A company that is into the publishing business has many different needs. Depending on whether you are into publishing of physical or books or those that can be read on digital media, your requirement may vary. Such needs could include processes right from planning to pre-production, production, and printing till the final product is achieved. As a publisher, you may want to exercise control over every aspect of your business, but many operations may not feasible when carried in house. This may be due to a lack of necessary talent, or constraints in budget, or simply because you have too much on your plate. This is where a publishing service provider steps in to your rescue. Such a service provider assists you with one or more aspects of publishing, or takes care of it from the start to end. Read on to know more about the gamut of services that such companies offer, and the one that suits you.
Publishing workflow management
Bringing together all the different people who work on a project, is indeed a tedious task. As a publisher who works on multiple books in the pipeline, you may find it difficult to juggle between the different tasks involved, and work in a coordinated manner with all the stakeholders. This can cause one project to suffer at the cost of another. A publishing service provider takes care of such worries by undertaking the management of publishing workflows. They begin by setting up a budget for you, and create a workflow with proper timelines. From creating manuscripts, to editorial proofreading, coordinating with writers and editors, handling queries, and producing a clean, accurate manuscript – they take care of it all. Many such providers of publishing services also help you by hiring the right talent for writing, editing, proofreading, indexing etc., when they are not available in house. So, if workflow management is the biggest challenge that you are faced with, hire a publishing service provider who offers the same.
Content development services
The content is the crux and most vital part of your published work. As a publisher, you may have a set of authors who are working on the next set of manuscripts. However, there may be certain instances where you need the help of experts in specific domains to help you with the manuscript. This is even more true when the work to be published is of the academic kind. In such a situation, the services of a content developer is extremely help. Providers of content development services include a team of authors who are well-versed and experts in their respective fields. They help you develop the manuscript for your work, and also sometimes take charge as editors, scanning the copy for correctness and authenticity. For academic material such as textbooks and quiz banks, these authors also help develop tests, questions, and solutions that are verified. They also check for correctness of tables, diagrams, and other illustrations that are part of the manuscript.
The team of content developers also includes other editors whose grammar nazi skills examine the copy for flaws in language, spelling, and other nuances. Through the content development process, the team establishes an editorial standard that gets circulated among themselves, and is updated with every iteration made. The final manuscript of the book also includes a report with all these standards and changes made.
So, when stuck with developing manuscripts or fine-tuning them, opt for content development services from publishing service providers.
Design, artwork, and illustration
Not just content, the manuscript that goes into printing also needs a proper layout, as well as supporting artwork and illustrations. Publishing service providers often take care of this need by liaising with illustrators and designers to develop suitable material for you. They also help source images and photographs appropriate to the content, and take care of copyright formalities and permissions, so that you can use them in your published work without worries of infringement. When taking care of design needs, service providers also keep in mind the standard set by the publishing company, and work towards a product of the highest quality possible.
So, if you are stuck on a project because you can’t find suitable artwork and photographers, take the help of publishing service providers who offers services in this domain.
Not just these verticals, many companies also offer comprehensive and end to end solutions for publishing. So, if you want to outsource the entire publishing task, and focus your energy on more important tasks at hand, you know where to go.