Easypress Technologies, a book production software developer, is launching Book Publishing in the Cloud, a new technology platform it claims can cut the costs and time required to produce print and digital titles by as much as 50%. The new service is said to allow publishers to produce even more books in less time without further outsourcing, while using their current staff, internal resources and existing print production and workflow process.
Easypress Technologies CEO James Macfarlane said that Book Publishing in the Cloud has already been working with HarperCollins UK, allowing the publisher to avoid completely outsourcing physical typeset production to a third party and generating a “50% savings in direct costs and dramatically reducing the time to publish for both print and digital products.” According to Macfarlane, using Book Publishing in the Cloud, publishers can “resize” any layout for a new format in minutes “with no manual intervention,” as well as access view and edit proof with and approve corrections through a web browser. In addition the publisher can publish digital editions from the print book formats immediately in seconds.
Easypress Technologies was founded 14 years ago and moved into book production and e-books about 5 years ago. In a interview at the PW offices, Macfarlane said his technology will allow publishers remove excessive production costs—particularly in mid-list fiction—for corrections. The technology allows “ corrections and resizing to the new format automatically and apply all the layout rules and everything can be checked on screen,” and changes will happen automatically across the layout in seconds. Macfarlane said his company developed the technology “after we were asked to find a way to speed up the production process” without adding more staff. “Now publishers can cut a chunk of time out of the process and do more books with the same people and generate way more revenue across those titles,” he said.
Macfarlane and Easypress Technologies will be on hand at Frankfurt Book Fair, next week October 10-13, showing off the technology. (Hall 4, stand A1312).
James Graves, global production sourcing director at HarperCollins UK said, “the new Easypress Book Publishing in the Cloud technology will substantially cut our external costs and bring considerable benefits internally in terms of improving our workflow.” Graves added that, “we can now have access to any print format or digital product in seconds rather than weeks, this gives us the ability to challenge the traditional route to market, if we choose we can publish our content digitally first then re-flow into hardback or paperback book formats for any English-speaking market in seconds.”
Macfarlane said, “Crucially, HarperCollins’s early understanding of this technology ahead of their competitors enables them to bring more content to market faster and in more formats, whilst also reducing costs. With Easypress, HarperCollins will be able to make their workflow decision whilst not disrupting the way they work.”
