Publishing Professionals Network

08/31/2026

Who doesn’t like design that’s good enough to eat? Well, that’s exactly what Debbie Berne gave to cookbook enthusiasts here in the Bay Area and beyond!

SAVE THE DATE
If you’re in the Bay Area on Tuesday, September 1, join us for the release celebration of ”Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide,” by Debbie Berne, at book lovers’ favorite Omnivore Books in San Francisco.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and is FREE and open to the public. Bring your fond memories and insatiable appetite for a good cookbook!

About the author & their book:
Debbie Berne was a Bay Area-based fixture in cookbook publishing. She designed dozens of cookbooks including ”The Downton Abbey Cookbook,” ”Somebody Feed Phil,” ”Budmo,” ”(Serious) New Cook,” ”Chîmi Nu’am,” ”The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook,” and ”Flavors from the Farm.” Debbie also wrote ”The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers.”

To celebrate the launch of ”Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide,” we invite you to bring your favorite cookbook to share and discuss with fellow cookbook lovers and obsessives. Bring your most-used, cooking-stained stalwart, your arcane or bizarre find, or a cherished heirloom. Whatever you choose to bring, let’s celebrate what we love most about cookbooks.

Debbie Berne was a Bay Area-based fixture in cookbook publishing. She designed dozens of cookbooks including The Downton Abbey Cookbook, Somebody Feed Phil, Budmo, (Serious) New Cook, Chîmi Nu'am, The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook, and Flavors from the Farm. Debbie was also the author of The Design of Boo...

08/31/2026

**TODAY**

All About ISBNs and More with Carla King
A PPN Noon Zoom event (FREE)
Monday, August 31, 2026, 12 p.m. (PT); 3 p.m. (ET)

OVERVIEW
Join us as Carla King shares a professional insider’s overview of ISBNs, PCNs, LCCNs, PCIP blocks, MARC records, BISAC codes, and barcodes. One of the biggest mistakes independent authors make is using free ISBNs—and they often discover what that decision actually costs them only after the book is published.

Buy your own ISBNs and you—not a publishing platform—control the publisher identity attached to your book. Use a free ISBN, and the consequences can cascade.

This session covers:

• What an ISBN actually identifies, and how to read one
• Who uses ISBN metadata, and why it matters
• Free ISBNs: Learn what you give up and what happens when you change platforms
• Why you need to buy ISBNs in blocks of 10 or more
• Why U.S. publishers should purchase ISBNs only from Bowker
• How to correctly complete the four pages of a Bowker ISBN record
• How to clone, update, replace, or retire title records
• BISAC subject codes and discoverability
• ISBNs, barcodes, and embedded prices
• Why and how to get an LCCN through the PCN program
• Why and how to get a PCIP block and MARC record

This session is for independent authors and the publishing professionals who love them. Don’t let your authors make mistakes they can’t easily undo. Help them buy, register, and file it right the first time, before a shortcut quietly limits their book’s reach, portability, and professional identity.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Carla King began her career as a Silicon Valley technical writer before moving into travel technology journalism, blogging, and publishing education. When self-publishing tech emerged, she wrote a PBS column on the topic. She has self-published three motorcycle adventure memoirs and five guides to professional self-publishing, including "The Publishing Workbook for Independent Authors: Your Step-by-Step Guide and Activity Tracker to Professional Book Publishing, Marketing & Promotion."

Get her no-nonsense publishing advice at carlaking.com.

REGISTER FOR FREE:
https://lnkd.in/gEWb-23r

08/25/2026

All About ISBNs and More with Carla King
A PPN Noon Zoom event (FREE)
Monday, August 31, 2026

OVERVIEW
Join us as Carla King shares a professional insider’s overview of ISBNs, PCNs, LCCNs, PCIP blocks, MARC records, BISAC codes, and barcodes. One of the biggest mistakes independent authors make is using free ISBNs—and they often discover what that decision actually costs them only after the book is published.

