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ConferenceBook

Your conference gave thirty talks this year. Where’s the book?

ConferenceBook turns every talk at your conference into a chapter: the speakers in their own words, edited to read, panels and Q&A included, the program as the table of contents, published on Leanpub and on Amazon under your conference’s name. The talks were the hard part. The book is the part that lasts.

Book a half-hour callSee everything you get

One book, up to 40 talks

$4,999

ConferenceBook Pro, which adds the speakers’ releases and figures, done by us, is $14,999.

Announce it with the program. Give it to every attendee and every speaker. Sell it to everyone who could not come. The book is published in progress as the chapters land, and complete within six weeks of the recordings.

A ConferenceBook

The Talks

Your conference on the spine

The service

Do you run a conference?

Then you know what a year of it costs. Choosing the speakers. Chasing the abstracts. Selling the tickets, booking the venue, feeding four hundred people, and then two days in which thirty people stand up and say the best thing they know. Then it is over, and the recordings go up on a channel where talk seven gets ten thousand views and talk thirty gets none.

The talks were worth a year of your life. They deserve more than a playlist. A book puts every one of them on the shelf, in the order you chose, under the name of the conference that made them happen, where a reader can find talk thirty as easily as talk seven and read it in twenty minutes on a train.

A talk is heard once. A book is on the shelf next year, when you sell the next ticket.

The status

What a book does for a conference

Your conference has a book on Amazon. A Kindle edition, a paperback and a hardcover, under your conference’s name, with your foreword at the front and your sponsors at the back. It is there next year, and the year after, when someone searches for the field and finds you.

Your speakers become published authors. Every speaker who agrees is a co-author of the book, with their chapter on their own Leanpub author page. Speaking at your conference now comes with a chapter in a book on Amazon, and your call for papers can say so.

Every attendee gets the book with their ticket. A coupon in the welcome email, the chapters landing in the weeks after the conference, the whole book before the next one is announced. The ticket is worth more, and so is the conference.

Everyone who could not come can buy it. On Leanpub from the day the first chapter lands, and on Amazon when it is complete. You set the price and keep the royalties.

The problem

A recording is not a book

You have the recordings. Thirty videos, forty minutes each, on a channel. A recording is watched once, at the speed the speaker talked, by someone who already knew to look for it. It cannot be searched, it cannot be quoted, it cannot be read on a train, and it cannot be handed to anyone.

A machine transcript is worse. Every “um”, every restart, every sentence that begins twice and ends nowhere, with the speaker’s name wrong in half of them.

A book is different. Each talk becomes a chapter with a standfirst that says who this is, what they do, and what the talk is about. The false starts go, the Q&A is untangled into a conversation, and the moment the speaker finally says the true thing lands on the page the way it landed in the hall. The reader gets the talk as the room remembers it, not as the camera recorded it.

The Engineering Room

The Engineering Room by David Farley, from $12.99

The proof

Read the one we made from a podcast

ConferenceBook is PodcastBook’s workflow pointed at a conference. Dave Farley hosts The Engineering Room, long conversations with the people who shaped how software gets built, and we turned thirty-eight of them into a book he published under his name. It is the book that workflow made, to these rules, start to finish.

Read a chapter or three. The chapter titles, the standfirsts, the way a two-hour conversation reads at the pace of a page: that is what ConferenceBook makes from a day of talks. The first ConferenceBook will take its place on this page when it is published.

Read The Engineering Room

The book

Edited to read, faithful to the stage

Every organizer wants two things that pull against each other: the talks exactly as they were given, and a book that reads. A transcript gives you the first, and nobody reads it. ConferenceBook gives you the second without giving up the first.

What goes. The false starts, the filler, the “can everyone hear me”, the technical difficulties, the digression that went nowhere. Up to a tenth of what was said, and every cut is cut whole and checked back against the recording.

What never changes. The words. We never rephrase a sentence, never put a cleaner phrase in a speaker’s mouth, never correct a claim. If a speaker misremembered a date on stage, the page has them misremembering it, because that is what happened. We repair the transcription. We never correct the speaker.

What gets added. A standfirst on every chapter: the talk’s title, the speaker, their bio and the abstract from your program. On ConferenceBook Pro, the figures a speaker owns and wants in, placed where the talk points at them. Parts by day or by track, your choice. Your foreword at the front, the speakers and the sponsors at the back. Panels and Q&A as dialogue, with every speaker named. Then the whole book typeset properly: PDF, EPUB, the web, and a print-ready edition.

