BIC Brunch: How Better Metadata Drives Book Discovery – The Power of Thema

BIC Brunch: How Better Metadata Drives Book Discovery – the Power of Thema

#bicbrunch

Introduction

Used to their full potential, Thema subject codes and qualifiers are powerful tools for helping readers find the books they’ll love. In this BIC Brunch session, we’ll explore how publishers, booksellers, and data providers can work together to make Thema qualifiers work harder for your titles.

Join expert speakers from Waterstones and NielsenIQ BookScan as they share insights, real-world examples, and best practices for applying Thema qualifiers with greater accuracy and impact.

You’ll learn:

• What Thema Qualifiers are and where to find them
• Why precise and consistent use of Thema Qualifiers matters for discoverability and sales
• Insights into how Thema Qualifiers are used for BookScan deep dives and market analysis
• How mapping from Thema to BookScan Product Class works – and why it matters
• Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
• How retailers and data aggregators use your metadata – and what they wish you knew
• Practical tips for improving your metadata workflow and enhancing subject classification

Whether you’re a seasoned metadata specialist or new to Thema, or just simply want to learn more, this session will give you the knowledge and tools to help your books be discovered by the right readers, in the right places.

Don’t miss this opportunity to sharpen your metadata skills and hear directly from those at the forefront of bookselling and bibliographic data.

Host

• Karina Urquhart, Executive Director, BIC

Speakers

• Jeremy Neate, Head of Research and International Development at NielsenIQ BookScan
• Kieron Smith, Ecommerce Director, Waterstones

Who should attend?

Publishers, editors, marketers, booksellers, and anyone involved in bibliographic data and metadata management.

Find out more about the Speakers

Jeremy Neate, Head of Research and International Development at NielsenIQ BookScan

Jeremy has worked in the industry for 51 years, the last 32 of which have been dedicated to Book Sales Research and analysis. He has been a key figure in expanding the global reach of BookScan, a system that tracks book sales using point-of-sale data from retailers. His work emphasizes the importance of accurate measurement in managing and understanding book market trends.

He has been quoted as saying, “You can't manage what you can't measure,” highlighting his focus on data-driven decision-making in publishing. His efforts have helped publishers and retailers better understand consumer behaviour, Genre analysis, market share, and the impact of marketing campaigns, through reliable and timely sales data.

Kieron Smith, Ecommerce Director, Waterstones

Kieron is a professional bookseller with over 30 years book trade experience, including WHSmith Retail, establishing the Ottakars.co.uk website in 1999, heading up the web offering at Bertelsmann's Book Clubs in the UK and operations at Methven's Booksellers, followed by three years outside the industry at Europe's leading video games website GAME.co.uk. Head of online for Waterstone's in 2006-7 and then MD of international bookseller The Book Depository (now an Amazon company) for five years. He joined the UK’s leading Independent Bookseller, Blackwell’s, as Digital Director in 2015 until its acquisition by Waterstones in 2022, where he is now Ecommerce Director. Kieron is also a published author; his book The Politics of Down Syndrome (Zero Books) published in 2011 and has a PhD in Organisational Democracy from the University of Winchester. When he isn’t at work he’s learning Historical European Martial Arts, currently honing his skills with the rapier.

Registration

Tickets are FREE for BIC and BISG members and MA Publishing Students at City St George’s, University of London. Everyone else is required to pay a nominal fee. Please ensure you select the correct ticket type.

To register, scroll to the top of this webpage and click on the ‘Get Tickets’ button. Not sure if your organisation is a BIC member? View our members list here.

Keep in touch

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We look forward to seeing you!