Indie Press Network – Cabaret Days at the British Library

For the last three years, we have been delighted to be welcomed by the British Library in October for the Indie Press Network Cabaret Day (2024, 2025, 2026).

The British Library have kindly given us use of their Foyle Suite (posh rooms out back) for a day of networking and industry insights, with a focus on diversity, sustainability and the aspects of the industry members have mentioned as being the most opaque.

To date we have held sessions on and invited speakers including:

• Distribution: with book distributors Central Books, POD specialists Ingram, and print/storage company CPI Books with Rebecca Collins (Hobeck Books);

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: with Indie Novella reporting on the findings of their DEI in Publishing report, PEN International, on working with PEN, and insights from Deepa Anappara (author and lecturer at City University);

• Libraries and e-Lending: with Séan Campbell (époque press), Stu Hennigan (Leeds Libraries), Anna Savory and Rosie Patterson (British Library Business & IP Centre), Iain Moore and Sarah Mears (Libraries Connected), Hassan Ali (Faber Factory);

• Marketing: with Farhana Shaikh (publisher at Dahlia Books and lecturer in Marketing at DeMontfort) and Natasha Brown (author and marketer);

• Mindfulness in Businesss: with Damien Mosley (Indie Novella)

• Printing: with 4edge, Clays, CPI, CMP, Short Run Press and TJ Clays, talking about their small press offerings and sustainability credentials, as well as tips and advice on production;

• Publicity and Bookselling: with advice and answers for small presses from bookshop managers and publicity folk, including Emily Rhodes (Bookbanks founder and book reviewer); booksellers Jo (Pages of Hackney) and Aimée (Phlox Books), publicists Kealey (FMcM PR) and Jane Gentle (Gentle PR), journalists Lauren Brown (the Bookseller), Jude Cook (publisher at Conduit Books and book reviewer) and sales and marketing agent Jane Pike (Inpress Books);

• Sustainability: with climate-positive small presses SRL Publishing and Renard Press and Alice Wood, Sustainability Manager of the Publishers Association; CPI on new EU legislation;

• Translation and rights: on where to start, how to get funding, debunking myths, introducing fellowships; with small presses Susan Curtis (Istros Books), Bella Pearson (Guppy Books), Daniel Li (Sinoist Books) and Mike Tate (Jantar Publishing); with institutions English PEN, Romanian Cultural Institute, Turkish literature/TEDA, Amy Ellis (PLS) and Rebecca Hart (British Council), audiobook company Kate Bland (Spiracle Books) and rights agent Rachel Richardson (Rich Lit);

• Working with Agents: with reps from Watson Little, Andrew Nurnberg and Darley Anderson, on working with small presses to improve diversity in publishing.

 

(ICYMI: why ‘cabaret’? Well, we don’t want this to be a dry, dusty old conference, and part of the fun of the layout of the room is we should be able to put the focus on networking, with lots of milling about baked into a relaxed format. Which is not to say you can’t break into song if you feel so inclined.)

Recordings from 2026

We were able to record the 2026 iteration of the Cabaret Day; slides, resources and recordings are available via Google Drive here.