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Is Your ePub Content Compliant with Amazon’s New Requirements?

Services

May 5, 2021

ebook in front of open textbooksAmazon has announced that effective June 28, when uploading ePub content for new books or updates to previously published content on their platform, mobi files will no longer be supported.

Scott Keeney, Westchester’s Senior Composition and Digital Production Manager, outlines what Amazon’s changes mean for publishers:

In late 2020, Amazon recommended using ePub format for publishing new titles and updating previously published titles for users who loaded mobi into Kindle Previewer (KP3). Though it did not state it in that message, it was applicable to reflowable ePubs. Over the last several months, when clients have asked, Westchester has been recommending only receiving the ePub. With Amazon disapproving of sideloading to their devices as a means to preview files, the need for a mobi for review purposes had become obsolete. We do have a few clients with their own, independent need and use cases for mobi, and we continue to create and provide the mobi for them.

Amazon has accepted ePub as an input format for at least a decade, and Westchester has always built our clients’ ePubs with Amazon Kindle compliance in mind. While Amazon did allow some variance from Kindle guidelines, by 2014 Westchester’s standard ePub was entirely compliant.

To ensure quality and functionality, Westchester conducts automated validation using EPUBCheck 4.2.5 (all ePubs), and ACE by Daisy, along with using proprietary tools. We also conduct manual spot-checking of content and items including navigation and table of content links. Quality checks are conducted by reviewing in ADE (not an endorsement, ADE simply remains the most common reading system used by our clients to check ePubs). Most titles are also reviewed in Kindle Previewer 3, and titles may be checked in other reading systems as needed. Westchester also includes some content-based items that ACE can’t check for such as properly marking context breaks (aka space breaks or scene breaks) and decorative images/ornaments. We include alt text if supplied or we have internal resources who can create alt text as one of our additional services.

Westchester has continued to evolve our ePub offerings to support market needs over the years, and has been providing Amazon-compatible ePub3 files for quite some time. We also offer a variety of services to ensure your ePub and digital products are fully accessible, including alt-text writing capabilities, tagging content, XML file creation, 508 compliance, and accessible WebPDF files.

Talk with Westchester Publishing Services about how we can help ensure your new ePub content meets accessibility and platform requirements, and ways we can update your previously published content to be in compliance with current standards.

Filed Under: blog, Services Tagged With: ACE by Daisy, Amazon, epub, Kindle, mobi

May 3, 2021

Compiled by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

The first three months of 2021 have given us a sense of increased optimism, and we hope the same is true for you and your company. It seems as though we had a number of events to feel good about and while things may be progressing to a different normal more slowly than we want, they are moving forward.

Westchester Words

In March, we launched the Westchester Words podcast, where we conduct brief conversations about subjects that are of interest to those who work in or are passionate about education, ed tech, and publishing. Guests so far have included Cathy Felgar of Princeton University Press, Cev Bryerman of Publishers Weekly, and Brian O’Leary of Book Industry Study Group, and there are more episodes in the works. You can find Westchester Words on your favorite streaming platform; give it a listen and let us know what you think!

River Editorial acquisition

Also announced in March, our Westchester UK division completed the acquisition of River Editorial. What this means for publishers based in the UK, Europe, and other areas outside North America is that you now have a one-stop location for all of your editorial, project management, and composition service requirements for your publications. Full details are available in this release.

Westchester Education Services continues to grow

Our team of subject matter experts has increased to support the evolving needs of our clients. We have recently welcomed Amanda Robb, Senior Supervising Editor for Math, and Debbie Allen, Senior Supervising Editor for CTE. Additionally, Meg Overman was promoted to Senior Supervising Editor for SEL and Literacy, and Sam Tucker is our Senior Editor for Culturally Responsive Education. Visit our Meet the Team page to learn more about these ladies and the rest of the Westchester Education Services team and how they can help you achieve your company’s content development goals.

Our UK team is growing, too

The Westchester Education Services team in the UK has also increased, to meet the expanding needs of education publishers and ed-tech companies serving the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets. In January, Rebecca Durose-Croft was appointed Content Director and Curriculum Specialist, and in March, Marquita Celestine joined Westchester Education Services UK as Business Development Manager. Rebecca brings a wealth of experience from Editorial and Project Management roles at publishers including Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, Cambridge University Press, and Marshall Cavendish, while Marquita was most recently affiliated with Hodder Education and DK.

IPG International Publishing Forum

March was a very busy month for Westchester UK. In addition to the acquisition of River Editorial, we participated in the IPG (Independent Publishers Guild) inaugural International Publishing Forum, which in the absence of international fairs including London and Frankfurt, served to bring together publishers, retailers, industry experts and suppliers to participate in an international forum of meetings. We will also be exhibiting at IPG’s Virtual Spring Conference next month and look forward to connecting with you there.

 

How Westchester Helps Publishers

There are many ways that Westchester Publishing Services supports our clients’ changing editorial and production requirements. You can read here about solutions we have provided for publishers including The MIT Press, Maryland State Bar Association, and Rutgers University Press to resolve some of their editorial, design, and production challenges. Are you a Westchester client with a success story to share? Get in touch with me. Alternately, if you see a solution in these case studies that would help with a workflow issue that’s been causing you headaches, contact us to learn how we can help you.

