The Value of a Publishing House

by Laura Dawson

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Why is this relevant now?

Well, CES showed us that there is a great interest in ebook readers – 23 of them debuted there, and an entire “Ebook Zone” was created. Apple is negotiating with publishers to sell content (books, magazines, newspapers) on its soon-to-appear tablet. With all these digitized books, search becomes more crucial than ever – web search is the ONLY way people are going to purchase these digital products.
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This metadata may not come in the form of the traditional ONIX feed. If a book file is marked up in XML (whether via InDesign or anything else), the title, author, BISAC and LC subject codes, price, publisher, and copyright date can all be easily derived from that book file – because those data points are defined in the file (usually in the front matter) with tags.

But just as with ONIX, what’s inside those tags has to be correct. This has a better shot at happening if the search engine is pulling from the book itself (the author name, for example, is not likely to be misspelled in the actual book).

In recently-released recommendations to the publishing industry, BIC has stated: ›Publishers must retain responsibility, wherever possible and appropriate, for the metadata of the products they publish, in all formats, print and digital.‹ A new company, Giant Chair has built its entire business around hosting a metadata platform for publishers: ›When equipped with the appropriate tools, publishers are naturally the most qualified and motivated source for metadata creation and enrichment.‹
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But good metadata IS publishers’ responsibility, fundamentally. They can outsource that responsibility, but ultimately it does all come back to the publishers. As our digital landscape explodes – as web search becomes not just one way but THE way readers find what’s next on their reading lists – metadata only becomes more important. If your sales are dipping, it’s entirely possible that readers can’t find your books. Take a look at your data. The solution is probably there.«

read more: THE DOWNLOAD

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