• Blog
  • Podcast
    • Current Episode
    • Westchester Words – All Episodes
  • WEBINARS
    • Webinar: Publishing Now Spring ’23 Best Practices for Publishing in a Changing Marketplace
    • Webinar – Publishing Now Fall ’22: Impact of Accessibility and Sustainability
    • Webinar – Publishing Now ’22: Driving Business Forward
    • Webinar – Publishing Industry Supply Chain Challenges and Opportunities
    • Webinar – Publishing Now ’21: Looking Forward
    • Webinar: Publishing Now – Day to Day Challenges & Solutions
  • About Us
    • Meet Our Team
    • Diversity, Belonging, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
    • Press
    • How Westchester Helps Publishers
    • Markets We Serve
    • Our Clients
    • Client Testimonials
    • Our Partner Network
    • Our Workflows
    • Conferences & Events
    • Publishers Weekly Special Report-Prepress Services
    • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • PORTAL LOGIN
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Westchester Publishing Services

Excellence Delivered

  • Composition Services
    • U.S. Serviced Typesetting
    • Offshore Typesetting
    • LaTeX Typesetting
    • Pre-Edit Service
    • ePubs and Digital Conversion
  • Editorial Services
    • Domestic Editorial Project Management
    • Offshore Editorial Project Management
    • Art and Design
  • Client Portal
  • Westchester UK
    • Education – UK & International
    • Publishing – UK
  • Education Services

Book Industry Study Group 2022 Annual Meeting

BISG

April 29, 2022

by Deb Taylor, Director, Business Development & Marketing

Conversations

A newcomer’s view from the BISG Annual Meeting

OOOH, I was going to see people without a Zoom frame! Did I remember how to do this? It’s been a minute.

It was Friday, April 22. 7:10AM and I was headed to The Harvard Club for the BISG Annual Meeting of Members, focused on how to Build Books Better.  The world has changed quite a bit over the last 2 years, including the publishing industry, right? I was eager to hear what the BISG members had to say about all that and more.

“Is it ever going to end?”

I listened as attendees commiserated about how the publishing industry seemed to be in an endless state of transformation and change. As the BISG members know, and will likely be the first to tell you, the publishing industry is never static. It is always changing. Sometimes due to things outside of its control, or slower in areas than some would like, but as a whole, this industry is one that evolves to meet the changing demands of time.

One thing that does not change, though, is the focus of BISG members to develop better ways to do things, to help the industry move forward to face those new demands, whatever they may be.

Technology

I want to focus on the word “develop” for a minute. Develop is associated with change, improvement, and growth, such as developing green buildings, or in technology, developing new platforms, sustainable methodologies or automated processes. Innovation and developing often go together, but are typically not the first words that someone outside of publishing will use to describe the publishing industry. Well, the BISG committee chairs definitely had something to say about that misperception. Rachel Comerford (Macmillan Learning), BISG Workflow Committee Chair, shared that it’s time to start thinking about publishing as a technology industry. 

I couldn’t agree more.

While digital workflows may seem like they’ve solved many of the biggest technology needs, there are still areas where many siloed, manual practices are still in play. I have to admit, I was surprised to hear about the challenges that Kris Kliemann (Kliemann & Company), the BISG Rights Committee Chair, discussed around researching and managing rights and permissions. There seems to be room for a bit of innovation there, and she definitely wants to see that the processes (so many people! so many steps!) for securing (and paying for) rights and permissions become more of a self-serve, web-based, intuitive experience.

There was a general consensus that publishers should be adopting a born accessible approach to their titles, too. This approach not only expands readership, but also lowers costs and reduces waste. It is, as most nodding heads appeared to agree, the right thing to do.

DEI

Which brings me to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). This is something that I am very passionate about and engaged in both personally and professionally. I am grateful and proud of the corporate commitment Westchester has made to DEI, and the work we do helping publishers produce content that is culturally responsive. As a white, middle-age professional woman who resides in the NYC suburbs (and also serves as a Board of Education trustee),  I am starting to realize and address my biases, recognize my position of privilege and influence, and am learning how I can help elevate those who are marginalized.  Key words here are “starting”, “recognizing” and “learning” as this is not easy, or comfortable. I was, literally, on the edge of my seat for the entire conversation led by Peter Berkery (Executive Director, Asoociation of University Presses), Shelley Husband (SVP, Government Affairs and Special Projects, Association of American Publishers) and Allison Hill (CEO, American Booksellers Association), as I was eager to hear how this historically and predominantly white industry was going to learn about DEI and facilitate change within the space. 

