Au Revoir

Apologies, but I am putting the blog on hiatus again. My time and energy will need to be devoted elsewhere, and I don't want to blog without really having something to say.

Until the next time, I wish you success in all your endeavors.

Don't Change for the Sake of Change

Change is an interesting thing. It is often talked about and there are books, courses, and probably songs dedicated to it. Most people fear it and even go to extremes to avoid it, yet many, once forced to accept it, often go overboard and change too much. That is change for the sake of change instead of to improve a broken process.

Publishing is all about change, and many would say,  has been since its inception. Many publishers resisted the change to digital but now that this is no longer possible, I feel that they're throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Yes, workflow and process need to change to accommodate this new era of publishing, and even thinking has to change. But before you discard all your resources, human or otherwise, take the time to reevaluate which can be adopted and which need to be upgraded. Some publishing systems still work: editorial still need to acquire good content; production editorial, the project managers of the publishing world, still needed to ensure quality content is produced--in whatever format--on time and on budget; and marketing, sales, publicity, etc. still need to work towards higher sales. Manufacturing is still needed regardless of the size of the print run, and if they have downtime, why not allow for employee development and cross-training? Unless you choose to have e-book producers in-house, there's no reason Manufacturing/Production staff cannot work with e-books and/or learn how to--and they already know your other systems and mission.

If current employees are not able or willing to learn new skills, or you choose to produce/convert files in-house, then additional resources are needed. But before you make them a standalone department, stop and think if this makes the most sense process and morale-wise. Process-wise, the less handovers the better since each handover is an opportunity for delay, errors, and redundancy. Morale-wise, why separate e- and p-production staff instead of having them work together to incorporate best practices and an efficient process?

Change is a catalyst and can be used to inspire innovation...or to just keep making the same mistakes but in different ways. And speed is not an excuse. If you have to catch-up on a system and/or get something to market sooner, hire a contractor or consultant to fill the short-term need and take your time to think through the long-term change. Haste makes waste...and some changes are too costly to undo or redo.

Expectations

"X is meant to be tough, but not so tough that you're set up to fail."

Last night I said the above to my son, with "x" being replaced with "school," when he was complaining about having too many quizes to study for. I obviously agreed with him in this instance.

But the "x" could be just as easily replaced with any number of words, including "work" and "life." And saying this to my ten-year-old got me thinking about expectations.

There is a fine line between a "stretch goal" and being set up to fail. If the goal is self-imposed, it's up to you to know your strengths, limits, and what's tough but achievable.

But what if it's set by your boss and you realize it's just not doable? Hopefully you don't feel that you're intentionally being set up to fail; if you are, that's another issue and can be dealt with in another post. Chances are, your boss just isn't aware because she hasn't done your job, so if you make a strong case, backed up by hard facts, she'll hopefully see the light. If she doesn't, clearly document your progress, bottlenecks, conflicts, issues, etc. so that you have a documented case to prove that you accomplished as much as was possible.

And if you're going into a new situation, whether at work or home, take the time to have your and the other party's expectations spelled out at the onset of the relationship. You know what they say about assuming...

Mea Culpa

As a mother, I remember having to explain to my son--repeatedly--that it's okay to make a mistake as long as you apologize and learn from it. Now that he's ten years old, I still watch him try to prove that he's right and knows better than the adults in his life. But he's only ten, so that can be forgiven...to a point.

As an adult, I own up to my mistakes and respect peers and staff that do so as well, but I have come across many who do not:

1. The person who will never see his mistake, even when it's glaring and staring him in the face.
2. The person who doesn't care when he's wrong and/or has hurt someone.
3. The person who will always try to blame anyone else for his mistakes.

Some of these people live in their own version of the universe, one where they are king and never wrong; that universe unfortunately is not ours, and therein lies the problem. Others, however, are just afraid.

I'm not sure why my son does not want to admit he is wrong (still working on that), but I do know that in some corporate cultures, people are afraid of losing their jobs and therefore feel the need to deflect any and all blame. Although they choose to act this way, their culture and management are the true culprits.

Can you imagine a culture where people are afraid to argue or make mistakes? I've been reading a lot about teams and what make them work (I highly recommend Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni). Basically, without healthy debate and the opportunity for innovation, teams will not succeed. Neither of these are possible without trust: trust that their leaders will not punish dissent or mistakes.

And that too comes from fear: the leader's fear of being proven wrong and losing face or worst.

So the next time someone disagrees with you, thank them for their trust and feedback and learn from what they've shared. You don't have to ultimately agree, but do actively listen and consider. And the next time you or an employee make a mistake, deal with any repercussions and then stop to consider and learn from this. 

Our muscles need to be "torn down" (via exercise) and worked from different angles to grow stronger and more functional. We need our ideas to be challenged and to have the courage to try--and fail--to continue to grow and develop.

Children's E-books

When I upgraded my Nook First Gen to the new Nook Easy Touch Reader, I gave my ten-year-old son my original Nook. I honestly didn't know how many kids e-books were even available: last time I had checked (granted, a while ago) there hadn't been many. Both my son and I were pretty impressed with the selection B&N now had and he quickly bought a few (much cheaper than adult ones) to get him started.

