Westchester

October 9, 2024

The past several weeks have seen myself, Hugh Shiebler (Director, Client Solutions), and Julie Willis (Editorial Director, Westchester Publishing Services UK) visiting conferences and events that provided guidance and direction on the global book and journal industries.

Bearded man standing next to a conference table at IPG Autumn Conference with a roller banner to the side of the table. Julie and I represented Westchester Publishing Services at the Independent Publishers’ Guild (UK) IPG Autumn Conference in London on Tuesday the 17th of September. The Autumn Conference is an annual must-attend show for Westchester, allowing us to meet with our clients and business partners in the UK trade, academic, and educational publishing spaces, as well as see our partners from Ingram and other businesses for which we support mutual clients. (Learn more about our ePub conversion work on behalf of Ingram Publisher Services clients, and our work on behalf of IngramSpark authors) The topics of accessibility and AI were top of mind for many of the attendees at IPG, as was the topic of the EUDR (more about that in the BMI section below) and changes in the distribution space. Simon Mellins was one of the draws on the topic of accessibility, covering the impact of the EAA and navigating best practices on creating accessible epubs right from the start (‘born accessible’ as some call the practice), and managing the backlist. Westchester continues to collate industry best practices on navigating the EAA on our microsite about ePub accessibility.

Woman with shoulder length blonde hair and bearded, bespectacled man standing next to each other, wearing formal evening attire. Following this, Julie and I represented Westchester at the Stationers’ Company’s Autumn Livery Dinner, where we had the opportunity to meet with a number of our publishing clients and talk with members of the communications industries in software, journalism, and other overlapping industries. We’re an active participant in Stationers’ Company events, due to the way they bring together a number of these different threads of businesses supporting content, and their deep history, tying back to when the Company was the inventor of the concept of Copyright in the UK.

Shakespeare Folio opened to two handwritten pages. The archivist of the Company was gracious enough to show me and another American member some treasures from the Company’s archives the morning after the event, including this page from their copyright register (volume Liber D) — with this page showing the registration for Shakespeare’s First Folio on November 8, 1623.

Screen reading Book Manufacturing Mastered on a wall next to a man speaking from a podium to a seated audience. The Book Manufacturers Institute conference — Book Manufacturing Mastered — was held in Boston on October 1, and brought together a blend of printers, paper suppliers, manufacturers, publishers, and vendors. The focus of topics was less on the editorial and production matters of accessibility and AI that seemed to be the main threads at IPG and SSP (see below), but instead focused on the impact of an East Coast Longshoreman’s strike and the fragility of the supply chain, as well as the EUDR’s regulations about tracking the source of paper and pulp used in printing to prevent deforestation. Panels including MIDLAND’s Bill Rojack (a former panelist on a Westchester Publishing Services webinar), Jim Milliot (editor emeritus of Publishers Weekly), and BMI’s Matt Baehr (also formerly on a Westchester Publishing Services webinar) talked through these topics, as well as the overarching topics of expanding staffing and improving communications with clients within the segments of the industry most directly represented at the conference. Within days of the conference, the strike wrapped up and the impact of EUDR on business processes had been granted more time through a one year delay.

Title screen for SSP Regional Meeting in Washington, DC October 1, 2024 While I was in Boston, Hugh Shiebler attended Society for Scholarly Publishing’s “New Directions in Scholarly Publishing” conference, held in Washington, DC, addressing the interests of the academic publishing and journal publishing industries. A number of the discussion threads, both in formal panels as well as in sidebar conversations with clients and at roundtables, directly overlapped with ways Westchester plays a role in helping our clients navigate their editorial and production needs. The impact of Wiley ceasing development on eXtyles opened up dialogue about alternative methods for handling citations in academic content – an editorial task that can be cumbersome for staff and freelancer editors if not handled systemically. Westchester’s capabilities in this area served as a basis for a lot of discussion with publishers about ways they can avoid the impact of this risk in the space. Other topics that seemed to resonate throughout the two day conference were the risks and opportunities with AI, and the shortage of peer reviewers – as well as alternate models for publication and peer review.

