Event Features Speakers from Disney Publishing Worldwide, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop and Tumblr, as Well as New York Times Bestselling Author Jenny Han, Among Others

NEW YORK - The 5th annual Launch Kids, a one-day symposium during the Digital Book World Conference + Expo (DBW), features top companies and executives discussing the future of the children's book publishing business. The event --- programmed by Lorraine Shanley of Market Partners International --- takes place on the first day of DBW, March 7-9, 2016 at the New York Hilton Midtown, New York. DBW 2016 is the premier event (@DigiBookWorld - #DBW16) for book publishers and content providers of all sizes and business models who plan to thrive through and beyond publishing's digital transformation. Registration and program details are available at digitalbookworldconference.com (a variety of a la carte registration options are available, and the final pre-conference registration rate expires March 6).

Launch Kids is the industry's leading children's books and digital media conference. Focused on the consumer and education markets, Launch Kids helps attendees find what they need to know, what's new and what's next, and where the latest generation of ideas and content is coming from. The event also focuses on the best strategies in book marketing, what's happening in the physical and digital library market, and trends driving editorial decisions.

Some of the presentations and discussions at Launch Kids will focus on: The Past, Present and Future of Children's Publishing; The Children's Global Media Landscape; The Life of a Start-Up That Aims to Challenge and Change Traditional Publishing; Findings from the Nielsen Children's Book Consumer Segmentation Study; School Librarians' Perspectives into the Needs of Kids, Families, Teachers and Schools; Sesame Street and the Evolution of a Children's Multi-Cultural and Multi-Media Classic; The New World of Learning; Authors and Brands; Standing out in the Stacks; and more.

Highlights of presenters at Launch Kids during the Digital Book World Conference + Expo include:

---Mary Ann Naples, incoming vice president and publisher, Disney Book Group, Disney Publishing Worldwide (@DisneyReads)

---Rich Thomas, editorial director, associate publisher, Disney Book Group, Disney Publishing Worldwide (@DisneyReads)

---David Kleeman (@davidkleeman), senior vice president, global trends, Dubit

---Ashley Andersen Zantop, chief content officer, Capstone (@CapstonePub)

---Jennifer A. Perry, vice president of North America media products and publishing, Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop)

---Morgan Baden (@MorganBaden), vice president of social media and internal communications, Scholastic

---Preeti Chhibber (@runwithskizzers), senior editorial manager, Teens & BookBeat Scholastic Reading Club, Scholastic

---Rachel Fershleiser (@RachelFersh), director of publisher outreach, Tumblr

---Jenny Han (@jennyhan), author of the New York Times bestselling books P.S. I Still Love You, To All the Boys I've Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy.

---Carol Fitzgerald, founder and president, Bookreporter (@Bookreporter)

---Susan Katz (@susanrkatz), president and publisher, emeritus, HarperCollins Children's Books

---CJ Kettler, executive vice president, chief of consumer brands and strategy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

---Sanj Kharbanda, senior vice president, digital markets, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (@HMHCo)

---Ned Rust, vice president, James Patterson brand and marketing director, Hachette Book Group (@HachetteUS)

---Lucille Rettino, vice president, director of marketing, Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing (@SimonKIDS)

---Veronica Wasserman, brand director for Wimpy Kid, and resident licensing expert, ABRAMS

---Dominique Raccah (@draccah), CEO and publisher, Sourcebooks

---Ajay Godhwani, CEO and co-founder, FarFaria (@farfaria)

---Marjan Ghara (@gharajm), founder and CEO, BiblioNasium

---Melissa Jacobs, coordinator, Office of Library Services, New York City Department of Education (@NYCSchools)

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

Visit digitalbookworldconference.com to register (the final pre-conference registration rate expires March 6, and the event offers a variety of a la carte registration options).