The result is the book your speakers deserve, and the one your conference can put its name on.

How it works

What we actually do

  1. You send us the recordings and the program. The video or audio of every talk, in a shared folder, and the program as a spreadsheet: the order, the day, the track, each talk’s title, speakers, bios and abstract.
  2. Every speaker agrees in writing. On ConferenceBook you collect the releases, with our template if you like, and tell us in writing that every speaker in the program has agreed. On ConferenceBook Pro we draft the release, send it to each speaker through DocuSign the day the program lands, remind them, and chase the ones who do not sign. Either way, a talk whose speaker has not signed stays out of the book, no exceptions.
  3. We make the book from the audio, not from a transcript. Every line is checked against the recording, so what reaches the page is what was said, not what a captioning tool guessed. The names come from your program, so nobody is misspelled.
  4. We edit each talk to read. The false starts, the filler and the technical difficulties go. A digression that went nowhere goes. Up to a tenth of what was said is cut, every cut is cut whole, and every cut is checked back against the recording. Nothing is rephrased.
  5. We repair the transcription. We never correct the speaker. This rule is built into the workflow. If the recording says one thing and the page says another, we fix the page. If a speaker got a fact wrong on stage, it stays.
  6. Panels and Q&A become dialogue. Every voice named, the crosstalk untangled, the question and the answer on the same page.
  7. We give every talk a standfirst from your program: who this is, what they do, and what the talk is about, so a reader opening the book cold knows why to keep going.
  8. On ConferenceBook Pro, we put in the figures the speakers own. A speaker who wants their own diagram, chart or code in the chapter sends it with their release and says where it goes; we place it there, captioned. On ConferenceBook the book is the words alone. Decks stay out of both.
  9. We publish it in progress. The first chapters land on Leanpub within days of the recordings arriving, and your attendees are reading while the conference is still fresh. The book is complete within six weeks.
  10. We typeset it properly and publish it on Amazon. A Kindle ebook, a 6 × 9 paperback and a 7 × 10 hardcover, under your conference’s name. Then you hand a copy to every speaker, and the sponsors, and the keynote you want for next year.

The book is made by the AI workflow that makes PodcastBook, built with months of human obsession on a real book of long conversations, ruling on every kind of change it is allowed to make and every kind it is not. It does what a careful editor does and nothing a careful editor would not, and it does it to thirty talks in the time an editor would take on five.

What's included

What stays yours

  • Your conference’s name on the cover, your foreword at the front, your sponsors at the back, and the book on your own publisher page on Leanpub.
  • Your speakers’ words, exactly as spoken. We repair transcription, while keeping their words.
  • Every editorial call. Which talks, in what order, by day or by track, whether speakers see their chapters first. We will advise if you ask. We will not decide.
  • You choose your price and keep the royalties. Sell on Leanpub from the first chapter at Leanpub’s standard royalty (80% on sales of $7.99 and up, 80% minus 50 cents below that), and in print through Amazon. Share with your speakers if you choose to; the book is set up so you can.
  • Your attendees’ copies. A coupon for every ticket holder, to put in the welcome email or the badge. The book becomes part of the ticket.
  • Your speakers as authors. Every speaker who agrees is a co-author, with the book on their Leanpub author page. Say so in next year’s call for papers.
  • Your recordings, untouched. The book is a companion, not a replacement. Every chapter can point back to the talk it came from.
Book a half-hour call

The price

Two ways to buy it

The same book either way, published on Leanpub and on Amazon under your conference’s name, with a copy for every attendee. The difference is who does the paperwork and the pictures.

ConferenceBook

$4,999

for one book

The book, from your recordings and your releases.

  • Every talk a chapter, in the speaker’s own words, edited to read
  • The words only: no figures, no slides, no images
  • You collect every speaker’s release, with our template, and tell us in writing that everyone has agreed
  • Published in progress on Leanpub as the chapters land, complete within six weeks
  • Published on Leanpub as PDF, EPUB and on the web, with a print-ready PDF
  • Published on Amazon as a Kindle ebook, a 6 × 9 paperback and a 7 × 10 hardcover
  • 10 free paperback copies
  • 5 free hardcover copies
  • A coupon for every attendee, and every consenting speaker a co-author
  • The announcement copy, ready to send
  • You choose your price on Leanpub and keep the royalties — 80% on sales of $7.99 and up, 80% minus 50 cents on sales below $7.99

ConferenceBook Pro

$14,999

for one book

The book, and we do the paperwork and the pictures.