Most agree that making children's e-books enhanced and interactive makes a lot of sense and adds value beyond what the p-book can offer. After reading about all the backlist titles that are being made digital and enhanced, I started thinking back to some of my favorite series.

The first one that came to mind was the Choose Your Own Adventure series. They're still around and I tried to get my son into them a few years back. Can you imagine the potential of that in e-books? There of course is the risk of making it more of an interactive movie than an enhanced e-book, but there may be demand for both.

What series did you love as a kid that would make a great enhanced e-series?

The Road Not Taken: from Frost to Jobs

Two roads diverged in a wood,  and I,  I took the one less traveled by,  And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) 

Have you ever read a poem or heard a song that really resonated within you? One that you could not forget or stop analyzing its meaning? One that you felt was almost written for you?

When I first read Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, it did all that for me. It didn't compel me to always take the less traveled road, but it made me realize that choices, once taken, took on a life of their own. It compelled me to live a life where I avoided any and all what if's to the best of my ability. So if there was a boy who seemed to be interested but didn't have the courage to ask me out, I'd somehow force myself to start that conversation so that I wouldn't sit around thinking "what if." Conversely, if a relationship seemed to be headed nowhere, even if it hurt to do so, I'd start the conversation that was the beginning of the end. All to avoid the "what if" of lost opportunities or roads not taken.

As I grew up, this became more difficult so I modified my motto of avoiding what if's to staying true to myself at any given moment. At times this meant going out on a limb or making unpopular decisions, but if I couldn't see an alternative I could live with, then there was no other choice. I'd learned the difference between right and wrong and the boundaries of what was necessary--whether to succeed in business or in life--and what was wrong, under any and all circumstances. I make mistakes, but I try not to cross that line.

This is something I was raised with, and then took upon myself, so it's become so ingrained that I rarely think about it. But listening to Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement speech, reminded me of why I took this upon myself, of why I was so adamant to avoid those what if's at first and the regrets later. He reminded me that we cannot "connect the dots going forward," so we must do what is right for us and have faith that all will work out. I think we can all use that reminder.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address                                                                 

Migrating to Digital Publishing? Answers from the Experts

(The following article first appeared in Publishing Perspectives.)

I attended Publishers Launch: E-books for Everyone Else (presented by Publishers Launch Conferences and The Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies) in the hopes of getting some answers to the questions I posed in my previous article, Migrating to Digital Publishing? The Six Key Questions to Ask. When I mentioned this to an industry friend at the event, his response “You have answers? I thought no one had any” was quite telling.

In addition to attending this event, I listened to a Digital Book World webcast on the same topic and spoke to several industry people who have first-hand experience on migrating content to digital.

And the truth is, there are very few “answers” everyone agrees to:

• Everyone agrees that with the constant developments in technology, it’s important to “future proof” your content as much as possible, and the current thinking is that an open-format, multiple-platform workflow, such as an XML workflow, is the way to go.
• More companies are using third-party suppliers to assist with this migration, both because they have the skill set to do so efficiently and to keep costs down. Whether you choose to use a third-party service or bring the skill set in-house, it’s still important to have people in-house with the understanding to intelligently interact, oversee, and assure the quality of the work from the third-party suppliers.
• Quality control is more important than ever. With multiple reading devices needing different outputs and tweaks, automation can only take it so far. Someone knowledgeable needs to review the files for formatting and other errors before they are released to the public.
• Metadata is more important than ever in the world of digital.

Below are some highlights from my interviews.

Michael Weinstein (most recently VP, Global Content and Media Production at Cengage Learning, and prior to that held VP positions at Oxford University Press, Pearson, Prentice Hall, and several others)

• If conversions can be automated, outsource them.
• Since don’t know what’s coming, be generic and build workflows/tagging that’s updatable: it doesn’t pay to build proprietary.

Andrea Colvin (Director, Publishing Operations at Open Road Media)

• Don’t skimp on any quality control, which most publishers do right in the print world.
• Learn the types of errors introduced by OCR and educate your proofreaders on these, creating guidelines and checklists to facilitate this.
• Have as many sets of eyes as possible looking something over to ensure that nothing has been missed, and review things at different stages for different things.
• Strive for “graceful degradation” of content: since EPUB is HTML-based it can gracefully degrade.
• “Reading is an immersive experience” and the publisher has to decide when to interrupt it and when this adds value.
• Test out different conversion partners to determine their strengths and weaknesses so you can choose the best partners for your projects. Also look for developers and different types of expertise depending on the type of the book.
• Important to have someone in-house with technical skills to go in and correct files plus have an editorial point of view.
• “Don’t split the branch of time” until it’s concluded: so print and e-files should be on same path until one goes to printer and the other to conversion house; this also allows everyone to learn best practices and makes edits easy to both parallel streams.

