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Travels with Tyler: Autumn in New York and News from Frankfurt

Production

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

headshot of Tyler CareyUsually, the Autumn weeks leading up to Halloween and Thanksgiving have been times when Westchester’s clients were heads down on projects, aiming to hit end of year deadlines, and we found ourselves in a more transactional mode on projects. This Fall has been different though, with a lot of discussions between our clients and our sales, editorial, and production teams about changes to workflows and ways we can help address additional challenges our clients are having in getting their work on titles completed and getting their books to market.

The lunch meetings I’ve been having with clients during the past few months suggest that in some ways, we’re all finally settling into a bit of a more active ‘new normal’, and this also seems true about how we’re bringing our books to market. The seasonal rhythms in our businesses still continue to adapt and evolve as we move from a time of reactive behavior, where our clients were trying to adapt to the news of paper shortages and crowded windows at the printers. A year on, everyone is more cognizant of those challenges and better prepared for the schedules books are requiring now.

In another indicator of this more active normal, instead of focusing on supply chain challenges like we have in previous sessions, our recent Publishing Now webinar, in partnership with Publishers Weekly, looked at how publishers can pivot to better embrace industry trends for accessibility and sustainability. You can view the webinar here on YouTube, to see Kristen McLean (NPD Books), Bill Kasdorf (Publishing Technology Partners), and Rachel Martin (Elsevier) discuss these topics and share their insights.

Something else I’ve noticed in my recent in-person meetings with clients is how casual and ‘normal’ having in-person meetings is again. No one is being cavalier about the lingering risks of the pandemic, but declining infection numbers and the increased level of comfort many people have about conducting in-person meetings has made them a viable alternative for vendors and our clients to use to advance as many key topic areas as possible, rather than engaging in a series of Zoom meetings, countless cycles of emails, or Slack messages.

These recent discussions I have been having with clients have me feeling very upbeat and emboldened about the path the publishing industry is taking, with exploring new ways of doing things, doubling down on growth, and further embracing change. Here at Westchester, our teams are busy supporting clients in areas of their workflows that hadn’t been part of our “traditional” role in the past. Specific areas include the growth of our program for Ingram ebook distribution clients, through which we provide ebook conversion services for an affordable rate, to managing client assets in CoreSource and other platforms, and taking on more specific production and manufacturing tasks to free more time up for our clients’ staff. To me, that underscores how the industry is working together to find innovative ways to improve the speed with which books are being produced, and with less cost.

To make sure I wasn’t applying a Boston-New York-DC corridor perspective to the wider industry goings on, I reached out to Tim Davies, the CEO of Westchester’s UK operation, to see if he found the in-person uptick in activity was holding true for him – especially with his recent attendance at the Frankfurt Book Fair representing Westchester’s UK book and education units.

“From my perspective,” Tim shared regarding Frankfurt, “it was smaller and quieter than pre-pandemic but a ‘quiet’ Frankfurt is still busy and buzzy by the standards of any other trade event. Definitely fewer attendees, with several people commenting to me that they’d noticed US visitor numbers were well down. That said, it was great to spend time with old friends and colleagues and compare notes on our current experience of our respective publishing sectors, and international markets. Everyone I spoke to said they were really pleased that they’d come and that they expected next year’s numbers and vibe to be much more akin to how it used to be. I’ve already booked my hotel!”

This article in Publishers Weekly and this article in The Bookseller profile the scale of attendees at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year vs. prior to the pandemic, supporting Tim’s points above. PW also shared highlights of other recent regional conferences for booksellers, while Frankfurt was underway, demonstrating the uptick in interest in in-person events, and the opportunities that brings about for publishers and booksellers. It certainly feels like we’re returning to a time where more business may be done at places like the Javits Center in New York and the Olympia in London, as well as numerous smaller conferences around the country and the globe, where specialists meet to cover their products and areas of expertise. It’s invigorating to see this trend underway again.

So, let Westchester know what’s changing for you: What’s been keeping you busier than ever? What’s working well? What partners are helping save the day? What can US employee-owned Westchester be doing to help you? As we all continue adapting together, I welcome a conversation about ways your team is changing how you do your work, and exploring the additional ways our teams can help you.