The good news is that there is a lot of great work starting to take place, including bylaw changes requiring a diversified Board of Directors, publishers seeking out more BIPOC authors, DEI leadership positions being added, along with fellowship programs that enable BIPOC students to learn about the publishing profession and ideally land permanent positions in scholarly publishing houses. 

What added to the authenticity of this conversation, was the recognition of the multiple failures and stumbles that have taken place. Peter Berkery talked about the low retention with the first round of fellows, and how the work with this program cannot end with placement. Supports and mentoring need to be established in order for these new fellows, who are landing in a company where they do not see colleagues or managers who look like them, to feel safe, confident and empowered to contribute and advance their careers. This includes training and resources for existing employees to learn about and manage their own biases and microaggressions too. Allison Hill made the point that mistakes will continue to happen, and that it is imperative to not only learn from them, but to keep on the journey. It is imperative for all of us, to be transparent, accept failure, build bridges, and most importantly, insist and persist, for a better publishing industry.

A Lifetime or Two 

I expected that a publishing meeting would include a good story or two, and I wasn’t disappointed. By the looks of the attendees – they weren’t disappointed either. Tom Clarkson started off the award ceremony taking us with him as he shared his lifelong journey in the publishing space and how his career intersected with Joe Gonnella, who received the Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service. Joe continued to hold our attention with his own experiences and lifetime of amazing accomplishments. Two additional awards were also presented, the Industry Champion Award to Pat Payton of ProQuest and the Industry Innovator Award to Wattpad. It was certainly a wonderful way to end a meaningful and valuable meeting of the BISG members.

Onward!

One last word about BISG. All the committee chairs shared their continuing commitment to provide invaluable resources through webinars, best practice guides, brown bag (virtual) lunch roundtables, and more over this next year, to help break down siloes of knowledge and expand the capabilities for all publishers to build books better. The invites to participate in their virtual sessions were warm, authentic and encouraging, giving full permission to just “lurk”. I’m going to take them up on that.


Learn more about BISG’s programs, committees and other ways to become involved.


 

Filed Under: blog, Conferences, News Tagged With: accessibility, accessible publications, BISG, conferences, DEI, publishing, publishing workflows

March 4, 2021

by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

book printing machineOn Tuesday, March 2, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) hosted the webinar, “Book Printing in the U.S. Market: An Update. BISG Executive Director Brian O’Leary moderated the session, which shared updates from the Book Manufacturing Institute’s (BMI) Executive Director, Matt Baehr, and Versa Press Executive Sales Director, Matthew Kennell.

Matt Baehr noted several ways that businesses were impacted in 2020 by the pandemic, from extended lead times in getting both raw and finished materials from overseas, the higher costs and delays associated with sourcing these products, to increased run lengths for certain product lines, particularly cookbooks, and content that focused on politics and social justice issues.

As a result, capacity issues were a dominant factor throughout last year and this has persisted into 2021. This has led to increased interest for publishers seeking to shift more of their printing needs onshore, however, that presents other issues due to the consolidation in that space during the last several years. As discussed in our Publishing Now webinar last summer, print on demand is a solution that can help address this challenge, and Matt noted in his presentation that the quality is steadily improving in comparison to offset. He shared that publishers are utilizing print on demand for backlist titles in their catalog, reducing the need to maintain significant physical inventory. To supplement the increased interest in POD, some book manufacturers are expanding into “POD lite” services, offering a blended product with a digital component to augment the physical print run.

Another area of concern are the challenges that manufacturers are experiencing with maintaining full employment to meet higher demand.  The workforce in this sector tends to be older, where the concerns of the pandemic have a more pronounced effect. Many of these facilities are located in more rural areas of the country, making it difficult to draw in younger workers who tend to live in more populated regions. Through their affiliation with the National Association of Manufacturers and other industry associations, BMI is looking to generate higher awareness and interest for careers in manufacturing during 2021.

