By Jessica Staheli
The first thing I noticed when entering Melbourne Connect on the morning of the BookUp conference was the surprisingly positive and warm atmosphere. I say “surprisingly” because AI was undoubtedly looming over everyone’s creative work and a major point of discussion. However, it seems we have collectively come to terms with the tech intruder and committed ourselves to using it for routine administrative and processing tasks and keeping it far, far away from the things that make our job fun – but more on that later.
First, we started with a talk from the co-founders of Lamestream, an independent media company, about the affordability of standards.
Panel: Can we even afford standards?
Osman Faruqi and Scott Mitchell kicked off their conversation by saying the one line that set the mood for the rest of the day: to the titular question, the answer was simply “that we can’t afford not to”.
Besides referencing a pertinent article from The Guardian titled “Australia is publishing books too quickly – and everyone is losing out” (it’s worth reading), the rest of the talk focused less on the price of quality and more on the importance of quality books in journalism and beyond. Osman and Scott said that while short-form content has its place, books will forever be the most trusted, reliable and deep source for information. With the added pressure of AI-generated books, the Lamestream founders posited that AI will never be able to create original concepts (I’d argue that’s a matter of time) and so it’s our job to write bold stories, hero bold voices and invest in what is “new and different”.
Panel: Building trust with audiences
This panel was hosted by Leah Jing McIntosh (Editor, Liminal) and featured Alice Black (Head of Research Integrity, CSIRO Publishing), Anna Lensky (Managing Director, Pitch Projects), Nick Tapper (Associate Publisher, Giramondo Publishing) and Cindy Manfong (Publishing Projects Editor, Indigenous Literacy Foundation).
The discussion centred on how to build and maintain trust in the publishing pipeline. Although the title was directed at audiences, a lot of the questions and answers swayed towards the relationship with authors. The main point about trust with audiences was that it is built and maintained through thoughtful publishing lists that drive reputation. There was an implied “and don’t publish AI generated books” within that – number one trust killer in my opinion. The panel members reiterated that books still have credibility in the market and therefore, there is an assumed trust with consumers.
As for how to protect trust, evolving policies and processes are essential, but really it comes down to the acquisitions team and publisher to invest in fresh human voices and do their due diligence in ensuring AI was not used improperly.
AI lightning talks: Design, editing and “Proudly Human”
This was the highlight of the day for me (ironically), as the sessions explored practical applications of AI across production, design and editorial workflows, while reiterating the clear boundaries on creative work.
First up was Alan Finkel, who has created a framework that certifies human-created books, essays and articles, and their associated publishers. The “Proudly Human” certificate is awarded to works that have unequivocally proven they are human created. The process involves an identity check of the author, a signed declaration that the work is human, an evaluation of the manuscript via advanced tools, and a post-publication cross-reference to ensure what was published is the same as what had earned the certificate. As for publishers, the certificate comes with oversight on standards, policies and training, along with audits every 6 months to ensure the criteria are still being met. This is such a welcome innovation in the industry and something I really hope takes off!
Mark Campbell, the creative director and publisher at HarperCollins, went next, sharing his top tips for using AI in the cover design process. He drew the line early on that it was to be used for tasks that improve efficiency without interfering with human creativity and ownership. For example, he said it could be used for changing the colour scheme on existing images, removing elements of stock images or mocking up photoshoot concepts to ensure they fit within the design before investing in the real thing. Mark recommended tools like Adobe Firefly, Canva Magic Studio and Getty Images / Shutterstock.
As for the editing side, Kevin O’Brien, the managing editor at Simon & Schuster, recommended using AI for keywords, categories (BISAC etc), summaries of chapters for structural editing, and pulling names, places and organisations to create a style sheet. What he didn’t recommend it for was anything to do with fact checking, anything creative, finding sources/references and editing (of course).
