the cms workflow in book publishing: who, where, and why? - ebookcraft 2016 - colleen cunningham

+The CMS Workflow in Book Publishing

Colleen Cunninghamebookcraft 3/2016Toronto

3/2016 • #ebookcraft • @BookDesignGirl


+Who are we?F+W, a Content Company

executive team

commits

new users

evangelize

partnercustomizes

(Librios)

CMS SUCCESS


Word InDesign Ebook


CMS

print

ebook

web

Word


+What a CMS Can’t Do

Make editorial decisions for you

Define what your workflow should be

Give permissions to edit content

Edit images

Support all of the bells and whistles many of us are used to

Make everyone happy

+

EditorialWHO: Authors, editors, indexersWHERE: Word & CMSWHY: CMS is the repository of live content; the exports to different formats are the last step



+Editorial Takeaways

SUCCESSES:gives easy access and control over the content; future-proofs content; generates repurposed and quick-to-market; forces a streamlined workflow

PROBLEM-TUNITIES:correction cycle friction between editors and designers

OPPORTUNITIES:tightening up of copyediting and proofreading cycles


+XMLeXtensible Markup Language

eXtensible = identified Custom labels that are human-readable and machine-readable

Tags describe but do not format the content; look familiar?

<title1>Heading Content</title1>

<p-left>Paragraph content.</p-left>

<p-boxed1>Sidebar content.</p-boxed1>



Mark-up = planned Term evolved from the “marking up” (tagging) of manuscripts

Requires planning from the very start; do you do this already? Structure Navigation Consistency



Language = movable Term that implies communication between apps

Filters are translators between CMS tags and app styles InDesign paragraph, character, table, and object styles EPUB CSS website CSS future apps …

+

Print DesignWHO: Designers, print layout artists, typesetters, production editorsWHERE: CMS-generated InDesign fileWHY: Content corrections take place in the CMS. Formatting and layout corrections specific to print take place in the InDesign file



+Print Design Takeaways

SUCCESSES: templated series are 75% faster to layout; non-templated titles are completely tagged and ready for design and layout

PROBLEM-TUNITIES: specific tags to learn; scripting may be a part of the workflow

OPPORTUNITIES: gives designers more time to spend on design and layout, rather than on tagging and structure

+

Ebook ProductionWHO: Ebook developersWHERE: CMS-generated EPUB fileWHY: Content corrections take place in the CMS. Formatting and development specific to the ebook take place in the EPUB file



+Ebook Production Takeaways

SUCCESSES: after initial setup, this is the most push-button and fastest process in the workflow

PROBLEM-TUNITIES: ebook export is more technical than export to InDesign; incorporating spec updates can take time

OPPORTUNITIES: more control over ebook QA


+XMLA format-agnostic tool Storage

content is structured in its most simple, logical form editors are empowered to access content themselves

Repurposing content is up-to-date and searchable in-house workflow enables increased speed to market

Future proofing agile content for future formats your content could be applied to print, ebook, web, blogs, mobile apps, tablet apps, … toast?


+How did we start a CMS workflow?

Adhered to the best-practice strategy of simple to complex not all content will be appropriate base build-outs on real needs

Emphasized during training that CMS builds on key concepts structure and patterns content versus style

Built confidence organically by demonstrating success with real content users who could turn around and train their teams


+Content Assessment Questions

Does this content belong in the CMS? We have plans to repurpose this content (BDC) This content is to be exported to multiple platforms (ROI)

Does this content need updating now? Will it need it in future? Editorial will review structure, facts, weblinks, contact info The content is perennial and not time-sensitive

How much metadata needs to be applied to the content? Editorial will review content and apply keywords for search-ability Content rights information will be added to content metadata Image rights information will be added to image metadata


+Use problem-tunities to fix long-standing issuesIssue: Corrections locked in one formatCompare print-centric workflow versus centralized corrections

Issue: Confusing content correx and print layout correctionsDistinguish content and formatting correx with pencil colors in galleys

Issue: Many correction cyclesMove proofreading up to copyediting stage

Issue: Inconsistent image formatting and late-stage image creationStandardize and centralize image processing

Issue: Indexing at print stage with un-hyperlinked page numbersHire and solicit help from indexers familiar with CMS indexing


Q&A

the cms workflow in book publishing: who, where, and why? - ebookcraft 2016 - colleen cunningham

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