  • The same book, published on Leanpub and on Amazon the same way
  • Every speaker’s release, drafted by us, sent through DocuSign, reminded and chased until it is signed
  • The figures the speakers own and want in, up to ten each, placed where the talk points at them and checked by hand
  • A nudge from you to a holdout you know personally is the only paperwork left

One book holds up to 40 talks and 40 hours of recordings. A bigger conference becomes more than one book, usually one per track. Each additional book is $2,999 on ConferenceBook and $4,999 on ConferenceBook Pro, published on Amazon like the first. We will estimate the book count from the program, before anything is built.

ConferenceBook is the book and nothing else: we make it from your recordings, and the releases are yours to bring. If you would rather hand us the whole job, that is what Pro is for.

The price, explained

What the two prices cover

A podcast is one feed, one host and one voice to sign. A conference is up to forty recordings, forty speakers and a program. The two prices differ in how much of what comes with them you hand to us.

ConferenceBook is the book. Up to forty recordings, each transcribed from the audio, its Q&A split from the talk, its names taken from your program; panels edited as conversations, the most expensive kind of chapter to get right. Parts by day or by track, a standfirst on every chapter, your foreword, the speakers and the sponsors pages, a coupon for every attendee, every consenting speaker set up as a co-author, and the Amazon editions under your conference’s name. The words only: no figures, no slides. The releases are yours to collect, and you tell us in writing that every speaker has agreed.

ConferenceBook Pro adds the releases. We draft the speaker release, send it to each speaker through DocuSign, remind them, and chase the ones who do not sign. Nobody enjoys it, nobody can skip it, and the organizer is the last person with time for it once the conference is over.

And the figures. Every speaker can send the figures they own with their release; we place each one where the talk points at it, captioned, and check the placement by hand.

Everything else is what PodcastBook does for a podcast: the editing rule, the publishing, the free copies.

The fit

Who ConferenceBook is for

It is for a particular kind of conference, and the call is where we both find out whether yours is one.

  • Your speakers are people whose talks are worth reading, not just watching.
  • You record every talk, or you will from now on.
  • You want the conference to outlast the weekend, and to be easier to sell next year.

It is not for you if the talks are not recorded, or if your speakers would not want to be read. We would tell you that on the call.

Your part

What we need from you

You have already done the year of work. What is left is small, and most of it is a spreadsheet you already have.

TaskYour time
A Zoom call to start it30 minutes
The recordings and the programA shared folder and a spreadsheet
Your speakers’ releasesOn ConferenceBook, you collect them with our template and tell us in writing that everyone has agreed; the speakers’ email addresses go in the spreadsheet either way, so we can set each one up as a co-author. On ConferenceBook Pro, the email addresses are all we need: we draft the releases, send them through DocuSign and chase them.
A foreword, if you want oneAn hour, or send us the opening remarks
A read of your bookAs the chapters land, or all at once at the end; it is entirely up to you.
Telling us to publish it on AmazonWhenever you are ready

Our side of it

We are creating this for your conference. Do what you want with it. It’s yours.

Frequently asked questions

Questions you should be asking

Do the speakers have to agree?

Yes, in writing, every one of them, and a talk whose speaker has not agreed stays out. On ConferenceBook you collect the releases: we give you the template, you get it signed, and you tell us in writing that every speaker in the program has agreed. On ConferenceBook Pro we handle it: you hold the recording rights; we draft the release, send it to each speaker through DocuSign the day the program lands, remind them, and chase the ones who do not sign. The one thing we ask of you is a nudge to a holdout you know personally. Most speakers sign within the hour, because a chapter in a book on Amazon is the thing they were hoping the talk would lead to.

What if a speaker never signs?

Their talk stays out of the book, however good it was. On ConferenceBook you tell us which speakers have agreed, and a talk whose speaker has not is left out; a release that arrives later adds its chapter as an update. On ConferenceBook Pro we agree a cutoff on the call, three weeks after the recordings land, and we tell you who has not signed; the book is published in progress with the signed chapters meanwhile, and a late signature adds its chapter as an update.