Pauline Ireland (Former Production and Design Director, Cambridge University Press)

• Best archive: keep a print copy of everything — you can always scan it; keep typesetting files, but be aware that proprietary typesetting systems have a limited shelf life.
• Small publishers should have robust relationships with service providers who can help them; many will be offshore, requiring time and effort upfront to get them to understand your workflows and to get it right. Go visit them and if possible; have staff on the ground at the suppliers (even for a limited period) since it’s a worthwhile investment.
• XML-preserving today’s content for an unknown future. XML allows you to do what you like and when you like with files; unless files are open-format, they won’t be usable in 10 years.
• Use conversion and content suppliers, but do have staff on-site who understand quality assurance (QA), workflows and managing suppliers; ideally they should have a background in publishing, not only technology.
• If scanning a hard copy for POD, you might as well use it for online/digital as well.
• Make the workflow for third-party rights a priority.

Cathy Felgar (Current Production Director, Academic and Professional, Cambridge University Press)

• Work on simultaneous e- and p-books. Challenges include third-party rights and non-XML workflows (e.g., LaTex files). Come to grips with third-party e-rights from contract stage, if possible.
• Use a CMS (CAMS) with XML parsing capabilities, which could be used for e-book conversions, too. Problem is, if standards change, conversion routines will have to be reconfigured.
• Future-proof content with XML or other well-structured file type so your files remain format agnostic.
• Decide what skills you want to keep in-house, which depends on size of organization: small companies should outsource; large companies can hire in-house talent.
• Taxonomy is important, and publishers need people with SEO knowledge, especially since indexing may disappear as keyword search becomes more dominant.

Overall, although every new “answer” — and new development — brings more questions with it, publishers and industry people are more aware of the viable options and the pros and cons for each choice made, as the Publishers Launch speakers demonstrated. Like much else in life, there is no one right answer for everyone, so just to stay aware, keep asking questions, and if you don’t succeed at first, try another option.

Future posting schedule

Apologies for my longer than usual silence. Since I want my posts to be meaningful commentaries on either publishing, process, or management--and not just something I put out there twice a week--I will only be posting once a week going forward, aiming for the early part of the week.

Until then, have a great week.

E-books for Everyone Else

(The following article first appeared in Publishing Perspectives.)

E-books for Everyone Else was the name of the Publishers Launch Conference, co-presented with NYU's Center of Publishing, that I attended on September 26th. You can check out the program at http://www.publisherslaunch.com/events/launch-new-york/program/.

I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. The room was crowded (and unfortunately freezing) and presentations ran the gamut from workflow to conversion to metadata to social media to distribution: something for everyone in the audience. They also tried a publishing version of "speed dating." Registrants were asked to pick the top 3 sponsors they wanted to learn more about and got about fifteen minutes with each. Mike Shatzkin would announce when it was time to move to your next speed date. I know that the sponsors I sat with had a blast and participants seemed to find it worthwhile as well.

So with an entire day of people speaking at me or with me, these are the things that stick out in my mind when I think back at the event:

• Thank the Lord quality control is being stressed. I'm embarrassed for our industry as a whole when I hear people complain about the crap e-book they bought. Not everything can be, or should be, automated and someone must look at the content--in each device to be used--before it's released to the public. 
• Metadata is more important than ever in the digital world. 
• Publishers still need to decide what to outsource and what to do themselves; the two big outsource options in the e-book world are conversion and distribution.
• With agents becoming publishers, and new digital and self-publishing options being introduced weekly, the traditional publishing lines are beyond blurred and it will be interesting to see what new relationships and business models evolve.
• Although we still don't have many answers regarding the future of publishing and e-books, we at least have more documented and thought-out options to better advise our decisions.
• With the new digital and self-publishing options, more books will be available than ever before.

Depending on your point of view, the above is either scary or exciting, but the one thing we can't argue is that publishing is far from dead. You can argue about the definition of publishing (or the what or who of publishing), but the industry is alive and kicking, bringing in fresh talent and being discussed by non-publishing people on a regular basis.

And more people reading and interested in publishing is definitely a good thing.

Senior Management: Misguided or just Disconnected?

With all the recent CEO terminations, I started thinking about my and my friend's experiences. And although one can argue that the CEO owns and drives the corporate culture and senior management team (aka, the Board), it's often a chicken-and-egg syndrome and all are partially to blame when things go wrong.

So are senior management teams misguided...or just disconnected?

In my opinion, it's a combination of the two.

1. The Board is inherently a bit too disconnected from the frontline--the people who actually run the business.
2. This is further exacerbated if they make poor hiring decisions and insert managers/directors who do not have the skills and experience to lead their staff and the business to success. 
3. The result is that not only is the Board not aware of what is important to its staff  (and therefore business), but they also have a false impression, as fed to them by their mishires in an attempt to protect their own self interests.

So what are some possible solutions?

First off, as I've mentioned before, value human resources as your most precious asset. You are nothing without your people and if you motivate them, they will gladly think of ideas to take your company to the next level. So why not combine the two? Reward good ideas and overachievers by taking them to lunch. Turn off all your electronics for the hour and really listen to your shining star. Ask him/her what works and what doesn't. What would they do differently. How could x product/process be improved. And try to take this feedback to heart and if you can't, let the employee know why. Either way, they'll feel vested and valued, share this with everyone else on the team, and before you know it, everyone will be trying to earn that hour of your time.