Last was Jessica Paul, who is the head of operations at Allen & Unwin, and she took us through how she is applying AI across processes there. She is systematically working through repetitive administrative tasks that AI can take over to give employees more time for valuable work. She spoke about how she retired the critical pathways spreadsheet by creating an automation that allows employees to select the dates relevant to them and having those fill directly to their calendars. She also gave great advice for how to brief AI on a task, including telling it the problem, giving it the relevant resources (within a closed AI system), and telling it to ask you any clarifying questions it needs to answer your prompt effectively.
Panel: Friction points – reading habits in Australia
This panel was hosted by Anna Burkey, the CEO of Australia Reads, and the panel consisted of Skye Cusack (Marketing Coordinator, Magabala Books), Alysha Farry (Marketing and Publicity Director, Hachette Australia) and Chiara Priorelli (Head of Publishing and Acquisitions Australia, Wavesound). Drawing from recent Australia Reads research, this session examined reader engagement across demographic segments and highlighted strategies for converting casual readers into habitual buyers. The key data for the discussion was the categorisation of different types of readers.
| Reader segment | Percentage of survey participants | Growth potential |
| Avid readers | 22.4% | Low |
| Engaged readers | 30.6% | Medium |
| Ambivalent readers | 14.8% | Medium |
| Aspirational readers | 14.7% | High |
| Lapsed readers | 7.1% | Medium |
| Uninterested non-readers | 10.4% | Low |
That’s 82% of the survey participants who read, with varying degrees of consistency, and 89.6% who want to read. On top of that, over 50% of surveyed Australians expressed a desire to read more, representing an untapped market of 13 million potential readers. The panel discussed the barriers to reading and what can be done to close the gap. The answers included fostering community-centred reading environments and reducing friction in discovery – which segues us perfectly to our next session.
Keynote and panel: Metadata, AI and the future of Australian discovery
Delivered by Nigel Lopez-McBean (Narrative Muse), this keynote addressed the shift from traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) to generative engine optimisation (GEO) and discovery AI. Nigel made compelling arguments as to why the current “recommendation” systems are broken, as they are algorithms based on engagement loops. This means people can get stuck in small circles that don’t accurately represent their preferences. The engagement metrics can’t identify what the reader is missing in their reading habits by what they’ve engaged with online – but GEO can gather other data that will be able to provide more powerful recommendations. And importantly, it will be able to provide equitable recommendations across the board of established authors, viral authors, debut authors and those from marginalised/smaller communities. Discovery AI focuses on reader intent and emotional resonance – which is something that engagement recommendations fail to recognise. It’s a revolutionary way to look at choosing our next read and one that will hopefully reduce the friction between those who want to read and those actively reading, as the more resonant a book is with a person, the more they will want to read more.
At the beginning of his presentation, Nigel said that 4 million books were published last year, which shows a great deal of interest and the social value of books. He said, “With all the AI tools at their disposal, a huge amount of people decided to use them to write books. That shows interest.”
Essentially what this means is that a book is still revered as a form of content, and publishers need to capitalise on this more by engaging in more powerful forms of discoverability rather than being left to the whim of algorithms. Recommendation platforms work on 2 assumptions: whose taste matters and whose voice matters. GEO platforms take away this bias.
After Nigel’s keynote, a panel was hosted by Cat Colwell (Head of Supply Chain, APA) with Nigel, Arlie Alizzi (Editor, Magabala Books) and Natasha Ritz (General Manager, Digital Transformations, QBD). The questions focused on what we could add to metadata to increase discoverability, and a key theme that came from the panel members was the way a book leaves us feeling. This is one of the most important aspects of the reading experience, if not the most important, and determines what type of book a reader “feels like” buying/reading next. Yet, it is not something that is accurately captured by the data. Nigel made a great point as well about reverse engineering keywords from how a reader would search for a book using a full description, making it more discoverable to AI search tools.