Matthew Kennell, confirmed that Verhttps://bisg.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1465835&group=sa Press has experienced several of the trends referenced by Matt Baehr, including lead times that have grown to about six weeks for a paperback run compared to the more typical lead time of 3 to 4 weeks. At the beginning of 2020, Versa was already in the process of ordering printing equipment for planned expansions. Some of these presses will arrive at the facility and come online during the summer of 2021. According to Matthew, the fourth-generation family-owned and operated business takes a long-term approach with its growth strategy. They diversify by serving publishers who are in various market segments, and Versa Press’ overall outlook for the next few years is positive due to the longstanding relationships they have cultivated with many of their clients.

Though challenges remain in various parts of the supply chain, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in the publishing industry as we move forward through 2021. BISG offers periodic webinars that address various aspects of the industry, along with committees that employees of member companies can participate in. Visit the BISG website to learn more about upcoming programming, view previous content or become a member.

Sign up here for BISG’s next webinar on Tuesday, March 16 – The Paper Market for Books: An Update.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: BISG, book manufacturing, POD, printing, webinar

October 19, 2020

by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

Westchester and the publishing industry overall have continued to change how we work on publication projects this year. Being able to successfully pivot and adapt to a different norm is a central theme running through our highlights from the summer of 2020. Read on to learn some of the ways we continued to maintain vital connections with our clients and within the larger publishing community:

Working Better Together

Publishing Now webinar whitepaperIn early July Publishers Weekly and Westchester co-hosted the Publishing Now webinar where attendees across all areas of publishing had the opportunity to hear from stakeholders at BISG, HMH, Ingram, and Princeton University Press about how each company was addressing challenges within their companies and beyond that were impacting producing, shipping, and selling publications to consumers, identifying potential issues to be aware of heading into the highly important fall and holiday seasons, and ideas for how publishers could prepare to navigate effectively through these situations. In addition to the webinar video, Publishers Weekly produced a summary article, and the panelists contributed content related to the discussion that is available to read and download from our website.

Welcome to Carol Wilson

In September, Carol Wilson joined Westchester Education Services in the newly created position of Director of Client Solutions. Carol has extensive experience within education publishing including her work at Pearson, Edmentum, and Renaissance Learning. This recent blog post outlines more about Carol’s credentials and how she will work with Westchester’s clients.

 

Westchester becomes a member of BISG

BISG logoPublishing is an industry where each sector is highly reliant on other companies within the supply chain that transforms author’s creations and delivers the finished product to consumers in the formats they desire. In these complex times, participating in a forum where data informs effective strategies for stepping through each stage of the publication lifecycle can be extremely beneficial. That is why we chose to become a member of the Book Industry Study Group this August. In this blog post, Chief Revenue Officer, Tyler M. Carey explains why the time was right to take this step and how other companies in the publishing industry can do so.

 

IPG Independent Publishing Awards sponsorship

As a member of the Independent Publishers Guild, Westchester UK had the pleasure to sponsor the Education Publishing Award category during the Independent Publishing Awards ceremony, which took place virtually on September 22. Kudos to the independent publishers who were nominated in the various categories, and congratulations to all of the winning publishers. You can view the awards show here.

 

Westchester Publishing Services featured in PW Digital in India article

Being able to conduct operations digitally has been mission-critical during the past seven months, and the right tools are crucial to ensuring processes run as seamlessly as possible. Westchester’s adoption of the Dropbox platform a few years ago both within our internal teams as well as serving as the foundation for our Client Portal are detailed in this article which was part of the coverage in Publishers Weekly’s annual Digital in India section.

 

Keeping focused on the needs of individual publishers

Westchester has weathered many different business cycles during our more than 50 years of operation. At a challenging time for many in the industry, this summer we surpassed the milestone of having more than 250 active clients, publishers who rely on us for editorial, production, content creation, and project management services while workforces are remote and the ways readers purchase and consume content has dramatically changed. We have achieved this by consulting with each publisher to identify the best solution for their specific workflow issues, and providing them with finished projects they and their customers can be proud of.
Would you like to experience how a collaborative partnership can help your publishing program? I invite you to contact us to learn more.

Filed Under: blog, News, Services, Uncategorized Tagged With: BISG, Carol Wilson, Composition, editorial, IPG, Production, project management, webinar

Footer

We’re ready to help you!     Contact Us   Call +1 203-658-6581

About Us  |  Conferences  |  Press  |  Blog |  Careers  | Privacy Policy |  Education Services  |  Westchester UK
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2023 Westchester Publishing Services, LLC.

This website uses cookies to analyze traffic, improve your visit and to help us communicate more effectively with you. Our privacy policy has new information.   Accept Read Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT