WHO WE ARE

The founders and creators of the SPBE, Diane Mancher and Karen Mender are committed to establishing this exhibit as the premiere book event for self-published authors and companies, and to making it a successful and profitable experience for all concerned. With over 50 years of combined publishing experience, Mancher and Mender bring a vast knowledge of the industry and a wide network of resources and contacts with traditional publishers, editors, agents, and media.

DIANE MANCHER is a publishing professional with over 20 years of experience as a book publicist. She began her career at High Times Magazine, spent two years at Stonehill Publishing, and spent 10 years at St. Martin’s Press, working with some of their most prestigious books and authors, including Randy Shilts, AND THE BAND PLAYED ON, Mary Wilson, DREAMGIRL: My Life As a Supreme, James Herriot, and Rosamunde Pilcher. After leaving St. Martin’s, Mancher held senior positions at Dell/Delacorte and Avon Books. In 1992, Mancher left in-house publishing to start One Potata Productions, Inc, a boutique publicity/public relations firm catering to books and authors. One Potata has an excellent track record working with publishers large and small, and with authors on a wide array of books including such bestsellers as Juiced/Jose Canseco, Loving Natalee/Beth Holloway, Just Desserts/Jerry Oppenheimer, and the iUniverse title, If I Knew Then/Amy Fisher.

KAREN MENDER brings a wealth of marketing and publicity experience to the Self-Publishing Book Expo.  Over her years at several major trade publishing houses, she served as VP, Associate Publisher and Marketing Director and Publicity Director at Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster), Dell/Delacorte (a division of Random House), HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, and Holt, Rinehart and Winston.  She has helped to launch the careers of many best-selling authors, including Thomas Harris, Jodi Picoult, Vince Flynn, Jennifer Weiner, Zane, Danielle Steel, Nicholas Evans, Maeve Binchy, and John Gray.  Mender also spent two seasons as the Publishing Coordinator of the nationally televised Quill Book Awards.   Most recently, she launched BooksToMarket, a freelance agency devoted to the innovative marketing of books to supplement the efforts of publishers and agents.