Biotext

Managing the publication process

This year, Biotext developed a new course, entitled Publication management. Over the years, we have found that many of our clients are thrown into the deep end by their managers and asked to put together a large publication with no-one around to show them the ropes. Often, this results in a stressful process for them and anyone else involved. Sadly, it is often the case that once they have been through the process once and have the knowledge to make future publications much easier to manage, they move to another job and are not required to manage another document! Our course aims to walk people through the process of publishing, starting with an idea for a publication, through to printing and online delivery.

Our top tips for people new to publishing are:

1. Allow plenty of time. Everything always takes a lot longer than you think it will.

2. Try to finalise text (including getting approvals) as early as possible. The closer you get to the end of the process, the more it costs to make amendments.

3. Keep all members of the publishing team informed with the latest decisions and developments. Effective communication will help make the process smoother.

We are hoping to run another course at the end of 2011 . If you are interested, let us know.

Malini Devadas