As publishers transition workflows, tools, and organizational structure to reshape revenue streams so digital revenue exceeds print, I’ve identified the four phases of digital publishing transformation. The  following image captures the phases and the intersection of print and digital revenues.  The four phases comprise---planning, realization, survival, and new world.  As a publisher moves through these phases there are specific events within each phase that cause the publisher to either remain stagnant or move forward to the next phase.

Planning phase. This is a low stress phase where a publisher is just starting to experience a low erosion of print revenue and is experimenting with digital products.  There is a general feeling that something is coming and resources are allotted to begin a digital strategy plan.   Publishers must plan for the move from a tactical content management system to a strategic content management platform  that  can create, package, and distribute content in a highly automated fashion.

Realization phase. A publisher in this phase is beginning to see print revenue decline pretty quickly while electronic product experiments start to gain momentum and generate revenue.  There is a crisis underway in this phase and cultural issues start to emerge across product and editorial teams.  It is in this phase that publishers should look to invest strategically in technology because time-to-market pressure in a multi-channel scenario will be the priority over just the print channel.  In this phase a publisher must look at people, process, and technology to meet the necessary demands of the new publishing environments.  Those who are slow to adopt or embrace change are unlikely to survive.

Survival phase. If the publisher has adequately planned for the transition to a dominant digital revenue stream, this phase will not be as onerous.  If there is an extended realization phase, the survival phase may be short because the publisher just won’t make the transition.  It is during the survival phase when digital revenue numbers get exciting and begin to challenge print revenue. Publishers who enter the survival phase and begin to produce more digital products will move onto the next phase.  These publishers have taken a strategic view of content management.

New world phase. What publishers must embrace in the new world phase is a solid strategic content management platform, production processes that minimize manual intervention and emphasize automation, and a culture of continual improvement.  No longer can departments operate in a vacuum, systems be built on home grown technology, or processes remain stagnant.  The new world phase embraces change and rapid publishing to new channels and devices.  The reward in this phase is the successful transition of print and digital revenue streams. Publishers will see digital sales eclipse print sales and in some exciting cases, digital products can be used to drive print sales. It is in this phase when publishers and product managers can experiment with audiences to understand how the customer is engaged and tweak the delivery of content to customers any time, on any format, on any device.

While certain segments of the publishing industry have moved through this digital publishing transformation, many are still in the planning phases.  Tools that support digital publishing have evolved immensely over the past decade. In fact people and processes tend to take more time to transition to the new speed of digital publishing than the implementation of content management tools.  We developed RSuite, a content management system for publishers, to serve as the core foundation of a digital publishing strategy. Some of the world’s leading publishers and media companies use RSuite---Oxford University Press, Nature Publishing Group, Triumph Learning, Audible, and many more. 

Want to see how RSuite can transform your digital publishing process?

Really Strategies is pleased to announce the launch of the RSuite CMS support community. Really Strategies is dedicated to the success of its customers and partners who have adopted RSuite CMS as a core foundation for their digital publishing strategy. The RSuite CMS support community is a forum where problems are solved, topics are discussed, and ideas are exchanged. All discussions related to the ongoing support of RSuite CMS and its customers are now housed in one secure location that encourages professional discussion as well as submitting and resolving software tickets.

"The RSuite CMS support community provides a central location as well as the tools to communicate with RSuite developers and engage users. This online forum also provides all of our customers and partners a mechanism for direct communication with product management regarding their priorities for the evolution of RSuite CMS as well as insight into the product’s direction.”
--Christopher Hill, VP Product Management, Really Strategies, Inc.

Really Strategies, Inc. will host a webinar on Friday, January 6th to introduce its customers and partners to the new RSuite CMS support community Web site, unveil new capabilities offered by the system for resolving support requests, and introduce forums to allow the RSuite CMS community to engage with each other as well as the development and product management groups at Really Strategies.

A list of 100 companies "that matter in the digital content industry."

Recognized for leadership in the content management and digital publishing space, Really Strategies, Inc. was selected by EContent Magazine for its EContent 100 list. Really Strategies' content management products, RSuite and RSuite Cloud are recognized as the publishing industry's leading tools to store, manage, and deliver content to any channel in any format. Both CMS systems provide publishing organizations a collaborative environment in which they can streamline workflow and ultimately accelerate product distribution.

"EContent keeps professionals ahead of the curve in order to maximize their investment in digital content strategies while building sustainable, profitable business models." --Theresa Cramer, Editor of EContent

Digital editions of cookbooks have been on the slow cooker for some time now. But with the release of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and published by Alfred A. Knopf, digital cookbooks are gathering steam. Judith Jones*, retired senior editor and vice president at Knopf and the person responsible for bringing the book into our homes, insisted the digital publication wait until the technology could properly display the beauty of Julia's writing and recipes.