If the above sounds too optimistic, try it before you discount it. And if this method doesn't work in your company, find something that does. But remember that the purpose is to reconnect with your frontline staff and make them feel like their ideas matter; it's not to "pay them off" with a nominal fiscal reward (which does have its place and time, but this isn't it.)

Time Management and Focus

Content may be king, but its cousin Information has gone slumming and is now available to all.

Having too much to do has become the norm, so how do you contend with that in addition to the information overload? Constant e-mails, meetings, tweets, blog posts, etc.--all necessary for you to stay on top of your job/industry and all vying for the limited time you have. How is one to manage?

Contrary to common belief, multitasking is not the way to go; focusing on one task at a time is. If you try to do everything, you will invariably make mistakes and not do anything to the best of your ability. Instead, choose a system of prioritizing and devote x amount of time to a given task. For example, if you have to read a long report for a meeting the next day, spend an uninterrupted half an hour; or better yet, pick a natural stopping point. When you get to that point, take a break and quickly check e-mail then go back to the report until the next stopping point. This will allow you to be more efficient and thorough in your task since you will not be dealing with distractions.

So similar to my previous post where I advised, based on reading StandOut, that it's best to focus on your strengths and not try to be good at everything, I am now advising to focus on your present task and not try to do everything. What does the common theme mean? Although our world may be getting more technologically able and automated, we as humans are still programmed to focus and until someone can figure out how to reprogram our DNA, we may as well make the best of it instead of fighting it--and failing.

Playing to Your Strengths

I've mentioned Marcus Buckingham and his books in previous posts. The book he co-authored with Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently is what first introduced me to the Strengths Revolution and what inspired me to stay true to myself and my strengths at a difficult time in my life.

This weekend I read his latest book, StandOut, after taking the latest strength assessment. After 25 minutes in which you respond to scenarios, you get your top two strengths and a full report on what this means to you. (If you're interested in taking the assessment without purchasing the book, it's available for $15 at http://standout.tmbc.com/gui/individualAssessment.)

The book was the usual combination of inspiring plus informative, but there were a few things that it either reiterated or introduced that I want to briefly mention here:

1. To succeed at a job, it has to play to your strengths and/or allow you to alter it so that it does so; otherwise the job will drain you while you try to excel at something you're not programmed to be good at.
2. Your strengths are where you can contribute the most so it's best to focus on them as opposed to trying to be good at everything.
3. Everyone will put their own spin on tasks based on their strengths and this is a good thing.

If you don't know what your strengths are, I recommend you take this or some other self-assessment test so that this knowledge can inform your decisions. If you do know what you're good at, then hold on to that even when things are difficult because only when you utilize your strengths can you really shine, excel--and be happy.

Quality

One of my recent bosses, who came to publishing via another industry, once commented that for a business that talks so much about quality, it's surprising how ill-defined and controlled it is. With the recent errors abounding in e-books, I hate to admit that I agree with her.

Yes, publishing is no longer an old boy’s club where the wealthy enter it for the prestige—or for something to do—and yes, whether for profit or non-profit, it is a business and needs to make money. But what is a publisher’s core value and what value do we provide our customers and authors if quality means so little to us?

Here’s what got me thinking about this:

• Just this week a romance author had to publicly apologize for a blatant and embarrassing typo in her e-book. You can read her post here, but basically “shifted” became “shitted.”
• PIA (Publishing Innovations Awards) have announced a new quality seal of approval for e-books: QED (quality, excellence, design).  Since when do we need an award to ensure quality and that we’re doing our jobs?

And here are just a sampling of posts/articles that I came up by typing “ebooks” and “errors” into my Google search:

• http://americaneditor.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/the-problem-is-publishers-dont-read-ebooks/
• http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2010/09/16/in-the-face-ebook-errors-4/
• http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/shanerichmond/100005238/ebook-publishers-must-do-more-to-eliminate-annoying-errors/
• http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/08/error-free-ebooks/

I’ll stop now, but you get the picture.

So how can publishers keep costs down without it being at the expense of quality?

1. First and foremost, every manuscript needs both copyediting and proofreading, and this should be done professionally. Writing, editing, and proofreading are distinct skill sets and just because one can do one does not mean that one can do the other well.  And even if you are one of the rare few who can, it’s a good rule of thumb to have a second fresh set of eyes to review anything you’ve written. Even professional copyeditors and proofreaders know to put things aside and go back to it with a fresh perspective.
2. Every time you change formats, a quick proofread is necessary: whether you go from hardcover to paperback or from paperback to e-book, errors are bound to happen when words reflow. It's far better for your future sales and reputation if you, the publisher--and not the author or customer--catch the mistakes. Think how quickly mistakes can be publicized today? Between tweeting, blogs, and even social media now built into e-books, the word will be out before you know it.
3. Build copyediting and proofreading into every P&L. Consider these required, non-negotiable costs of doing quality business and protecting your core values and brand.
4. Reevaluate other costs to streamline workflows, eliminate redundancies, and remove activities which do not add to your core value or business.

