compiled by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager
During the past year, Westchester has been fortunate to support a growing number of publishers with a wide variety of project requirements, from manuscript editing to digital file conversion updates and everything in between.
Read on to learn about several of the ways we have stayed connected throughout 2021, keeping our publishing industry colleagues informed and able to respond effectively to ensure content continues to reach your readers wherever they are and in the formats that they desire.
Westchester UK acquires River Editorial
In March, we announced the acquisition of River Editorial by Westchester Publishing Services UK. This provided an additional array of customizable and cost-effective project management capabilities for our publisher clients based in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The Westchester Words podcast launches
Also happening in March was the debut of the Westchester Words podcast. To date, we have produced more than two dozen episodes covering topics of interest to the fields of education, ed tech, and publishing. All of our episodes are available to stream on your favorite platform or you can find them at our websites, where we have posted additional content that some of our guests have been kind enough to share.
Westchester’s Webinars Continue
Westchester hosted several webinars throughout the year to explore topics that were important to our colleagues in the publishing industry and offer helpful strategies for navigating around the challenges many businesses have been faced with during these interesting times. Presentations included our annual Publishing Now event in April 2021 in partnership with Publishers Weekly, The State of K-12 Education in May, the Publishing Industry Supply Chain Challenges webinar in October, and our webinar in partnership with Supadü about How to Make 2022 Your Best Year for Book Sales, at the end of November. Visit our YouTube channel to catch any of the webinars you may have missed, and be sure to subscribe while you’re there so you can be notified about the new webinars we will be conducting in 2022!
It is an honor to be nominated
Westchester Receives Benetech Accreditation
During the summer, Westchester Publishing Services completed the accreditation process to become a Benetech Certified Accessible Vendor. This certification provides assurance for publishers that we have demonstrated the level of proficiency required to produce ePub content with a full range of accessibility features to support the needs of all readers, including those with physical impairments and learning differences.
An Initial Return to In-Person Events
Over the course of the summer and fall, with vaccinations and safety measures in place, we had the opportunity to attend conferences in-person for the first time in more than eighteen months. Westchester Education Services was in California for the ASU-GSV Summit, and the Westchester UK team sponsored and attended the IPG International Publishers Association Awards, and the IPG Autumn Conference. We also conducted business meetings in person where all participants felt comfortable doing so. It was a welcome change to be in the same location with our current or prospective clients to share how we could work together.
A Star Watch Honoree in our Midst
We were delighted to learn this October that Westchester Education Services’ Samantha Tucker had received a nomination for Publishers Weekly‘s 2021 Star Watch Awards. Sam was recognized for the Culturally Responsive Education review service she leads with a diverse editorial review team who come from a wide array of backgrounds and lived experiences. Educational publishers can utilize the CRE review to ensure their current learning materials are inclusive and free of any bias, as well as incorporate recommendations into the development process for new education content they are creating.
Welcoming new members to the Westchester team
Throughout the year we have welcomed several new people to the Westchester teams, including Amanda Robb and Sandra Colmenares at Westchester Education Services, Rebecca Durose-Croft and Marquita Celestine for Westchester Education UK, and Deb Taylor and Hugh Shiebler at Westchester Publishing Services. We’re thrilled to have all of these talented professionals as part of the team to support our growing client base on their projects.
Our Intentions for 2022
In the coming year, we are making plans to remain connected with publishers in a variety of ways. We continue to monitor guidelines and regional data to ensure the in-person meetings we participate in will be handled appropriately, and we hope to have the opportunity to see you at an industry event when conditions safely allow for it. A few events that we are currently making plans to attend include BETT, PubWest, and the Association of University Presses annual meeting. We will also continue to conduct webinars in 2022 about topics that are top of mind for you. Follow our LinkedIn pages to stay up to date, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow our Westchester Words podcast to see and hear our content.
Westchester proudly supports nearly 400 publishers in all sectors of the publishing industry with their editorial, production, digital conversion, design, and content development requirements. Read and download our case studies about the efficient and cost-effective solutions we have provided your peer publishers, and talk with us about how we can develop customized workflow options that can help you expand capacity, condense timelines, and minimize budget creep for your publications.
