28 problems publishers bring us, each with the cause, what it costs and what we build to fix it.
Submissions pile up in one inbox and authors chase for news. We build a manuscript submissions queue that logs, sorts and tracks every one for publishers.
Readers' reports sit in inboxes and the acquisitions meeting starts from memory. We build publishers one record per book, with reports, figures and decisions.
Delivery dates and advance instalments drift apart once a contract is signed. We build publishers a tracker that ties each payment trigger to the manuscript.
Royalty statements take independent publishers days of copying sales reports into Excel. We build royalty runs that read your data and draft every statement.
Publishers often cannot say which advances have earned out until royalty season. We build a view of earnings against each advance that updates with sales data.
Sub-rights income arrives as odd payments in odd currencies. We build publishers a log that matches each receipt to the licence and the author's share.
Publishers reread contracts to find which rights they hold. We build a rights record per title, by format and territory, linked to the signed contract.
Picture and text permissions are chased in email until the week the book prints. We build publishers a permissions log per book, with status and credits.
Rights reversion requests send publishers into old files and old sales. We build a reversion log with contract terms, recent sales and a clear decision trail.
After a book fair, foreign rights follow-ups sit in notebooks and inboxes. We build publishers a submissions tracker by title, territory and editor.
Reprints are ordered too late or too big because stock and sales sit in separate reports. We build publishers a reprint watchlist with weeks of cover per title.
Book printers each specify paper, binding and delivery their own way, so publishers judge prices by eye. We build a spec request that lines the replies up.
One late proof moves everything after it, but the publishing production schedule does not. We build schedules that recalculate and warn when a date is at risk.
Bookshop returns arrive as a surprise deduction on the distributor statement. We build publishers a returns view by title, account and reason, month by month.
Book metadata is retyped into distributor, data agency and retailer portals and drifts apart. We build publishers one source that produces clean ONIX feeds.
ISBN logs kept in a spreadsheet lead to reused numbers and orphaned editions. We build publishers an ISBN register tied to titles, formats and the data agency.
Publishers build AI sheets by copying title data into a Word template, then fix them again when details change. We generate them from your title records.
Proofs and review copies go out from a mailing spreadsheet and coverage is lost. We build publishers a review copy log tied to contacts, titles and coverage.
The distributor's statement nets sales, returns, fees and charges into one payment. We build publishers a reconciliation that explains every line of it.
Author free copies and discount orders get handled by email and missed on royalty statements. We build publishers an author order process that records both.
Independent magazines lose subscribers who simply were not asked to renew in time. We build renewal series tied to each subscriber's last issue, not a calendar.
Address changes arrive by email and each magazine mailing file is fixed by hand before press. We build a subscriber list that produces a clean file every time.
Back issue stock lives in boxes and a spreadsheet, so magazines oversell and refund. We build a back issue shop linked to real counts and your mailing process.
Ad bookings sit in email and artwork arrives late or wrong. We build a magazine ad bookings log with the flatplan, artwork checks and chasers before press day.
Magazine commissions are agreed by email and contributors chase for payment. We build a commissions log that tracks each piece from brief to invoice to payment.
December gift subscriptions start late, reach the giver or arrive with no card. We build magazine gift orders with start issue, message and delivery rules.
Author events run out of books when stock orders sit in a publicist's inbox. We build publishers an events log linking each event to stock, orders and returns.
Independent magazine shop sales arrive late, net of returns, in reports nobody reads. We build a per-issue view of copies supplied, sold and returned.