused on expanding Kobo’s existing catalogue, while developing new ebook stores in international markets.