Westchester continues to expand our capabilities to support the changing needs of publishers across markets, including adding to our editorial and production capabilities, exploring alternative uses for publishing technology to help create efficiencies for both us and our clients, and improving our own efficiency in creating accessible ePub files to help solve the budgetary risk of converting large backlists to comply with the European Accessibility Act. Increasingly, we’re helping our 600+ publishing partners with content development, illustration, design, specific editorial and production tasks that are slowing down their staff in-house, as well as wider packaging needs like handling books from copyediting through to final files during peaks of the year. Contact us today to discuss any of the trends referenced in the above conference summaries, as well as your own particular challenges that are either driving up your costs or slowing down your workflow. Let’s talk soon about how Westchester can help you get your books to market on time and under budget.

June 27, 2024

Westchester Publishing Services participated and was an exhibitor during the Association of University Presses Conference which took place in Montreal, June 10-14, 2024. This was the first in-person annual meeting since 2022 and turnout was respectably strong. Here are some of the insights shared by Bill Foley and Hugh Shiebler, who were in attendance.

Man wearing light button down shirt and brown trousers stands behind an exhibit table covered with a dark blue tablecloth and topped with neatly organized notebooks, papers, and pens. There were many topics covered during the conference session and in discussions among attendees in the exhibit hall and elsewhere. While everyone’s conference experience is different, these two themes seemed to continually feature in the conversations we were having with clients and fellow attendees:

Accessibility – with the European Accessibility Act coming into force about a year from now, this is understandably a very hot topic. Publishers have a relatively small window of time to figure out the best way to balance the needs of the EAA and prioritize the titles within their backlist that need to be updated to adhere with the guidelines. As a Benetech-certified vendor, we have been having a lot of conversations with publishers about how to adapt their workflow to make frontlist “born-accessible” and ways they can effectively manage converting backlist content to meet accessibility requirements. Along these lines, you may be interested in the webinar, “Path to eBook Accessibility” on July 10, hosted by Ingram Content Group, with the panel including Michael Johnson from Benetech, Richard Orme of DAISY, Cathy Felgar from Princeton University Press, and Westchester’s Tyler M. Carey.

AI – This vowel combination is dominating conversations everywhere you turn and not surprisingly, it received a considerable amount of attention at the conference. While there are some proponents who are excited about the potential it offers, the general sentiment about artificial intelligence among people within the AUP community is highly skeptical. Understandably, with the proliferation of fake books being sold on sites like Amazon, there are practical concerns about the ability for AI to ingest copyrighted materials without attribution, consent, or compensation, risking reputational and financial harm for authors and publishers. AI is evolving at a very rapid pace and discussion about where to draw the boundaries from ethical, legal, or financial standpoints will continue for the foreseeable future. In April the Stationers’ Company, with support from Westchester hosted the webinar “Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Rights and Intellectual Property” which explored some of the complex challenges the publishing industry is encountering.

While these situations get sorted out, Westchester will continue to be here to support university press and academic publishers as they shepherd their content through the publication lifecycle. When assessing your next season’s list of new titles, backlist materials, or content acquired content from another entity, let us know how we can guide you through your editorial, production, design, or digital conversion challenges. We’re here to help, so Contact Us to talk about how we can make this a less cumbersome process for your press.

June 4, 2024

Travels with Tyler, New York City

man in a pink blazer and a blue shirt in checkerboard pattern standing in an auditorium before a stage with a screen reading US Book Show, containing several company logos — US Book Show at New York University Kimmel Center, Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

Publishers Weekly put on one of the most compelling NYC-based publishing trade shows in years on Wednesday, May 22nd at New York University’s Kimmel Center. Blending the best of the in-person tradeshow aspects of Book Expo (on a more manageable scale) with quality sessions akin to those one would see at Book Industry Study Group’s Annual Meeting, the US Book Show made for a productive day for over 800 publishing professionals from trade and academic publishers, as well as providers like agents, epub platforms, educational programs like Agate Publishing Academy, and Perfectbound’s platform for connecting printers and publishers.

The opening CEO roundtable – featuring Jonathan Karp (CEO, Simon & Schuster), Aman Kochar (CEO, Baker & Taylor), Mary McAveney (CEO, Abrams), and Peter Warwick (CEO, Scholastic), was moderated by Lucia Rahilly, the Global Editorial Director at McKinsey & Company. The discussion ranged from the opportunity for growth in the audiobooks space, the need to protect librarians and libraries, considerations about AI, and the overall state of the industry. Deep coverage of this and other sessions is available in this article from Publishers Weekly, this further article from Publishers Weekly, and in the May 23 issue of Publishers Lunch (subscriptions may be required to access article content).