Who gets the money?

You do. The conference is the publisher, sets the price, and keeps the royalties. Every speaker who agrees is a co-author at 0% by default, so the book is on their author page without a royalty to administer; if you would rather share, say so and we set the shares on the panel.

How do attendees get it?

A coupon. We make one for your attendee count, you put it in the welcome email or on the badge, and each attendee redeems it on Leanpub for the book, free, chapters landing as they are finished and every update after that. Everyone else buys it.

Can we announce it before the conference?

That is the point. Announce it with the program: every talk becomes a chapter, every ticket includes the book, every speaker becomes a published author. We give you the announcement copy. The book is on Leanpub from the day you announce it, with the program as its table of contents, and the chapters land after the talks are given.

When is it ready?

The first chapters land on Leanpub within days of the recordings arriving, so attendees are reading while the conference is still fresh. The whole book is complete within six weeks, and the Amazon editions follow. Announce it before the conference: the book exists on Leanpub from the day you announce it, with the program as its table of contents, and people can buy it then.

What about panels and Q&A?

Included, as dialogue. Every voice is named from your program, the crosstalk is untangled, and a question and its answer sit on the same page. A talk’s Q&A becomes the last section of its chapter; a panel is a chapter of its own.

What about the slides?

On ConferenceBook the book is the words, nothing else: no figures, no slides, no images. On ConferenceBook Pro it is the words plus any figure a speaker owns outright and wants in: their own diagram, their own chart, the code they showed. Each speaker can send up to ten with their release, say where each one goes, and warrant that it is theirs; we place it where the talk points at it. The deck itself stays out of both: a deck is full of images the speaker does not own at book level, and a slide export is too small to print. A chapter can carry a link to the recording for the reader who wants the slides.

We had eighty talks.

Then you have more than one book, usually one per track, each with its own cover under the conference’s name. One book holds up to 40 talks and 40 hours of recordings, and we will estimate the count from your program before anything is built.

What does it cost?

ConferenceBook is $4,999: the book, published in progress on Leanpub and then on Amazon as a Kindle ebook, a 6 × 9 paperback and a 7 × 10 hardcover, with 10 free paperback copies, 5 free hardcover copies, a coupon for every attendee and the speaker release template. The words only, and you bring the releases. ConferenceBook Pro is $14,999: the same book, and we get every speaker’s release through DocuSign and put in the figures the speakers own. One book holds up to 40 talks and 40 hours of recordings. A bigger conference becomes more than one book, and each additional book is $2,999 on ConferenceBook and $4,999 on ConferenceBook Pro.

What is the difference between ConferenceBook and ConferenceBook Pro?

The book is the same. ConferenceBook is the book alone: the words, made from your recordings, and the releases are yours to collect, with our template. ConferenceBook Pro is for the organizer who would rather hand us the whole job: we get every speaker’s release through DocuSign and chase the holdouts, and we put in the figures the speakers own. If your speaker agreement already gives you the right to publish and your talks need no pictures, ConferenceBook is the one. If you have forty speakers and no time, Pro.

Is this just an AI transcript with a cover on it?

It is AI, and it is not a transcript. A transcript takes thirty seconds and reads like one. This takes days, because the workflow does what an editor does: repairs what the microphone got wrong, trims what the eye should not have to wade through, writes the standfirsts from your program, and checks every change back against the recording. People spent months building and testing it on a real book, ruling on every kind of change it is allowed to make and every kind it is not.

What if we read it and don’t want it published?

Then nothing happens beyond the chapters already on Leanpub for your attendees, which you can take down. Nobody else sees a page. We would still be glad we made it.

Can we see one before we book a call?

The first ConferenceBook is being made now. Until it is published, read The Engineering Room, the book the same workflow made from a podcast: the chapter titles, the standfirsts and the editing are what ConferenceBook makes from a day of talks.

It starts with a half-hour call

If you run the kind of conference this page describes, we would love to do this. Book a half-hour Zoom call with us: we talk about the conference, the speakers, how many books it is, whether it is ConferenceBook or ConferenceBook Pro, and how to get us the recordings and the program. The call is free and commits you to nothing. The first chapters land within days of the files arriving.

Book a half-hour call

Or just write to hello@leanpub.com.