Maybe the QED award is necessary to remind publishers that they are meant to be gatekeepers of a higher-standard.

Repetition

Although repetition is a good thing when it comes to education and positive feedback, it is a bad thing when it come to work and productivity.

So let's do an exercise together. Is there something you find yourself doing over and over again at work? If not, keep reading so that you can help your neighbor or spouse; if yes, answer these questions with that task in mind.

1. What is the purpose of this task? (This is to ensure it's not just busy work and must be done.)
2. Are you the best person to do this task? (This assumes you are in the position to either delegate this to others and/or discuss a reassignment with your boss.)
3. Can any steps be automated? Can any steps be batched? 
4. Can parts of this task be shared or even left out, without decreasing its value?

Let me share two examples with you, to better illustrate what I'm getting at. Please note that for both these examples, they were determined to be of value and could not be reassigned.

Two jobs back, there was a report I had to run for my boss every two weeks, and she was a stickler for formatting. Since our database outputted ugly Excel reports, I would spend a lot of time centering, bolding, etc. After a few weeks, this drove me so crazy that I took the time to record a macro. Thereafter, Alt-A would do four formatting steps in one simple stroke. It took me a few tries to get the macro nice and tight, but it was well worth it.

Another example, at that same job, were the forms my staff had to fill out for each project. Ideally these forms would have been outputted from our database, with all the project data already there, but this unfortunately was not possible at that point. I therefore suggested a master Excel grid, with the shared project data on the first tab and carried over to the remaining tabs where new information was to be filled in. (Although many thought this was a great idea, they felt it would be too complicated and another approach was taken).

Neither of these examples require a degree in rocket science, nor is my approach the only solution to removing the inefficiency inherent in these repetitions.

So next time you find yourself repeating steps, stop and think it through--or even talk it through with your boss or peers--and then put that extra "found" time to good use.

Migrating to Digital Publishing? The Six Key Questions to Ask

(The following article first appeared in Publishing Perspectives.)

The publishing industry is not generally known for being agile or quick to change, yet it is facing one of its biggest times of change probably since the invention of the printing press. At the heart of this is the migration to digital.

Prior to this migration, a time-tested process and structure existed for getting books printed: from acquisition, to copyedit, to typesetting, to author review and proofreading, to print. Although hiccups occurred and no two companies had the exact same workflow, the foundations were the same and ensured quality products got released in expected timeframes.

With digital—whether it’s online or e-book, digital only or both print and digital—publishers are now faced with more questions than answers as to how to incorporate the new with the old. Below I provide a framework for those questions, using the traditional 6 Ws: why, who, what, when, which, and where.

Why?

Of the six questions, this is the easiest to answer. No publisher can afford to ignore the digital any longer:  the tipping point has come and gone; more and more e-books and e-readers are being sold weekly; and authors will begin demanding this, if they haven’t already. And traditional publishers need to offer all things digital to compete with the emerging “digital publishers.”

Who?

Even prior to the migration to digital, publishers would do one of two things to keep costs down: outsource as much as possible, keeping headcount down, or the reverse, which is hire talent to keep all services and costs internal. With digital, publishers have to make this decision anew. Should they invest in new talent from other industries (e.g., technology) or educating existing talent, those who are eager to learn and have a background in publishing and in their culture? Or should they turn to one of the many conversion and content solutions providers that exist in the market?

What?

What exactly is a digital product, or more specifically an e-book? Is it a replica of the print product or something that only starts from there and then adds interactive media? How much new content should be added to the digital product for consumers to choose that over the print product? Are they competing against each other and is there a way to bundle them? And what is actually a value-ad as opposed to bells-and-whistles that are more of a distracter and deterrent? Also, should publishers focus on frontlist alone or backlist too? How much of either or both?

And what should the price be for this digital product? If it’s a replica of the print, should it be cheaper given that there are no PPB (paper, printing, and binding) costs? Is this a reason to add new and/or interactive content to justify increased price points?

When?

Whatever the ultimate digital product, when should it be prepared and released? Should the publisher work in an xml-first environment and then from there publish across platforms, either simultaneously or at whatever schedule decided on? Is there a reason to do print first and then digital next? How long can a publisher hold off on releasing an e-book so as not to affect print sales?

Part of this question, and also continuation of the “who” and “what” question, is quality control. In the current process, we have production editors, copyeditors, and proofreaders, all with defined skills and quality checks they are responsible for. In this new digital workflow, publishers need to decide who is responsible for digital QC (internal vs external staff), what are they responsible for (proofreading the entire text to ensure conversion didn’t introduce errors or just flipping through pages on e-readers to ensure no major formatting problems were introduced), and when is this to be done (hopefully prior to release and not after complaints come in).

Which?

Which formats will e-books be made available in and which e-readers will they be targeting? Currently you can probably focus on a few (Kindle, Nook, and Sony) but many more are emerging.  Which will you continue to focus on or will you try to be accessible to all?

Where?

First off, where should digital and other content be stored? Hopefully a CMS (content management system) of some sort exists and can act as both an archive and an enabler of updates and reprints. If one does not exist, an archive of some sort—whether on a network drive, in the cloud, or via a third-party provider—is vital.

