I am attending the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference, a conference that shapes the future of publishing by gathering leading minds to interact and learn from each other.

Several themes have echoed in my ears:

• The printed book is dead… Again
• The kindle will be free
• Content will be free

No one truly knows how to monetize the future. Those who say they do are probably wrong. There are many Davids out in this land of giants looking to slay a Goliath or two.

Amid all the chatter, hype, buzz, and prophecies, only one focused on the author—without whom there is no content, no authenticity, no community, no conversation. It is sad to see the souless tech crowd taking over what once was the beloved home turf of content curation and community by herding the masses of readers with analytics and clicks and views.

Though you and I may not agree with some of what she writes, Margaret Attwood was by far the best session I attended and the one glimmer of hope for the needs of authors who exist on cheese sandwiches and the hope of discovery. If you are in publishing or an author, you can see her inspiring keynote below:

Follow @JohnDep and @BelieversPress on Twitter!