PubSync offers consulting services as well as hands-on expertise in current publishing technologies to publishers looking to reduce costs and improve work flow in every aspect of the publishing chain.
Founded in 2002 by three publishing veterans—Linda Young, CEO; Stephen Thomas, v-p of development; and Nannette Naught, v-p, strategy and implementation—PubSync (www.pubsync.com) focuses its services on small to midsize publishers with revenue under $100 million.
Steven Naught (Nancy's husband) has since joined the firm as its president. Based in St. John, Wash., the company maintains a sales office in San Jose, Calif., and is now setting up an East Coast office.
While PubSync doesn't like to describe its work as consulting, its approach may just be the new face of work-flow analysis. While many firms that offer consultation and software solutions for organizational efficiency scale their services to the largest publishing concerns, PubSync is focused on smaller publishers, the fastest-growing sector of the industry. The company told PW that it is able to call on specialists from a number of its partner firms to assemble work teams of specialists.
PubSync develops relationships with vendors and individual experts, partnering with these providers to service a wide range of client problems. "We can expand or contract based on the demand for our services," said Naught. Among PubSync's partners are Impressions Book and Journal Services; Global Village Publishing; and Ioflex. Clients include Talent Marketing Group and CQ Press.
Thomas told PW the firm gives publishers an updated version of Lean Publishing Solutions. The company can address such problems as lowering Fed Ex and software costs, implementing digital publishing technology or assessing staff levels and utilization. "We try to address staff involvement in any new services and when necessary help a company shift people from one task to others," Thomas said.
Thomas said that PubSync focuses on two critical trends: "The effort to cut waste and operating costs in all areas of the publishing enterprise" and "the shift from independence to interactivity around people management, production and distribution."
