eBooks for Business

Linda Morone

About Us DCL’s core service is data conversion from any format to any format Additional services also include

eBook production Composition QA Content Reuse Analysis Project set-up/management Consulting Transcription Translation

Services can be bundled or sold al a carte Highly proficient with very complex projects Solid reputation within all industries

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In 2012… Every Organization is a Publisher!

More than 63% of companies plan on publishing eBooks this year More than 75% of these will be technical documents & manuals, textbooks & other non-fiction type content Most will be created in EPUB, MOBI & custom formats New devices are being created to handle this new phenomenon

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This trend is indicative of an expansion in the use of e-readers from casual reading of novels to a myriad of business & technical applications

Think Content Strategy… eBooks Alone May Not be Enough

Who needs my content? What processes does it need to support? What state is my content in presently? Am I ready for the future? Can I deliver the high-quality, customized information my customers expect?

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Don’t Think Sexy & Cutting-Edge… Think Flexible & Long-Term… Think XML

Develop a standardized content model Maintain your content in an appropriate CMS Create an automated stream of standardized content Deliver content to customers on the device of their choosing Future-proof your content for the next technology innovation

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So… What Considerations are Most Important When Creating eBooks?

Accuracy tops the charts! Manageable costs Vendor reliability

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The most cost-effective & efficient process gets it done right the first time

The Complexity of Technical Documentation & Training Materials Requires Special Handling

Throughout the eBook Creation Process

Multi-column textbooks Formatted tables Equations Images Sidebars Footnotes ETC

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Complex elements are reconfigured to fit smaller screen real estate on smart phones, tablets & e-readers

Prepare for Success!

Clean up first! No “easy” button Automation will only take you so far Understand the limitations of devices Don’t take short-cuts

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Anticipate the Challenges… How Tough Can It be?

Documents were not written for e-readers Most content is not easily extractible & lacks detail Automated conversion software & scripts vary widely Lack of expertise to manage the conversion Time involved for the manual part of the process

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Limitations of Automated Conversions

Tools lack flexibility Software doesn’t work well with randomness Needs to be tuned to your content Still requires manual labor pre & post conversion

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Problems You May Encounter with Commercial Automation Tools

Word spaces may be misinterpreted Paragraph delineation is often guessed Can’t distinguish the purpose of hyphens Emphasis of text is often unrecognized Superscripting & subscripting is limited to appearance Special characters often extract incorrectly Sub-fonts can’t be extracted Tables are VERY tricky

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Rough conversions require SERIOUS clean-up!

So… What Are My Choices?

Convert manually Use commercial tools to make a first pass… modify documents based on findings Hire the experts, especially if working with large document sets

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This may not be the best time for experimentation!

Key Takeaways

EPUB is not a content strategy Plan for the future Streamline your processes Invest wisely Arm yourselves with knowledge Automation is NOT a silver bullet Set realistic expectations Don’t rush it

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PLAN… PREPARE… CLEAN UP… REVIEW & REVIEW AGAIN… TEST!

Questions? Please contact:

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Linda Morone Senior Vice President, Sales &

Marketing LMorone@DCLab.com

718.307.5728