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Mark Majurey: The Impact of XML-First on Costs
- 1. What impact does XML-firsthave on your costs? Mark Majurey Digital Development Director Taylor & Francis Books
- 2. Background >22,000 eBook titles Adobe eBook, MS Lit, Mobipocket, OEB, DX Reader, Sony BBeB, Kindle, epub (July 2008) Book rental (1 day – 6 months), perpetual access, outright purchase (download) ePrint, eCopy, eCompile 2010 -- Chapter sales 2008 digital sales = 10% of total t/o Not possible without XML Not efficient without XML-first
- 3. Where is the ROI? Production: reduced costs in-house and with outsourced supplier Marketing/Sales: widgets and review copies far ahead of publication (increased revenue) Create once and re-use (cost reduction) Staged approach vs. Big Bang
- 4. Traditional workflow Prepare for Copyediting Manuscript Copyedit Prepare for Typesetting Typesetting Conversion to DX XML Print Ready PDF Proofing EBook Source: ValueChain International, 2009
- 5. XML-first (transitional) Prepare for Copyediting Manuscript Copyedit Prepare for Typesetting Typesetting KUDU XML Conversion to DX XML Print Ready PDF Proofing EBook Source: ValueChain International, 2009
- 6. Where are the cost benefits? Cleaning/Copy-editing: 30% reduction in budgeted time Typesetting: outsourced = £2 pp decrease; in-house = 100% reduction (e.g. monos)
- 7. XML-first (transitional) Prepare for Copyediting Manuscript Copyedit Prepare for Typesetting Typesetting KUDU XML Conversion to DX XML Print Ready PDF Proofing EBook Source: ValueChain International, 2009
- 8. XML-first (full workflow) Template Creation Print Ready PDF Auto Rendered Widget EBook Auto Rendered Inspection Copy Auto Rendered XML Auto Rendered HTML Any Rendition or Use Prepare for Copyediting Manuscript Ingest into DX Editions Copy-edit and proof in DX Editions Source: ValueChain International, 2009
- 9. The Devil’s in the detail Granular DTD as foundation Good QA tool and process XML-last will introduce conversion errors XML-first increases consistency of coding Introduce into supplier workflows – can switch suppliers mid-stream
- 10. Summary Big Bang vs. staged transition Know when to outsource Robust and granular DTD plus QA tools = good quality consistent coding ROI analysis must include IT infrastructure and extra skills Keep staff fully involved with developments and why they are being introduced Don’t be bound by old workflow – start marketing and releasing before print publication Keep looking forward – the way we are doing things now is unlikely to be the way we are doing it in 12 months time
- 12. Validation? 5.0 out of 5 stars a model for other Kindle editions, April 24, 2009 By M. North (LA) - See all my reviews(REAL NAME) Not only is this an extremely interesting, readable account of textual strategies in video games (and associated media), but it's a model Kindle edition. The footnotes are hyperlinked and many of the cited web-pages in the notes can also be accessed directly from the Kindle. Even the index is hyperlinked. In the index, the original page numbers are retained but linked to the right locations in the Kindle edition. Somebody put a lot of attention into this and it makes this the most usable Kindle edition I have.
Editor's Notes
- This is not something that happened overnight, but rather has evolved over many years, taking advantage of the cost benefits along the way, and keeping in mind which product types deliver the most efficiencies at each stage.E.g. Monographs, simple text designs, directories, reference works.There is a established view that the main driver for business process re-engineering should be the aspect of ‘create once and re-use’. The problem here is that this can lead to publishing follies. Only by focusing on commercials such as costs as well as revenue generation can ROI be delivered.
- Pink = XML process / contentXML-last: not advisable except in extreme circumstances, e.g. establishing first-mover advantage in ebook market.But to stay in that market we knew we had to introduce the efficiencies of XML-first. There was a clear goal.
- XML is generated prior to copy-editingCopyediting is done on KUDU editing applicationTypesetting is automated using XML, but then lost to output (PDF)Revisions audit trail is lost
- In 2003 T&F were using transitional model for 10% of its new publishing programme, making savings of approx. £200k per year on typesetting costs alone.But ultimately the XML was lost, being only used for layout purposes, rather than structure.Some efficiencies, but not leveraged.
- KUDU – developed by T&F staff. The DTD, editing tools, and page makeup templates (3B2) all created, supported and maintained in-house.Small team of developers; superusers (production staff) to test and train. All relevant staff trained in use of XML and related systems.
- XML is generated prior to copy-editingCopyediting/proofing / revisions are done on DX Editions editing applicationFinal XML is used for all outputs XML typesetting and e-book format creationAll revisions are tracked and audited, and can be reversedAll communication and comments including email can be captured and auditedRenditions can be generated at any stage, pre-publicationStrength of NYP renditions to adoptions market – extends the window of opportunity and competitive advantageExample: Europa directories researched, edited, compiled in-house, fed to website, but also snapshot taken to output to print. Snapshot can be taken just before sending to print, as opposed to traditional model of several months before.
- XML-first means application agnostic, so titles can be switched from one supplier to another mid-stream relatively easily
- When to outsource: to manage uneven workflows or bottlenecks; tasks that involve many man hours, e.g. complex tables, heavy maths, non-Western languagesDon’t forget costs of IT (software/hardware), staff skills (salary, training, equipment)