Panel: Trend forecasting
This panel was chaired by Cora Roberts (Senior Publicist, Text Publishing) and featured Kirsten Abbott (Publishing Director, Thames & Hudson), Anthea Bariamis (Publisher, Simon & Schuster), Susannah Chambers (Publisher, Albert Street Books, Allen & Unwin) and Joshua Hortinela (Author and Bookseller). It dealt with the question hovering above us all: where do trends come from and can we predict them?
After much discussion, the key takeaway was that trends are caused by great books, not the other way around. There’s no way for publishers to keep up with what is trending right now in terms of hyperspecific tropes; however, they can plan to publish more books that make the readers feel the same as what is trending. That is ultimately what is feeding trends: the feeling we get from reading a great book that hits the spot in some way or another. The easiest way to feel that way again is to look for the same tropes. Readers are searching for books with similar themes and worldbuilding, yes, but more so similar emotional resonance.
At the end of the day, publishing great books that will start trends is about showing editorial curiosity, working with people who are experts in their field and looking at their deep niches (for nonfiction), and focusing on the authenticity and originality of the manuscript. It was generally advised against publishing books just because they fit into the trends and instead focusing on high- quality and intriguing manuscripts – the “trend” will come later.
But just to humour us, each panel member predicted what the next trend will be. The answers were: encyclopedias, cosy books that bring a sense of safety and home and, on the complete opposite of that, horror and dystopia.
Speaker: Creating standout submissions
Led by industry grant judge Kate Cuthbert, this session provided practical recommendations for writing successful grant applications and award submissions. Her “to-dos” were to: make the time, introduce yourself, be specific, address the criteria (in an obvious and repetitive way), articulate the impact (and for whom), and consider getting help from an expert familiar with the hidden vocabulary and unwritten requirements of specific grants.
The overarching question Kate stressed was “so what?” Grant applications (and other types of applications) are persuasive texts so you should always return to this question throughout each section, spelling out the consequence and meaning of each point you’re making.
Her “to-nots” were to not overwrite (prioritise succinctness over beautiful writing), use moral arguments, assume familiarity (provide context and avoid jargon), obfuscate, and waste your time (better to focus effort on a few key applications that are more meaningful to you).
Her closing sentiment was that when the judges are in doubt, they will always return to what you submitted and compare it with the submission criteria. So you should make sure you are 110% applicable because they will have to defend their choices against these criteria.
Panel: Policy matters
Lastly, the day closed with a session discussing the policy changes we need to see in the publishing industry, particularly for issues like systemic economic pressures facing local Australian publishing, print inflation, retail discounting and author remuneration.
The panel was chaired by Stuart Glover (Head of Policy, APA) and featured Tim Jarvis (Owner, Fullers Bookshop), Foong Ling Kong (Publisher and CEO, Melbourne University Publishing), Anna Funder (Author) and Stephen O’Brien (Sales Director, Opus). The discussions focused mainly on the increase in printing costs and the impact of that on everyone, author, retailer and publisher. One panel member stated that you can sell the same number of books as 20 years ago and earn 40% less due to the lack of growth in RRPs and increased costs.
To combat this, industry bodies are advocating for government tax offsets for independent bookstores – similar to film industry incentives – recognising their role as vital community hubs. To go one step further, Tim also proposed axing GST on books and keeping the RRP the same so there was that extra 10% to buffer profits. Anna focused a lot on the perspective of the writer, who contributes the most towards the final product but often gets left the smallest piece of the pie. The room burst into hesitant giggles when she may have thought the average salary of everyone in the room was between $100–$200k, but it’s unknown whether that was a miscommunication …
All in all, no one had a real answer on how we could increase the profit margin for everyone involved without government grants or tax cuts that recognise that books are more than just a product – they are culture and should be treated as such with arts funding.
The whole day was really wholesome and insightful, and it was empowering to come away knowing we’re all on the same page with AI usage in the industry (at least with what was being presented to us). I would have loved to have seen some more engagement with the crowd and perhaps a debate or two to get into the nuances of these problems, but overall it was a day well spent.