PUBLISHING

ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING WORKFLOWS:
DESKTOP PUBLISHING AND MARKDOWN
Creating a workflow that is both structured and flexible enough to cater to a
variety of demands is a key step towards establishing an efficient electronic or
hybrid publishing strategy. What we propose here is a hybrid workflow based
on the need for publishing across different media, while keeping the main
part of the work process in-house rather than outsourcing it.
Instead of developing a digital publication based on the printed book at
the end of a production process, as is common practice by publishers, the
main workflow should be adapted at an earlier stage, and made efficient and
practical for hybrid publishing. Development of each publication format from
scratch is thus superseded by single-source, multi-format publishing. In other
words: rather than working separately on the PDF for the print book, the
EPUB version, and a Kindle edition, the workflow is instead focused on a single
source file (in the Markdown format) which can easily be converted into
these different output formats using a relatively small number of digital tools.
The workflow described below starts at the point when the author hands in
the final manuscript, in other words after the editing and rewriting process
has been completed. In reality this is of course not the beginning of the publishing
process. However, rewriting and editing is still most efficiently done
using word processing applications with full tracking and commenting functions,
such as Microsoft Word. Also, in our experience manuscripts are mainly
written in Word and delivered in .doc or .docx files. Should the author already
be working or submitting manuscripts in the Markdown, HTML or even XML
format, this will of course affect the workflow.
Note: an important step preceding the publication process lies in the formulation
of an in-house style guide in which authors and editors can find the
requirements for the manuscript. This style guide must be adapted according
to the hybrid workflow before starting any work on the manuscript itself. For
example: specification of the required file format, structuring of the text, image
specifications, etc. See Chapter 8 for more information on adapting the
style guide. (Style Guide for Hybrid Publishing)
We will now focus on the implementation of the new workflow for small-edition
and low-budget publishing houses. (Hybrid workflow how-to: introduction
& editorial steps)
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