Other ways we are staying connected

On April 6, Westchester Publishing Services and Publishers Weekly hosted the very successful Publishing Now ’21: Looking Forward webinar. The panelists discussed the changes and impacts the past year has had for their business operations, and what the current state of the industry is. Watch the video and download additional reading materials from the webinar discussion, including the summary paper that Publishers Weekly published in their April 26 edition.

Here are a few other events we will be participating in or hosting:

Book Industry Study Group Annual Meeting – April 23

British Book Awards Announcement Show – May 13

Publishers Weekly US Book Show – May 25-27

State of Education webinar – May 19

Westchester Publishing Services and Westchester Education Services are here to support publishers with all of your workflow requirements. Talk with us about how our editorial, project management, content development, and production solutions can help your business function more smoothly.

Filed Under: blog, News, Services, Westchester UK News

March 10, 2021

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

As we reach the anniversary of the beginning of the Pandemic “Lockdown” back in March 2020, two Washington Post articles caught my attention. One about the hindsight that can now be applied to the tragic impact of the COVID-19 virus on the world, which was far greater than any of us could have anticipated, and another about how conferences and events are trying to adapt to restart in-person industry meetings this year as hope around vaccines and recovery begins to take hold.  It was exactly a year ago that Westchester temporarily closed its Danbury location, hoping to have staff return expediently once it was safe.  A year on, nearly all of us are continuing to work from home, with only select staff going into the office as needed to tend to billing and postal needs.  As vaccine distribution improves, we look forward to more formally reopening our operations in Danbury and Dayton in the States, Stratford upon Avon in the UK, and Noida and Chennai in India.

The pandemic quickly impacted all of us and the ways we engaged with our clients to support them evolved rapidly.  We realized that our history and expertise working distributed, globally, could help many of our clients who were newer to navigating the distributed or “work-from-home” model. Our marketing team quickly brought together clients and industry figures for a webinar to talk through their approaches to the challenges that hit us all immediately. On our website, we set up a Work from Home resources page, curating articles and other useful information to help people adapt to this new way of working.

Many of our clients were experiencing similar challenges within their operations, prompting us to create video content to address those issues, including:

  • A video with one of our production editors about how to use Adobe markup on a PDF,
  • An additional video highlighting key Client Portal features for project management while working from home, and,
  • The “Publishing Now” webinar produced in conjunction with Publishers Weekly , which focused on where the industry was by July of last year.

You can find all of these and more video content on the Westchester YouTube channel.

We’re all continuing to consider what’s next for the publishing industry. On April 6th, Westchester will again partner with Publishers Weekly for the industry thought leader webinar, “Publishing Now ’21: Looking Forward”, featuring insights from Dominique Raccah of Sourcebooks, Cathy Felgar from Princeton University Press, Lorraine Shanley of MPI, and Tom Chalmers of Legend Times.  I invite you and your colleagues to join us for this free webinar, and engage with these publishing experts on questions about all aspects of the industry and supply chain that are affecting you.

Westchester remains committed to helping the Publishing Industry with its changing editorial and production needs, and continues to pivot and address individual workflow needs for our clients, to help each client in their areas of greatest need. Stay connected with us through our webinars, video content, and our recently launched Westchester Words podcast, featuring short, impactful conversations on topics specific to the publishing industry. Contact Us to discuss your challenges, and how Westchester can help you.

Filed Under: blog, News, Services Tagged With: accessible e-pubs, Adobe markup, Client Portal, COVID-19, editorial services, POD, podcast, print on demand files, production services, project management, webinar, Work from home

March 5, 2021

Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

Nicole TomassiWords are the primary means by which our clients communicate with their customers, so we are always looking at various media that we can use to connect with them, as well as our colleagues throughout the publishing industry. During the pandemic, the absence of in-person events combined with an urgent need for timely, relevant content grew, motivating us to host more webinars of our own and to partner with others in the industry to speak with their audiences about topics that were of interest to them.

Like you, we have been navigating through so many changes during the past year and we realized there is an increased desire for shorter format content that is informative and compelling. This became the inspiration for our new podcast, Westchester Words: Education, EdTech, and Publishing.

Westchester Words is geared towards publishing industry professionals and others who are equally passionate about the creation of education content, books, and the business of publishing. These information-packed 10-15 minute episodes will feature conversations focused on topics including culturally responsive education, project management considerations, diversity, equity, and inclusion, supply chain impacts, the general state of the publishing industry, and much more.

You can listen to the introductory episode here:

We hope you’ll listen in and follow us on your favorite podcasting platform as we engage with others in conversation about the issues that are shaping education, edtech, and publishing. If you would like to suggest a topic for us to feature in a future episode, or join us to share your expertise with our audience, send us an email at: WestchesterWords@westchesteredsvcs.com.

Filed Under: blog, News, Services Tagged With: edtech, Education content, podcast, publishing, publishing services, Westchester Words

March 2, 2021

Tyler Carey quoteTyler M. Carey, Westchester’s Chief Revenue Officer, has worked with our sales and marketing teams that have led our growth since becoming an employee-owned company in 2014.

Recently, Tyler sat down for a conversation with Chris Smith, Founder of Empellor CRM, and host of the Sales Lead Dog podcast. During their discussion, Tyler shared several insights that highlight the consultative approach Westchester takes with its partners to help them identify the right solutions to resolve their challenges from the suite of services offered by Westchester’s global operations teams.

You can watch the episode below, or stream it on your favorite podcast platform.

Filed Under: blog, Services Tagged With: podcast

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