We asked Ms. Roberts to comment on what she sees as the most significant industry challenges. She observed that publishers, especially in scholarly and university presses, generally underinvest in their core operating systems. Perhaps in an analog world, a lack of technology could be acceptable, but it does not suffice at all in a digital world. With digital content, no point where content is final exists. Further, journals, subscriptions, chunking, and the like make life much more complex.

Ms. Roberts staunchly advocates for publishing-specific software for similar reasons. She says that big-box generic systems are all about control, often for businesses that have a small number of highly valuable transactions, whereas publishing is diametrically opposite – publishers typically have a large number of low-value transactions, where there is a dynamic nature to content compared to more traditional industries with physical products and a need for the kind of control that don’t exist in publishing.

Investing in Core Operating Systems

In terms of technology investment, Ms. Roberts suggests that publishing as an industry avoids risk, particularly in the trade segment. If you couple this risk aversion with Ms. Roberts particularly astute observation that “discussion is often a substitute for action,” and it’s no wonder that publishers are underinvested. There’s a general fear of technology, a mindset that is often found where the relationship between the publishing staff and the IT organization is still largely being negotiated. This is not the case in most other industries, she claims. There are exceptions of course, such as in academic publishing, where the community appears to be well ahead of the trade. Trade publishing’s concentration is mainly on consumer-grade technology targeted to improve the reader experience for example.

She sees the industry having a binary approach in its evaluation of projects – they are either a complete success or a failure. There is not often a willingness to take on risk with the attitude that failure represents a real opportunity to learn. The industry seems unable to take on projects without first conducting detailed research and intense risk assessments. In the end, these assessments may not be possible or even accurate. One may also encounter a siege mindset of “pulling up the drawbridge” and defending when under attack, rather than simply finding a better way or a better business model. These attitudes need to change.

Looking Forward

Ms. Roberts sees tremendous opportunities for breaking this cycle with AI and machine learning in the near future. There is a great deal of data at publishers’ disposal that can provide intuition rather than firmly-held opinion on many of these stiff challenges that publishers face today. There are still problems to be solved in AI such as ethical questions of perpetuating prejudice, but the data backs her up – AI is here to stay.

Nancy Roberts has a lifelong passion for literature and language. She holds a PhD on race and gender studies and as well as an MBA. Umbrella (https://umbrellaanalytics.net/), provides data-driven and evidence-based insights enabling organizations to make meaningful improvements in diversity and inclusion.

Ms. Roberts can also be reached at Maverick Publishing specialists for technology consulting projects (nancy@maverick-os.com)

Knk Software (https://www.knkpublishingsoftware.com/) is a global software solutions provider focused solely on the publishing and media industry with over 450 customers on three continents.

Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash