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As I speak with publishers daily about the various systems they use to manage their business, a few common recurring themes and questions continue to surface.
The PageMajik team would like to briefly address these valid questions to convey to publishers the complexity and value of each system and the numerous functions they each perform. It goes without saying that many of the following points are valid for other publishing systems as well such as ERP, royalty management, journal hosting platforms, analytics tools, etc. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on just the two systems.
An integrated editorial and production management system and a title management system are unique and power specific workflow functions. There are some overlapping functionalities to consider and plan for accordingly, however, they are both necessary, and contribute to the cost of doing business in 21st Century publishing.
An integrated Editorial and Production management system is a SaaS-based platform where publishing teams actually perform responsibilities such as:
This breed of system is how publishers produce the physical and final products right to the point where a final file is generated from XHTML to InDesign to PDF or EPUB for print and ebooks. We like to say, “from ideation to final file … and everything in between.”
PageMajik facilitates the launch of products faster with a lower cost to market, producing a higher quality product through applying Artificial Intelligence, Smart Technology, and Automation.
PageMajik does not replace people. It still takes an experienced editorial and production team to make judgement calls and final decisions and build relationships. Those same people, however, can produce more content at a faster rate and at higher quality.
A title management platform is a broad term for a publishing system that handles a variety of front and back-office functions. These include:
There are certainly more routines these systems can accomplish, but this represents the big picture.
Title Management systems provide one consistent repository for all the above-mentioned data and workflows. It often serves as the master database for a publisher, then feeds partial data points out to complementary systems that are being used by the publisher, such as PageMajik. The metadata distribution to the supply chain is a critical and necessary aspect of these platforms and essential to our industry.
In short, yes. However, the devil is in the details. Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering “feeds” between systems.
Typically, no. There are “all-in-one” systems that can provide a good deal of what you are seeking, but the truth is that one software company cannot perform the services we are discussing with a level of expertise that will provide the depth of results you are seeking.
If it sounds too good to be true, it is!