And where are these digital products sold through? Does the publisher have an e-commerce branch of their website with the technical support needed to sell their own e-books? Do they not want to bother and instead use distributors? Someone will need to ensure that the proper formats, metadata, and uploads are prepared for each of these distributors and updated as necessary.

As the above demonstrates, there is a lot for the publisher to consider before it can migrate to digital but to be done right, these questions and others need to be thought through before investments are made.

Motivation and Corporate Culture

Have you ever had to rank attributes in the order they're most important to you? This may have been for self-assessment purposes or to prepare for an annual review, and each company's version is probably almost interchangeable.

Do you remember what was most important for you? Is that still the case? I'm a big proponent of any activity that helps you know yourself better, since succeeding at work and life will depend on this.

As many have heard me say, and as I know has come up in previous blog posts, to succeed and be happy at work, the job has to play to your strengths. But that is unfortunately not enough. Imagine a brilliant innovator that needs collaboration and mistakenly finds himself at a company where the culture is to work independently and quietly, and where bouncing ideas off each other is frowned upon. Do you think he'll be able to succeed even if the job itself plays to his strengths? How about the manager who is good at motivating staff and making things happen, but needs authority and autonomy to work at her best. Will she succeed with a micromanager?

How do you make sure you end up with a good corporate/team fit in addition to a job that plays to your strengths? I actually think that companies, as part of pre-screening potential employees, should give them a self-assessment. It is in the company's best interest to ensure employees will be happy and productive. I just read yesterday that Zappos, after putting all new hires through a four-week training program, offers them a $3000 bonus to quit. A small percentage actually take them up on this offer and they consider the ROI well worth it since they only want employees who really want to be there.

If HR won't pre-screen for good fit, it's up to the hiring manager and employee. For the manager, I would give the employee the self-assessment quiz as soon as they walk in your door and explain that it's to see if the two of you would make a good team. If you think this is too harsh, then ask leading questions; for example:

1. What three adjectives best describe you?
2. What type of manager have you worked best with? Worst with? Why?
3. What kind of environment brings out the best in you? Worst in you?
4. Would previous managers or peers disagree with any of this? Why?

Consider these examples, but cater the questions to the level you're hiring for, what matters most to you, and to what you need most in a direct report.

For the potential employee, Scott Ginsberg wrote a great article called "7 Interview Questions to Uncover Corporate Culture" for theLadders.com. Since that link won't work if you don't have a Ladders account, I've copied and pasted the questions below:

1. If you could describe your corporate culture in three words, what would you say?
2. If you were going to give public tours of this company, what stops would the guide make?
3. If the local paper were going to run a four-page article about your company's culture, what would be impossible not to include?
4. What's the best part about working in this environment that I won't be able to see from just a walk around the office?
5. What are the most common complaints employees make about your company culture?
6. May I speak with a few of your veteran employees or new hires?
7. What do you love best about the culture here?

 As they say, it takes a village, so make sure it's the right village for you so that you're motivated to do your best--for yourself and the village.

Know Thyself

Growing up and beyond, we've all gotten conflicting career advise. The two extreme camps seem to be to make a career out of what you love or to make a career out of what makes money or sense, regardless of whether you hate it or not. My preference is somewhere in between.

Making a living doing what you love sounds great, but what if--

1. you're not good at what you love?
2. there's no way of making a living doing it?
3. you grow to hate what you previously loved since it's now your work?

Since we do spend a lot of time at work, I think it's important not to hate your job, and if possible, actually derive happiness or enjoyment from it. The best way to do this is by getting a job that plays to your strengths. By actually doing something you're good at, you're able to do a good job; get recognized and/or promoted; and have a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction at the end of the day. To me that translates into happiness.

And chances are, your strengths can be applied to various jobs and industries, so find one that you either believe in, are interested in, or that appeals to you for whatever reason.

Then recharge after hours by doing what you love.

Improved Workflows: Schedules and Systems (Parts 2 and 3)

Since I was asked to write about this for Publishing Perspectives (original article can be found here), I am copying the remaining two parts below for your convenience.

Step Two: Schedules

Before you go down the “speed to market” route, here are a few things to consider:

1. Is this actually good for the business? In other words, will this help you sell more books? I remember a Director of Marketing telling me that books released before six months weren’t given enough time for “sell-through” and therefore the timing wasn’t good for business.
2. Do you have the resources to shorten schedules? There’s an inverse relationship between speed and cost/quality. So if you want it faster, and still want to maintain quality, you’ll have to pay more and/or bring on more resources — which also means more money. Is this worth it?
    
So instead of aiming for shorter schedules because asked to and/or someone thinks it will improve profits, sit down with all departments involved and discuss the following:
3. How long does each department need for their part of the process? Add a small buffer since things will get delayed and/or mistakes may happen. Discuss all the different types of products/workflows.
4. How long do the authors need — realistically — to do their part? Again, add a small buffer since most authors have a “day job” and getting back to you is not their priority.
5. Are there any conferences or other events where books or bound galleys will mean appreciable sales?

