Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) joined publishers from about 112 countries for the Sharjah International Book Fair Publishers Conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Publishing Manager for Dzuka Publishing Company Maureen Masamba and John Yohane participated in conference activities. They represented Bpam at the conference, which ended yesterday.
Masamba described the conference as huge and that it was a platform where people of different cultures interacted on publishing issues. “This platform accorded members a chance to deliberate on a number of issues, as regards growing the publishing industry, and topics included the employment of artificial intelligence and differentiation, innovation and digital identity in publishing,” she said. Masamba said the conference also looked at the issue of how best book publishers could utilize Meta platforms and apps to achieve their goals.
“One other interesting issue at the conference was the publisher lounge, which is a space for women in publishing. Women publishers got inspiring presentations and mentorship sessions to succeed in the publishing industry,” she said. Masamba said the mentorship sessions were exciting and empowering.
“I am glad to be one of the mentors at this conference,” she said. On the sidelines of the conference, Masamba said African Publishers Network (Apnet) held a meeting with African Publishers from over 35 countries and also conducted its board meeting. Masamba and Yohane sit in .