Fantastic (if we do say so ourselves) panelists include:

• Lisa Holton – CEO + Founder, FSM
• Erin Kissane – Web Project + Community Manager, FSM / Blogger, Incisive.nu
• Mandy Brown – Creative Director, Etsy
• Paul Ford – Novelist / Blogger, FTrain.com / Editor, Harper’s

Hope to see you there!

Publishers Weekly asked a number of children’s publishers, scouts, and editors (including FSM’s Lisa Holton) what they’re expecting at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 23-26). Some soundbytes:

Natasha Ferrant, Literary Scout: “There’s a real buzz about YA literature, which is tremendously exciting. I’m hoping to see less of the paranormal stuff and more good, original writing. Much as I love them—I do, I do—I don’t want to read any more vampire books, probably EVER AGAIN. What I really want to find is simple and oh so elusive: a strong middle-grade series with great writing and an even better story.”

Rob McMenemy, Senior VP Egmont English Language & Central Europe: “The digital agenda will loom even larger this year, taking more airtime and even more space, but we are fast approaching the point where it won’t be a separate agenda at all nor just an interesting sideshow, but rather an integral part of the business of publishing and rights.”

Lisa Holton, CEO Fourth Story: “I am going mainly to hear what my international colleagues are thinking about their business—how they publish, who they are publishing, and how they think the landscape—digital and print—is changing.”

Klaus Humann, Publisher Carlsen Verlag, Germany: “Our job as publishers had always been and will always be to take risks, invest into new authors, encourage them to write their first books and get them published. We are not paid to follow trends. We are paid to create them.”

Read the full piece in PW.

Think long term, think organic, think partnership. That’s the message Mobile Youth is promoting in their recent long post about successful youth marketing strategies.

Engaging youth is no longer about short term spiking (ie campaigns), but a focus on long term creation…make youth feel significant, make them feel they belong.

They define the practice as partnership marketing, and go on to break down three successful strategies for marketing to youth:

1. Customer Service: good customer service – aka real human contact – is key.
2. Value Communication: Show that you care. Youth increasingly seek out companies and brands that display a set of core values similar to their own world view.
3. Event Creation: Not just sponsoring events from afar, but actually actively creating events lies at the heart of the most savvy of youth brands. Red Bull, Jones Soda, Boost Mobile (see above video) and Nike are all died-in-the-wool event creators.

(via Mobile Youth)