Buy your own ISBNs and you—not a publishing platform—control the publisher identity attached to your book. Use a free ISBN, and the consequences can cascade.

This session covers:

• What an ISBN actually identifies, and how to read one
• Who uses ISBN metadata, and why it matters
• Free ISBNs: Learn what you give up and what happens when you change platforms
• Why you need to buy ISBNs in blocks of 10 or more
• Why U.S. publishers should purchase ISBNs only from Bowker
• How to correctly complete the four pages of a Bowker ISBN record
• How to clone, update, replace, or retire title records
• BISAC subject codes and discoverability
• ISBNs, barcodes, and embedded prices
• Why and how to get an LCCN through the PCN program
• Why and how to get a PCIP block and MARC record

This session is for independent authors and the publishing professionals who love them. Don’t let your authors make mistakes they can’t easily undo. Help them buy, register, and file it right the first time, before a shortcut quietly limits their book’s reach, portability, and professional identity.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Carla King began her career as a Silicon Valley technical writer before moving into travel technology journalism, blogging, and publishing education. When self-publishing tech emerged, she wrote a PBS column on the topic. She has self-published three motorcycle adventure memoirs and five guides to professional self-publishing, including "The Publishing Workbook for Independent Authors: Your Step-by-Step Guide and Activity Tracker to Professional Book Publishing, Marketing & Promotion."

Get her no-nonsense publishing advice at carlaking.com.

REGISTER FOR FREE:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/all-about-isbns-and-more-with-carla-king-tickets-1998693829046

08/21/2026

When you join PPN, you can have your cake and eat it, too!

Our network of editors—freelance or otherwise—consists of professionals who are eager to connect with other editors to offer advice, share resources, support one another's professional development, and, yes, develop friendships.

And those are just the editors within our vast network of publishing professionals!

Consider joining today. You have nothing to lose (except for a possible lost opportunity to expand your career).

If nothing else, sign up to receive our monthly newsletter!

https://pubpronetwork.org/

08/19/2026

LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT YOUR BEST DESIGN WORK!

Let’s celebrate great bookmaking! Be sure to submit your best book cover(s) before midnight on Friday, August 21, for this year’s PPN Book Awards.

For more information:

https://pubpronetwork.org/2026-ppn-book-awards-entry-form/

08/17/2026

MEET THIS YEAR’S JURORS!

Beste M. Doğan studied graphic design in Istanbul, Turkey. After working in multidisciplinary art studios pivoted to desktop publishing. She moved to New York in 2018 and since then she has been working at Melville House Publishing, while doing part time freelance book design. You can see her art projects and Book designs at www.bestemiray.com (http://www.bestemiray.com/)

Beste M. Doğan

08/17/2026

MEET THIS YEAR’S JURORS!

Dustin Kilgore has worked in-house and freelance for a number of publishers, and currently serves as an Art Director and Book Designer at Yale University Press. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut with his wife and three children. His work has been recognized by AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers, The Association of University Presses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show, PRINT Magazine Annual Award, Society of Typographic Arts, and Type Directors Club.

Dustin Kilgore

08/17/2026

MEET THIS YEAR’S JURORS!

Aarushi Menon (she/her) graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2023 and has since been working as a book cover designer at Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, in New York City. She designs covers across multiple genres, such as fantasy, romance, thriller, and more. Her work has been featured by Literary Hub, Spine Magazine, and Creative Quarterly.

Aarushi Menon

08/16/2026

08/16/2026

And a good time was had by all yesterday at the annual PPN picnic that was co-presented with Bay Area Women in Publishing and the Bay Area/SF chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association!

It was a perfect afternoon spent mingling and chatting away with fellow publishing aficionados from across the Bay Area.

We came, we ate, we talked shop, and we celebrated each other's passion for this ever-changing publishing industry, of which we're all proud enthusiasts.

If you're interested in becoming a member (or renewing an existing membership) with any—or all—of these three fine organizations, contact us!

https://pubpronetwork.org
https://www.bayareawomeninpublishing.com/
https://www.the-efa.org/