Take all the above and create standard turnarounds for each product type and a system whereby rush schedules need sign-off by people in the position to decide whether the rush makes business sense or not.

Step Three: Systems

Although some companies will have more to invest than others in systems, the following tools are the minimum needed for a proper functioning workflow:

1. File management system: Whether on a network drive, in the cloud, or outsourced, every company needs a clearly defined naming convention and place to save all documents and files. Imagine not owning your content and having to track it down every time something is up for reprint? Imagine not knowing where the latest version of an important form is located — or which version to use?
2. Title Management System: At the minimum, project details and schedule should be shared. If a company cannot invest in a large system, Excel, Project, or Access can be used. If there is money to invest, there are systems that can be bought or built that can provide much more functionality.
3. Content Management System: In this day and age of digital and repurposing of content, it is vital to have a repository for this content. Authors can be allowed to write directly into the CMS, searches can be run to see what you already own on any given topic, and cross-media publishing and updates can be done more easily.

There is obviously more to a good workflow than just the above, but these are the common denominators I’ve seen and which are still necessary even when dealing with new media.

Improved Workflows: Aligning Expectations (Part 1 of 3)

Although there is no one workflow that will fit all products and purposes, I have decided to write about the three problems that, in my experience, happen across products and companies. There are far more than three things necessary for an efficient, streamlined workflow, but these three will give you a head start. You can contact me for more.

Let's start at the beginning: aligning expectations. For a project to be completed on time, on budget, and as expected (e.g., high quality), it is imperative that everyone involved be aware of its parameters, deadlines, components, etc. from the get-go. Surprises may be pleasant in your personal life (or not), but they are a disaster when it comes to getting work done.

Below are a few suggestions to avoid these nasty surprises:

• Contracts: All department heads should own the boilerplate language that affects their function and any variations or change to the boilerplate must require their sign-off. It is not enough to ask their approval as you pass them in the hall or supposedly by phone--it must be documented and clearly signed-off.
• Author Guidelines: Create easy to read, brief author guidelines outlining the entire publishing process and send these to the authors with their contracts and a cover pages summarizing the highlights. Stress what he'll need to do, when, and in what format. The editor should follow-up to ensure the author has at least read the summary and understands what is expected.
• Product and Workflow Type: In this day and age when most publishers have a combination of print only, print to digital, digital only and many other variations, it is important that everyone know exactly which of these categories any given project falls under so that they can plan and execute appropriately.
• Communication Alert System: Even when expectations are aligned up front, changes sometimes occur; it is therefore important to have a system in place whereby these changes get communicated to all appropriate parties. If you have a workflow management system that can automate this, great; if not, create e-mail distribution lists and clear guidelines as to who sends out which alert.

Part 2 will deal with schedules, the next "pain point" in many workflows.

Publisher Value Add

Back in the day, prior to e-books, when an author "self published," this was done via a "vanity press" and was never taken seriously. With the advent of POD (print on demand), this preconception was challenged, but not severely. Then came e-books.

It is now easier than ever to publish something you've written, and to do it on your own. There are many blogs and courses out there that will teach wannabe authors how to self-publish an e-book. And with the help of either Amazon, who will carry many of these in their Kindle store, and/or the many new platforms being developed to help get these e-books to the public, what value do publishers really provide?

Let's take a step back first: how do you define a publisher? Traditional publishers vet manuscripts for what they believe can make a profit, then polish this into a finished product that (hopefully) will make them a profit. They do this by bringing together various skill sets: acquisitions editors, copy editors, production editors, typesetters, designers, proofreaders, marketers, publicists, etc. Not all of these are employed by the publisher, but those that are not, are hired on a freelance or project basis by someone who does work for the publisher. The author just has to trust these skilled professionals and do as directed.

With e-books, we now have many digital "publishers" who are offering some of these services to the wannabe author, but not all of them. Some just offer a platform; others offer ease of hiring freelancers and/or a community whereby there is support and peer review. Some will specialize in one aspect and partner with the publisher.

So in this shifting new world, how is a publisher defined and how much value does either a digital or traditional publisher still provide? I think ultimately three different parties will have to decide the answer to this question:

1. the author: How much does the author need his publisher to provide in return for splitting the profits? Some will be willing to do more work and forgo the traditional route; others will prefer the traditional route, both for the convenience--and for the prestige. But whichever the author chooses, he will need help. (It's a rare author that can copyedit his own work and even a rarer one that can also typeset, market, etc.)
2. the bookstore buyer: Amazon has chosen to carry self-published e-books but is now cracking down on their lack of quality. When a publisher puts out a book and their name is on the cover/spine, it's their reputation on the line; when there is no "publisher" and a bookstore chooses to carry a book, it's their reputation on the line. And this is where the third party comes in.
3. the consumer: What will ultimately matter to you, the reader, and all the other e-book readers out there will sway what value adds are still considered necessary. Do you, the reader, still care about writing that flows and is without grammatical and other errors? Do you still care about type that is pleasantly laid out on the screen, even when you change the font and leading, as your e-reader now allows? What do you care about enough to either boycott or to keep coming back for?

