As high winds and rain buffeted the Twin Cities May 15–17, 325 self-publishers and independent publishers—the same number as last year, with one third of them first-timers and the others seasoned alumni—convened for the l Independent Book Publishers Association’s annual Publishing University at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown St. Paul, Minn., to, as the PubU tagline declares, “connect, collaborate, transform.”
CEO Andrea Fleck-Nisbet declared during her welcome remarks that IBPA “has always been about the opportunity to make new connections, collaborate with your peers, learn from those who have been in the business for many years, and gift that knowledge back to the community. This is how we transform our industry.” But, she added, the conference planning committee chose the theme a year ago; much has changed for IBPA and in the book world since, giving the tagline a whole new meaning.
Fleck-Nisbet noted that the industry now must contend with “serious threats to the infrastructure that supports our work,” including the Trump administration’s attempts to eliminate NEA and NEH funding and dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services. There also have been surges in book banning “and tech companies [exploiting] copyrighted work without consent or compensation,” she noted, on top of rising production costs and threats of tariffs.
“It’s harder than ever to keep our businesses thriving,” Fleck-Nisbet said. “This is our opportunity—to connect with one another meaningfully, to collaborate across disciplines and perspectives, and to embrace transformation not as a buzzword, but as a shared commitment to a better future for books, for readers, and for all of us who believe in the power of story.”
Keynote presentations on Friday spotlighted the industry’s most pressing issues. Maria Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, kicked off the program with a morning presentation entitled “The Pillars of Publishing: Copyright and Freedom of Expression.” Illustrating her points with Minnesota cultural icons—such as Snoopy, created by St. Paul native Charles Schultz, and Duluth-born Bob Dylan—Pallante walked her audience through the protections provided by the First Amendment and copyright laws. “Under the Constitution,” Pallante noted, “publishing is speech, and so is writing, and so is reading. If you care about books… then this is your sacred trifecta: reading, writing, and publishing—or publishing, reading, and writing.”
Pallante emphasized that “reading is a human right,” protected in the U.S. by law. She noted that two years ago, the AAP, the American Library Association, the Authors Guild, the American Booksellers Association, and IBPA commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Freedom to Read Statement, originally issued by the AAP and the ALA in 1953, when the entertainment industry was targeted during the McCarthy hearings. “It was a dangerous time marked by political persecution, censorship and blacklisting. In addition to movies, books, and screenplays, reading was caught in the crosshairs,” Pallante said, noting the similarities between the McCarthy era and the current political climate.
Moving on to copyright law, Pallante described copyrights as “fundamentally economic rights” protecting the creator’s work product. “It's exciting,” she noted, “because, in part, it's the future value of creative works that is often unknown until it unfolds, for example, like a best seller that just suddenly takes off without warning.” She also addressed how the internet and artificial intelligence have resulted in misconceptions of fair use and an upswing in violations of copyright law, and urged publishers to discuss with authors any use of AI in producing their works.
A rapidly changing industry
The conversation about AI’s impact on the book publishing landscape intensified during the Friday afternoon keynote, at a panel discussion called “AI and Publishing—Opportunities, Challenges, and Transformation.” The panel was moderated by Keith Riegert, president of the recently formed Stable Group and CEO of Perfect Bound, and featured Trip Adler, founder and CEO of Created by Humans, an AI licensing platform for creators; Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild; and Amanda Zila, cofounder of Inkbloom, a company that uses AI to assess manuscripts for literary agents and publishers.
“I use AI every day, and then it keeps me up every night,” Riegert said. “This is going to be a complete revolution in the way that we produce books and productivity. I am very scared of it. I am also at the point where I understand that this is the future, and we need to figure out how we’re going to incorporate it into publishing.”
Zila pointed out that AI can be used to streamline the publishing process, such as when publishers must determine whether a manuscript is a good fit for them, but Rasenberger emphasized that there needs to be controls and filters to protect creators. Noting that the Authors Guild has been lobbying Congress and AI companies to regulate AI, Rasenberger said, “We're here to make sure that the profession can continue. Without a robust, vibrant, diverse writing profession, we simply won't have a great literary culture.”
While the panelists all expressed trepidation concerning AI technology left unchecked, Adler also expressed optimism about using AI as a tool to monetize books, citing one company wanting to license books and turn their content into video games and another wanting to turn a book into an interactive guide. “If we can just figure out a licensing model,” Adler said, “you could see books being completely reinvented and reimagined for this new AI world. And it can make the book industry actually more successful than ever.”
Saturday morning’s keynote presentation, “Re-Thinking Business Models,” drilled down into the world of independent publishing. Moderated by Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press, the panel featured Angela Engel, publisher of the Collective Book Studio; Jonathan Merkh, publisher of Forefront Books; and Dr. Ayo Seaki, publisher of Universal Write Publications, describing their business models and providing practical advice on how to attain success outside of the traditional publishing framework.
Merkh said that Forefront debuted as a hybrid publisher in 2018 with two releases; this year, the company is publishing 75 books. The industry accommodates publishers with non-traditional business models now more than ever, Merkh said, pointing out that of Publisher’s Weekly’s 2025 fastest-growing small publishers, three are hybrid. Warner, whose company is also hybrid, emphasized that publishers with different business models should be unapologetic about not adhering to a traditional publishing model: “All that really matters is, are you selling the books?” she said.
Describing her company as a “partnership” publisher, specializing in nonfiction titles with highly visual components, Engel emphasized the importance of branding. “You’ve got to pick a lane” and “know what you’re good at,” she said. “I’ve built a brand and then the partnerships come.” Sekai, a traditional publisher of peer-reviewed academic works by Black scholars added that publishers “should take all of your creativity, and find a way to fit that into what you do” as a publisher; “the people who value you and respect you will find you and be your partners.”
Engel also urged publishers to visit bookstores and “show up in the spaces where traditional publishing is going on,” she said. Merkh added, publishers should “share experience with each other; show up and you will meet the right people. Doors will open for you.”
“We’re like a little army, changing the industry,” Warner commented at the conclusion of the session.
In a nod to IBPA’s new members, who came with the merger of PubWest into IBPA, PubU 2026 will take place in Portland, Ore. May 14-16, 2026.
