Author of 'The Innovators' to Present Keynote for Global Book Publishing Industry

NEW YORK - Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson), best-selling author, acclaimed journalist and president and CEO of The Aspen Institute, is presenting on "Innovators, Collaborators and Change Agents of the Digital Revolution" during the Digital Book World Conference + Expo(@DigiBookWorld - #DBW15), Jan. 13-15, 2015, New York Hilton Midtown. The conference is the largest event worldwide dedicated solely to the business of digital publishing. Registration and program details are available at conference.digitalbookworld.com (the early-bird registration rates expire Nov. 10).

Isaacson's new book, The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (Simon & Schuster, October 2014), is a biographical tale of the people who invented the computer, Internet and other innovations. The book --- available in hardcover, eBook and audio formats --- shows how ideas and imagination actually got converted into the inventions that transformed the era, underscoring how collaboration spurred creativity.

Isaacson writes, "There are thousands of books celebrating people we biographers portray, or mythologize, as lone inventors. I've produced a few myself. Search the phrase 'the man who invented' on Amazon and you get 1,860 book results. But we have far fewer tales of collaborative creativity, which is actually more important in understanding how today's technology revolution was fashioned. It can also be more interesting."

True to the spirit of his new book, Isaacson posted drafts of parts of the manuscript online well ahead of publication to solicit comments and corrections from readers, saying "online collaboration is why the Internet was originally built." He's also utilizing Milq (milq.com and Milq on the iTunes App Store) to share audio and video relating to his book, organizing it into a collaborative, interactive playlist called a Bead. Isaacson's bead is titled "Great Digital Innovations," featuring vintage footage of technical innovation.

Isaacson is also the author of: Steve Jobs (2011); Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007);Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003); and Kissinger: A Biography (1992). He's also coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).

In addition to his role at The Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, D.C., Isaacson is chair emeritus of Teach for America, which recruits recent college graduates to teach in underserved communities.

During his career, Isaacson has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor ofTIME magazine. He was also appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other international broadcasts of the United States, a position he held until 2012. 

An innovator himself, Isaacson joins more than 100 visionary speakers at Digital Book World Conference + Expo, including 1,500+ professionals from the global book community. The event focuses on digital content and digital book strategies and innovation, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing publishers and content providers, with an emphasis on transformation.

Highlights of key topics at Digital Book World Conference + Expo include:

---Amazon and the Book Business: A Candid Conversation with Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President for Kindle, Amazon

---Using Data to Grow Audiences: Lessons from The New York Times Newsroom Analytics Team

---Epic Content Marketing: Using Content to Build a Brand and an Audience

---Publishing and Other Media in a World of Engineers

---Media Companies Rethinking Their Models

---Understanding Mobile Marketing and Discovery

---Smarter Video Marketing: Taking Video Strategy Beyond the Book Trailer

---Subscriptions for eBooks: How's It Working Out?

---Building the Trade Publisher of the Future: Trade Publishers Remaking Themselves

---Startups You Should Know About That You Might Not

---The Changing Mix of What Sells in Print: How eBooks Have Changed the Print Book Marketplace

---Global Publishing Tactics: Understanding Distribution, Metadata, Pricing and Marketing to Maximize Sales in Different Markets

---How Authors Decide Between Traditional and Self-publishing

---New Innovative Publishers

Attendees of DBW include large and small book and eBook publishing businesses, book marketers, directors of international book sales and rights, editors of publishing houses and literary agents, digital strategists and content professionals, and managers of operations, finance, sales/marketing and technology within industry and allied organizations.

Digital Book World Conference + Expo is produced by F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company in partnership with Publishers Launch Conferences.

Visit conference.digitalbookworld.com to sign-up (the early-bird registration rates expire Nov. 10), or e-mail [email protected] to enquire about attending, sponsoring or exhibiting.