2024 Event Programme

A crucial component of accessibility is providing reliable alternative descriptions for images. However, crafting alternative descriptions for images stands out as a particularly challenging task for publishers, due to the need for specialised knowledge and the amount of time to ensure accuracy. This is especially pronounced when attempting to make backlist titles accessible, as they were not originally designed with accessibility in mind. Fondazione LIA will explore the world in which AI meets the alternative description of images with insights from professionals in the field, exposing both the possibilities through a showcase of the options available and the concrete applications already adopted by the industry.

The fairy tale wolf as you've never seen it before. The truth doesn't always match what we've been told... The wolf of fairy tales, tired of being portrayed as the villain, calls upon the most famous authors from Esopo to Disney, from the Brothers Grimm to Andersen, to stand trial. Unexpectedly, as witnesses in favor of the wolf, the protagonists of the great classics of children's literature present themselves: Little Red Riding Hood, the mother of the seven kids, the three little pigs, and many others. Who will win the trial? A new way to reinterpret fairy tales in a modern key and to learn something more about authors of all times

The advent of AI and rise of Generation Z are catalyzing sweeping changes in the publishing industry and society more broadly. As AI enables automation that doubles economic efficiencies, it raises profound questions about how to allocate newly freed-up human time and attention. Simultaneously, Gen Z's penchant for questioning established norms is accelerated by AI's instant access to collective knowledge. Literature stands to be reinvigorated as young influencers use AI to enable bold new writing that reexamines fundamental assumptions about how the world operates. The result could be a publishing renaissance built on innovative ideas and original expression. This session will explore how the interplay between AI and Gen Z thinking is shaping everything from publishing houses to educational institutions to democratic governance. Beyond transforming the printed page, these forces promise to redefine learning, literature, and the very purpose of human endeavor. Nadim will look at both the opportunities and ethical challenges presented by AI's broad influence spanning publishing, education, and democracy.

Andre Breedt, Nielsen Book will present data about English language book sales in European markets, as well as highlighting global trends that translate, and those that don't.

A short history of Hoepli as a publisher and bookseller in Milan with a specific focus on the post-Covid years and the new challenges.

Starting from June 2025, the European Accessibility Act will require all products and services on the European market to meet accessibility requirements. In this presentation, Fondazione LIA will showcase its services to support your company in its journey to comply with the accessibility standards.

The pressures on who can say what, who can read what, or what is acceptable to be published are increasing around the world. Organisations representing the international book sector have come together to demonstrate the intrinsically linked freedoms at the heart of the book sector: the freedom of expression, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read. This session will look at the pressures authors, booksellers, librarians and publishers face and what the sector can do to ensure these freedoms are enjoyed by everyone. 

In 2024 there are 8.1 billion people on the planet and 5.3 billion of them are online, using a device that could be used to read/listen to digitally-published content, yet many publishers are still partying like its 1999. Or 2010. In 2010 then were just 53 million internet users across the whole of Africa. Today there are over 600 million, and the continent is still only at 44% internet penetration. By comparison, the USA has just 312 million people online. The European Union has only 398 million internet users. In Asia, Indonesia has 212 million people online, Bangladesh 130 million, Pakistan 101 million, and India 8333 million.

 Tales of EUkraine (TEUk) is a European project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. TEUk is an opportunity for European publishers to support their Ukrainian counterparts and to display their solidarity to the most vulnerable victims of the conflict by doing what they do best: publishing books. TEUk has built a catalogue of Ukrainian children’s books available for publishers to acquire the rights to and publish them in bilingual editions. The project partners will purchase the part of the print run to be distributed to displaced children and organise its distribution to the Ukrainian refugee communities, whilst publishers will be invited to promote the book to their national communities. As the project approaches its halfway point, the consortium will present the results achieved so far – with tens of thousands of bilingual children’s books already published and distributed in several European countries and many more to come.

The possibilities and perils of Generative AI have dramatically shaken every industry this year including the publishing world. We need to bring a human centred approach to design the use of technology ethically and responsibly for our readers. From AI, AR/VR, AirPods and Amazon Kindle to Nintendo Wii, Whatsapp, Microsoft Zoom all A to Z technologies are rapidly changing the way readers create, curate, share and read. These new technologies have both enhancing and damaging influences on readers. Based on disciplines such as human centred design and behaviour economics, we can design AI technology that can make reading useful, usable, beautiful, joyful, sustainable and responsible for every single reader around the world. This session draws attention to the human holding the AI, not just AI itself, opening up new opportunities for the publishing world to help change the world for the better

Quando il testo e le immagini si fondono in una storia: le difficoltà e le gioie dietro al processo creativo.

Starting from June 2025, the European Accessibility Act will require all products and services on the European market to meet accessibility requirements. In this presentation, Fondazione LIA will showcase its services to support your company in its journey to comply with the accessibility standards.

The dynamic intersection of AI, VR, and AR in publishing is a fact. Innovative authoring tools and cutting-edge solutions are changing the digital content creation and distribution. How can these technologies and tools really empower authors in crafting immersive experience able to engage audiences like never before? How can the publisher unlock the potential of AI-driven creativity and redefine the future of publishing and storytelling? Enjoy our presentation to talk about this incoming publishing revolution.

Find out more about The Illustrators Survival Corner.

 In various book markets worldwide, a significant portion of the literature available is comprised of translations from foreign languages into the native language. Publishers and booksellers face the task of effectively marketing and selling these translated books to the general public. One key question arises: do marketing and promotion techniques differ for translated literature? Additionally, what challenges and opportunities do publishers and booksellers encounter in the sale of translated books? Moreover, how does the author and translator contribute to the marketing process when their book is available in multiple languages? Lastly, the panel will provide practical steps and advice for creating a successful campaign for translated literature.

Uomini e donne, indimenticabili della Letteratura, raccontano un momento che ha segnato la loro vita... Un esperimento che ogni lettore può fare.

The immortal fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood narrated from a different perspective. Thus, a new story is born, delicate, inclusive, and poetic, where good and evil clash with magical effects but also blur because truth is never singular. A fairy tale that preserves the evocative power of the classic one, teaching all of us that our fears and weaknesses must be faced with courage to find our own path.