Well, that time is today. Knopf released the digital edition of this classic tome on October 5. Because no electronic files of the book were available, production staff had the book re-keyed and images scanned.

With the impending release of Amazon's Fire in November and the impressive metrics stewing for digital cookbooks, the time is ripe for cookbook publishers to go digital.

Check out our latest whitepaper "Best Practices for a Long-Term Digital Publishing Strategy" so you too can get cooking.

 

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*Judith Jones also saved The Diary of Anne Frank from the reject pile. And for that too, I thank you Ms. Jones.

At Really Strategies we are fortunate to work with a variety of publishers: journal, book, scholarly, trade, technical. Obviously each publisher has a different approach for navigating the digital publishing landscape.

What we often see are publishers who are creating loads of wonderful digital content yet their digital supply chains are heavily tied to the print medium. According to the American Association of Publishers,

“e-books have grown from 0.6% of the total Trade market share in 2008 to 6.4% in 2010. While that represents a small amount in the total market for formats, it translates to 1274.1% in publisher net sales revenue year-over-year with total net revenue for 2010 at $878 Million.”

This means content supply chains need to change in order to properly prepare for a digitally focused content marketplace. Download our latest whitepaper to understand best practices for a long-term digital publishing strategy.

Situation:  Publishers want a content management system to be flexible and adaptable at a low cost.

Reality:  Unlike desktop applications, enterprise content management systems change and sometimes pretty often.  Publishers are often surprised by the amount of changes a CMS requires after the initial implementation.  That is because a CMS changes to meet the way your organization wants to work, not force you down a path such as Microsoft Word.  Yes, Word can be customized, but a CMS can truly evolve as your organization evolves its processes and workflow.  In the pure definition of a system, it is one that never stops changing.  You can read between the lines here and either ignore the fact that a CMS will require a budget to make changes as your organization changes or you can budget the appropriate time and money to keep the system current and reflect user needs.  Systems don’t change by themselves and the flexibility you get with a CMS comes at a cost.  If you want a system that is inexpensive and inflexible, that is fine, but be ready for unhappy users.

Best Practice:  In our experience publishers who budgeted between 25% and 50% of the original project implementation costs for changes after the initial launch were able to respond to user change requests in a timely manner.   

Every publisher manages projects and budgets differently.  As a CMS vendor we understand that.  It is imperative for publishers to understand though that a system will require changes after it goes live and this is perfectly natural as a system is used by the staff.  Those publishers who budget for and plan out a period of time after CMS launch to complete user change requests will ultimately have higher user adoption across the organization.  Higher user adoption equals higher organizational efficiency. 

What are your experiences with system changes post-launch?

The 2011 RSuite User Conference takes place in Philadelphia at the Chemical Heritage Foundation Conference Center and you are invited:

On October 25, 2011 publishing executives will meet in Philadelphia to learn how content management is the key to building a successful digital publishing strategy. This 1-day event is open to both RSuite customers and publishing executives who want to understand how better content management increases revenue and profit growth.

Really Strategies is delighted to announce that Molly Joss from The Seybold Report will serve as the official Tweeter for this event. The Seybold Report is the definitive and independent source of information about the technologies used for publishing and printing. As official Tweeter for the event, Molly is sure to lead a secondary conversation in the Twittersphere highlighing metrics that RSuite customers will share about their experience with the only CMS built for the publishing industry.

Check out the following links to learn more about

• The 2011 RSuite User Conference
• Registration for the Conference
• The Seybold Report
• What our customers are saying

BSI recently licensed RSuite CMS (content management system) by Really Strategies, Inc. to manage its complex and extensive content and metadata assets and related editorial and production processes. BSI British Standards is the UK's National Standards Body. “BSI will take advantage of RSuite’s sophisticated workflow functionality to manage content in a range of formats and optimize its editorial and production processes,” stated Rob Diana,  director of product engineering at Really Strategies, Inc.

Click here to read more about BSI's selection of RSuite.

Mark your calendar. On October 25th publishing executives will gather in Philadelphia for the 5th annual RSuite User Conference.

The RSuite User Conference is a forum for publishers who want to learn how content management is the key to building a successful digital publishing strategy. Attendees will hear case studies from some of the world's leading publishers, learning what works and what doesn't work when developing and implementing a CMS.

This year's event will take place at the conference center at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Old City, Philadelphia.