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

Long time readers of the Westchester Publishing Services blog will know that prior to the pandemic, traveling into the market to meet with our clients and prospective partners was a key means of getting to know clients and their work, better understanding competitive gaps we needed to address, and also exploring new services that the market needed to help solve it workflow challenges. This blog was often filled with post-conference updates from the likes of the London Book Fair, BEA, Frankfurt, ASU+GSV, and more.

Over the course of the past year and a half, Westchester’s sales and marketing efforts have pivoted to better engage with our clients and partners via Zoom meetings with individual clients, webinars that were focused on meaningful content instead of commercials about our capabilities, and segmented email marketing messages to share updates on our efforts to continue expanding services to address the market’s rapidly evolving needs. Those needs pivoted during the lockdown and then further changed due to the ongoing pandemic’s impact on our industry’s staff, products, and supply chain.

Westchester still has all of its over 400 global staff working remotely, and at this point we have no plans to reopen our US-based offices in a “hybrid working model” capacity anytime before the beginning of 2022. We’ve successfully served our clients and grown our business quite a bit using a distributed working model, and can continue to do so as long as the situation requires.

But, on a recent warm, sunny New York City afternoon, I found myself sitting in Bryant Park, sipping a cup of coffee prior to my first in-person dinner meeting in over 18 months. A number of US-based members of London’s Stationers’ Company gathered for dinner to catch up and talk about the impacts of the supply chain and other factors on our industry. PW will be co-hosting a webinar on this subject with us in just a few days. [Updated 10/18 – You can now view the webinar on our YouTube Channel.]

Since that dinner, I’ve had the great fortune to head out into the field with Bill Foley, our longstanding Key Accounts Manager, and Deb Taylor, who recently joined us in the newly formed role of Director of Business Development and Marketing.  Bill, Deb, and I have started scheduling more field-based lunches and dinners to meet with publishers to learn more about what has changed in their organizations since the pandemic began, and how Westchester can best address their workflow needs. Topics like expanding our publishing technology solutions, providing standalone copyediting and permissions services, and more have been discussed already.

And we’re keen to pick up those lines of dialogue with you, whether it’s in person or via a Zoom or phone call. What things are impacting your publishing program? How can vendors like Westchester best help you navigate your editorial and production processes, taking as much burden off your team’s shoulders while they’re navigating all the manufacturing and supply chain factors that are taking up a lot of attention right now?  In other words, how can Westchester help you?  Contact us to schedule a meeting or call to explore things further.

 

As 2020 comes to a close, and we all look forward to the news of a pandemic vaccine with hope and relief, the team at Westchester Publishing Services is grateful for the health and spirit of our staff and customers.

Though few of us could have foreseen how publishing would be transformed, almost none would be surprised at the resiliency the industry showed by adapting, sharing best practices, and identifying solutions to meet the needs of our customers.

As many trade shows and conferences were cancelled or went virtual, Westchester understood the importance of staying connected with the publishing community, at least digitally. Below, we look back on 2020 to see how Westchester and our customers adapted to all the changes this year brought.

In early March, Westchester made the decision to transition the majority of our employees to a Work from Home model. On March 19, we hosted a session with panelists from various areas of publishing to share how their companies and staff were adjusting, and providing actionable ideas to help the transition process go more smoothly. Additionally, we cultivated this resources page for our new reality.

In July, we teamed up with Publishers Weekly to present a panel discussion about the state of the industry, along with the challenges and opportunities for companies in the publishing supply chain to consider during the crucial second half of the year. In addition to the webinar, PW produced a summary article, and we made multiple resources from the webinar available to access on our website.

In September, Tyler M. Carey, Westchester’s Chief Revenue Officer, participated in a BISG panel discussion led by Brian O’Leary about how publishers can identify inefficiencies in publishing workflows and solutions they can implement to improve effectiveness (requires free registration).

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Westchester released several case studies this year, sharing the solutions we provide for publishers to streamline their workflow and perform tasks that they may not have previously considered engaging a services firm to handle. You can download the convenient checklist shown here to help you identify ways we are able to improve your workflow.
We were also featured in the Publishers Weekly Digital in India issue about how our expanded production capacity and robust Client Portal (provided at no cost to clients) helped clients efficiently manage their editorial and composition jobs throughout the year.

Until we are able to safely return to in-person events, Westchester looks forward to connecting with you virtually through webinars and other content forms. We’re a convenient phone call or Zoom session away to help you address your workflow challenges. Get in touch with us, and let us know how we can become your trusted partner in publishing in the year ahead.

 

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.

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

National Archives, Washington, DCIt seems for the last several years that visits to our partners’ operations in New England and the Beltway tend to land in October.  Perhaps that’s because it’s this time of year when our clients have taken a post-Summer breath and are ready to begin talking about the editorial and production phases of their list for the upcoming year.  Or perhaps it’s because Key Accounts Manager Bill Foley and I like to try to get these visits in before the inevitable winter weather begins snarling up flight itineraries, road trips, and the like.  Either way, it has been a productive few weeks meeting with our academic, legal, university press, policy group, and trade partners from Boston to New York to DC.  What follows are some key topics that were hit upon during these trips – some of which may apply to you more than others, but all of which raise the recurring topic in these blog pages of tailoring specific solutions to each partner’s needs.

  • Alternate workflows for different product types – This came up during meetings with legal publishers and policy groups in DC and the Beltway, university press clients up and down the coast, and other publishers throughout the Northeast corridor. Over the years, Westchester has become associated with handling specific imprints or product lines for some of our clients, but it’s become apparent to them that we are able to help in other ways.  For some legal publishers, for instance, we may be more associated with helping them on their treatises, where for others we’re their go-to resource for statutory titles. Likewise, some policy groups think of us as ‘book people’, while others send us all of their working papers to edit on tight turnarounds. This is why we believe in having periodic reviews with our clients, so we can share ways we are helping your peers, which can often lead to resolving a similar challenge you’re having with books or other publications not currently assigned to Westchester. Talk with your Westchester rep about the areas where you’re experiencing challenges with books or other types of publications not currently assigned to Westchester, and let’s see if we can provide you with an affordable alternative to managing an army of freelance resources to get your publications to press.
  • Changing modes of trade publishing – Interestingly, after decades (five of them to be precise) of being the go-to vendor for trade publishers on their typesetting needs, we increasingly find ourselves being called upon to help copyedit and project manage trade titles as well. Certainly, our editorial operation, which has been around for over 20 years, has handled many key trade titles for clients over the years, but that has usually been during peak windows when trade publishers needed help on overflow titles.  More and more, though, we find trade publishers are giving serious consideration to outsourcing project management, copyediting, and production for entire imprints, to better free up their in-house staff to work on key or embargoed titles or avoid the time sink of managing a pool of freelance copyeditors with specific subject matter expertise. During the course of these early Autumn visits, several trade houses made moves to start outsourcing specific imprints to Westchester for editorial and production packaging.  We’re proud of the teams we have built over the years to support this need and are happy to talk with you about editing your fiction or trade titles, if that is a growing need.
  • Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and University of Pennsylvania’s book launch for Design with Nature Now.Quality matters – Lastly, one of the highlights of our October road trips was visiting the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and University of Pennsylvania’s book launch for the revised version of Design with Nature, called Design with Nature Now. Editor Frederick ‘Fritz’ Steiner and contributors led presentations at Cambridge’s Lincoln Institute of Land Policy about key projects covered in the book, as well as just the undertaking of revising an industry-standard title to address changing needs in landscape architecture to better address needs around climate change, new approaches to landscape architecture, and more.  The highlight of the evening for Westchester was the kudos and thanks the editors gave to Westchester’s own Susan Baker for her and Production Editor Deborah Grahame-Smith’s efforts working with Lincoln’s and Penn’s teams of writers, editors, and designers on editing and typesetting the book. The emphasis by our client on quality – and the thanks to our staff for their efforts to ensure a sustainable, durable new edition of an academic classic – were greatly appreciated and representative of why we do what we do.

I look forward to any thoughts the above may prompt for you about the publications you currently send to Westchester, or areas where we could help you that we currently do not.  Please reach out to me or your account rep to discuss your changing needs for support on your books, papers, and other publications, so that Westchester can help to prescribe possible solutions to help you continue to keep your publications on schedule and below budget.