I don't know what these three parties will decide, but I do know that until quality continues to matter, publishers in all their iterations will have plenty of value they can provide a discerning and busy author. 

Feedback

Feedback is a wonderful thing, and when it comes to business models and process, it's pretty straightforward: when something doesn't work, there's a problem and you know it. When it comes to people, giving feedback is anything but straightforward.

Whether you're a manager, team leader, colleague, parent, teacher, friend--and we're all at least one of these--at some point you will have to give another human being feedback. And even if the feedback is positive, read on.

If you're having a team building session or a status meeting, it is sometimes okay to give short, on-topic feedback right then and there, but be sure that it's not personal, not too critical, and will not embarrass the person. If you're not sure, wait until after the meeting. This goes for positive feedback, too, since there are some people who hate being the center of attention.

Many of us were taught to treat others the way we want to be treated, but to be a good manager, you should treat staff the way they want to be treated. Think back to the example above. Although an introvert by nature, I've learned to be the center of attention and don't mind being praised in public. I've managed brilliant, dedicated people who barely said a word in a meeting but were eloquent in private and/or in writing. Had I praised them in front of all my staff, they probably would have been more hurt and offended than pleased, even knowing my intent.

What about negative feedback? Except for the rare occasion (mentioned above, when in meeting and it's short, impersonal, and on-topic), negative feedback should always be given in private. Keep it professional and unemotional; stick to concrete facts and how he/she can rectify the problem; and end off on a positive note. Do not drag it out, do not  belabor the point, and do not get emotional or angry. Check-in with the employee in a week or two (this depends on the severity of the problem) and ensure they're improving; if not, be more specific as to your expectations.

And if you've noticed, I did not mention performance reviews. Yes, official reviews provide feedback and are useful (more or less depending on the system), but feedback needs to be frequent and continuous, not just once or twice a year. If your employee is surprised by anything on his/her official review, you've failed in your job--that simple, that straightforward, and that true.

What is the worst and best feedback you've gotten?

Choose Your Own Features E-Book

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been reading and thinking a lot about enhanced e-books. It's amazing what publishing and technology people are thinking of putting into e-books: from hyperlinks and social media to videos and music. And who knows what else is to come once the hardware, software, and workflows can keep up.

But what if you just want a straight e-book? What if you liked the words and nothing but the brilliant words that allow you to add your own mental pictures and video? What if you don't want the distractions or added expense?

Since it's all about the consumer, let's hope once e-book enhancements evolve, that the reader will be able to choose which flavor and therefore price of e-book they prefer, from the plain vanilla text-only to the chocolate-covered-with-sprinkles fully enhanced version.

And if midstream you want to upgrade to a more enhanced version,  you have the choice then to pay for the extra features. Now that would be great customer support and worth coming back for.

Micromanaging

Micromanaging is bad both for the employee and the manager. It's obvious why from the employee's point of view, so let's focus on why it's bad for the manager.

When a manager micromanages, it could be one of countless reasons, but at their root is really only two: control or lack of trust. The manager either prefers to keep control of all aspects and have it done their way, or he mistrusts his staff to do a good job. Any other reason boils down to one of these two.

If there is reason for you, the manager, to doubt your staff's abilities, it's your job to provide them additional training. If this still doesn't work--and you've given them ample opportunity to try--then it's in both your and his best interests for you to either find him another job within the company, one he is more suited to, or if that's not possible, fire him and give him the opportunity to find one where he can succeed. However, if you don't fix this problem and still keep rechecking his work, perhaps your boss will start wondering whether you have enough of your own work and/or can't manage your staff properly. See where I'm headed? Your job can be at risk if you spend too much time doing someone else's job instead of the job you're being paid to do.

Now for the second reason: control. As a somewhat reformed perfectionist, I know how difficult it is to let go and I know how hard it is to sit back and watch others stumble when you can do it quicker and better...but learn to do so. As mentioned above, it's not safe to always be doing someone else's job, but beyond that, as long as your employee gets from point A to point B in a timely fashion and with good results, then they've done their job. There is no right or wrong way of doing things and you need to allow people to do it their way. Yes, if they make mistakes and/or take too long, you can offer advice. Yes, if they ask for help, you can offer advice. But if they're doing their job--let them. They will never learn or be allowed to shine if you keep stepping in. And ultimately, their success is yours, so let them make you proud.

If you really don't have enough to do so that micromanaging is needed to look busy, well then, perhaps there's too much redundancy between you and your direct reports and you need to have a frank discussion with your own boss.

Either way, if you're micromanaging, you're not doing your job well and you're not allowing your staff to do theirs well, so stop. Remind yourself of what you'd feel like if someone was constantly hovering over you and checking your work, dictating what you should do and how. I highly doubt you'd appreciate it, so don't subject anyone else to this either.

And I will freely admit there are different degrees of micromanaging, so if you're barely a micromanager, maybe just check-in with your staff during your next one-on-one to see if there's a problem.

Are you a micromanager or have you worked for one? How did you handle this? And if you disagree with any of the above, please tell me why.