Other key sessions included Clare O’Rourke’s session covering how to manage P&L’s on trade publications, Steve Potash from Overdrive talking about harnessing influencers to drive book sales, sessions geared towards learning more about the agency side of the business, and a compelling panel consisting of Dawn Davis (Publisher, 37 Ink), Sally Kim (Publisher, Little, Brown), Todd Shuster (Co-CEO of Aevitas Creative), and Dominique Raccah (CEO, Sourcebooks) talking about leadership and building a career in publishing.

One of the sessions that perhaps drew the most attention was Ulysses Press and Perfectbound’s Keith Riegert presenting about AI. Keith’s practical walk through of a number of tools available to publishers, and the pros and cons of AI was one of the most discussed sessions of the day. And if you missed it – well, Keith generously shared his slides. It’s worth spending 20-30 minutes going through the slides showing how to navigate different platforms (far more than just ChatGPT) to consider ways to be more efficient with everything from contract boilerplate to more exciting tasks.

The above resources we linked to should give a good insight as to the value of the day – and a number of the takeaways in case you weren’t able to attend. As always, Contact Us if there are any topics above that resonate that you would like to explore in greater detail. The team at US employee-owned Westchester Publishing Services are always here to help you.

May 24, 2024

Summer 2024 Edition

Working with as many publishers as we have the privilege to do, the employees here at Westchester often have long lists of books we want to read, with each week bringing new titles to add to the growing TBR pile. Below are some of the books we plan to take off the shelf or the bedside table in the coming months as we enjoy the longer days that summer brings.

For more information about the titles or to order a copy, click on the cover images to be redirected to the IndieBound powered by Bookshop.org site. And whatever book(s) you ultimately decide to crack open this summer, happy reading!

Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir (Revised and Expanded Edition)
Author: Eddie Muller
Publisher: Running Press (Hachette Book Group)

Why I want to read this book: This edition is a few years old now, but last summer I upped my noir game, running through several noir classics I had missed earlier, as well as some more obscure gems. I always enjoy Eddie Muller’s commentaries on TCM, and so I fully expect to enjoy reading this visually stunning book.

Submitted by: Scott Keeney, Director, Production and Customer Service

The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City
Author: Kevin Baker
Publisher: Knopf (Penguin Random House)

Why I want to read this book: I always look forward to a new book by Kevin Baker, and in this case, it’s about New York and baseball. I recently ordered it and it’s already sitting on my bookshelf just waiting for me to crack it open! As The New York Times Book Review shared: “A hugely entertaining history of baseball and New York City, bursting with larger-than-life figures and fascinating stories from the game’s beginnings to the end of World War II.” Sounds like a perfect summer read to me!

Submitted by: Deb Taylor, Chief Operating Officer

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent
Author: Marie Brennan
Publisher: Tor

Why I want to read this book: During the initial quarantine of Covid-19 in March 2020, I listened to an amazing virtual creative writing class hosted by Marie Brennan about world building through Clarion West. A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent is the first in a series that utilizes a lot of the world building techniques she discussed. If you’re a fan of dragons and an alternative Victorian time-period, this is the book series for you!

Submitted by: Christina Jones, Resource Manager, Westchester Education

Q. Fulvius I Called You Brother
Author: M.G. Haynes
Publisher: Independent

Why I want to read this book: This is the third book of the Fulvius Chronicles series. I have read the previous books and found them to be a very intriguing storyline woven through ancient Roman times. They follow the path of Fulvius, a street urchin who saved from execution, makes his way into the military, and moves into piracy in the second book of the series. This third installment in the series picks up the storyline for a friend who he has betrayed who seeks vengeance for his betrayal. In addition to being a great series the author is my cousin M. G. Haynes, who is a West Point graduate, historian, and is still serving in the military.

Submitted by: Kevin Schroeder, Director, Client Solutions, Westchester Education

Yellowface
Author: Rebecca F. Kuang
Publisher: Borough Press

Why I want to read this book: I saw that this won fiction book of the year 2024 at The British Book Awards and was intrigued. I’m even more so now that I know it is about a stolen manuscript and the publishing industry as well!

Submitted by: Julie Willis, Editorial Director & Systems Lead, Westchester Publishing Services UK

The Ministry of Time
Author: Kaliane Bradley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Why I want to read this book: Why? While attending the US Book Show this May, Simon & Schuster CEO, Jonathan Karp, shared this as his current read, promoting it as a blend of a spy story, a time travel story, and a rom-com. Sounds like it ticks all the boxes for a great summer read and I’m going to check it out.

Submitted by: Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

Long Island
Author: Colm Tóibín
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Why I want to read this book: I read Brooklyn which can now be considered the prequel, when it was released 15 years ago and was thrilled when news came out last year that the author had written an unexpected follow-up. Long Island brings back many of the original cast of characters and is set sometime in the 1970s, about 20 years after the events of Brooklyn. Similarly, the story takes place between New York and Enniscorthy, Ireland, where protagonist Eilis Fiorello (nee Lacey) was born and raised before emigrating to America. I’m looking forward to finding out what Eilis and her connections have been up to after all these years. Judging by all the pre-publication buzz around this novel, I’m apparently not the only one! Bonus: You can watch Saoirse Ronan bring Eilis to the screen in the 2015 adaptation of Brooklyn, available to stream on several services.

Submitted by: Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

Looking for a few more titles to consider? These lists may offer up some worthy reading selections:

Summer Reads 2024 – Publishers Weekly

25 Books to Read this Summer – The Atlantic (subscription may be required)

What to Read Summer 2024 – National Public Radio

Best New Books to Read this Summer – Time Magazine

April 19, 2024

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

On Friday, April 12th, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) once again graciously hosted their annual meeting in-person at New York City’s Harvard Club — as well as via an online stream for attendees not able to join for the day. BISG is one of the premier US trade associations in the publishing industry, whose work is carried out through a small staff along with the volunteer efforts of professionals from every segment of publishing. I’m active on the Workflow Committee for BISG and I, along with Nicole Tomassi, Westchester’s Marketing & Conference Manager, joined a number of our colleagues from that esteemed group at a table for the day’s events.

Presentation slide with four circles labeled Inclusion, Research, Standards, and Education, connected by arrows

Versa Press’ Matt Kennell got the day started by introducing a panel consisting of outgoing BISG board director and CEO of IBPA Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, James Miller of Barnes & Noble, and Joshua Tallent from Firebrand Technologies. The panel examined the approach of embracing a Virtuous Circle of Inclusion → Research → Standards → and Education, a theme which echoed across the day’s panels. The discussion touched upon the past Trends publication from BISG, the dozens of webinars and events that are supported each year via BISG’s staff of 2 full-time employees, and the efforts of volunteers on their committees, as well as how BISG continues to work closely with companies throughout the industry to curate virtual and in-person events exploring topics ranging from sustainability to metadata to workflow to rights to subject codes, and more. Lastly, the panel zeroed in on the primary goals for BISG to achieve during the next three years, including:

1. Transforming supply chain communication
2. BISG at 50 (which happens in 2026)
3. Resource development
4. Membership growth
5. Membership retention

The balance of the day saw sessions including:

“The Case for Royalty Statement Standards”, moderated by Kris Kliemann from Kliemann and Company, outlining the need for standards on royalty statements in the industry. Panelists included Jennifer Weltz (President, Association of American Literary Agents; President, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency Inc.), Lucina Schell (International Rights Manager at University of Chicago Press), and Donna Laing (VP of Royalties and Rights Data Management at Scholastic). For those of us not involved in rights, this was a fantastic education on the challenges with administering rights and royalties with so many segments of the industry reporting back on sales and returns in different formats and with different expectations.
Ken Brooks (Amplify Education) moderated the session, “Moving Out of the Tower of Babel: Improving Efficiencies Across the Supply Chain”, featuring speakers Claire Holloway (Manager of Publisher Relations, OCLC), Alan DuBose (Senior VP of Planning & Data Analytics, Books-A-Million), and Jessica Wells (Penguin Random House). The supply chain is a topic a bit more ubiquitous than rights across the industry as we each have a role to play in it regardless of our vocation, and the exploration of issues related to forecasting, leveraging actionable data within different systems in our tech stacks, and identifying shared pain points put this topic into a shared frame of reference for all involved that spurred further discussions at the reception following the meeting. With the absence of one point of data in the US, as Booknet Canada supports within the Canadian market, there are ongoing challenges we’ll be working through with the help of organizations like BISG. An example query that a unified data set could help answer for market research and planning was “How many copies of The Great Gatsby were sold across all publishers after it went public domain?” Having access to that type of unified data would help publishers make better decisions on whether to expand or adjust plans for certain titles in their public domain editions lists, for instance. Everyone walked away from this session with a list to think about specific to their portion of a book’s life cycle.
Connie Harbison (Baker & Taylor) conducted a “How Standards for Product Metadata Reflect Shifts in Culture” panel discussion with Geraldine Zephirin (Barnes & Noble), Michael Olenick (Clarivate), and Gina Wachtel (Penguin Random House) that looked at the need for standards, and leveraging BISAC Codes more effectively, as well as mapping them to Thema for international markets. The prior interim speech, “Metadata in Action: Understanding Industry Trends” by David Walter of Circana helped illustrate the picture of why clear, consistent metadata is important for helping ensure discoverability and industry tracking that benefits us all. The panel’s emphasis on the practical – including hygiene tasks for clearing out outdated BISAC codes from your ONIX feed and metadata – made what can be an arcane topic accessible for those of us in the room who may not have a favorite BISAC code (as each panelist shared they did!).

Man speaking from podium at lower left hand corner of picture, with a large presentation screen behind him showing 2023 US Print Book sales figures — David Walter (Circana) discusses 2023 Supercategory Print Sales during BISG 2024 Annual Meeting

After lunch, three awards were presented including The Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service to Phil Ollila of the Ingram Content Group, who was introduced by BISG and Stationers’ Company member Lorraine Shanley, and the BISG Industry Innovator Award presented to Scribd, who was represented by Andrew Weinstein.

Author Walter Mosley addresses the BISG Annual meeting from the podium on the stage in New York City's Harvard Club — Walter Mosley accepting the 2024 Industry Champion Award during the BISG Annual Meeting on April 12, 2024

The 2024 Industry Champion Award was presented to Walter Mosley by Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group and Mosley’s former editor. Mosley received the award not only in recognition for his body of work, but for his founding of the Publishing Certificate Program at City College of New York (CCNY), his alma mater. His efforts in developing an educational program to create awareness of the opportunities in the publishing industry for people of underrepresented backgrounds was the primary topic in his introduction and in his own speech. To Mosley’s credit, he challenged the room to do more than give him an accolade and move on, but to instead follow his example of driving change in the industry by hiring people from different backgrounds and improving the diversity within the companies involved in publishing books, ensuring all voices and audiences are being seen, heard, and properly represented.

Executive Director Brian O’Leary’s closing session – Book Publishing Next: Changes We Want to See in the Industry – marked the first time Brian has given a keynote during his BISG tenure and provided a capstone to the day by walking through how all of the topics introduced earlier (rights, supply chain, subject codes, metadata, inclusion, and more) were the inspiration for the 3 year plan that had been introduced at the start of the day by the board. Brian highlighted how more growth can be achieved through better management of rights opportunities, managing costs, and being more consumer focused. Brian’s consultative approach to the info gathered through surveys and committee meetings leading up to the event hearkened back to a comment Phil Ollila had made earlier in the day, “People like to be engaged, not managed.” By encouraging ongoing engagement with the audience and the volunteers that comprise the bulk of BISG’s momentum, Brian underscored how the industry plays a vital role in making improvements for the continued benefit of everyone within publishing, rather than a one-way keynote closing the day’s sessions.

The below image cannot be emphasized enough – the volunteers drawn from all walks of the industry drive the content and mission of BISG, making meaningful events like the annual meeting itself and the ongoing webinars throughout the year possible.

Man standing at a podium with a presentation screen behind him showing squares with words including metadata, workflow, rights, supply chain and subject codes — Brian O’Leary, Executive Director of BISG, delivers closing keynote for the 2024 Annual Meeting

Presentation slide outlining future possibilities for publishing industry in North America — What Does the Future Hold – BISG 2024 Annual Meeting

In closing, what does the future hold? Well, Brian shared a few ideas but in the theme of the day’s session, why not join BISG, attend a committee meeting to contribute your voice to the discussion and help steer publishing’s future? More about BISG membership, which is open to companies and individuals, is available here.

Contact Us at Westchester to talk about highlights from the day, and ways we’re helping BISG member orgs and our hundreds of publisher clients around the world with their workflow challenges.

Autumn 2024 Publishing Industry Conferences and Events

Westchester

Travels with Tyler, New York City

Summer 2024 Edition

Footer