The need to match rapid changes in label and
packaging formats requires presses capable of handling a wide range of different substrates.
Not exact matches
For example, smart phones and other modern electronics are often
packaged with dunnage around them that
requires a bigger box
format.
Every publisher
package includes a free bar code from isbnagency.com which is pre-formatted in ISBN 13
format, including the
required check digit.
--
Formatting HTML newsletters —
Formatting books for Smashwords — Research about the business side of being an author (e.g., how Street Teams work, how to market a book in a foreign language, podcasts that might be a good fit to have you as a guest, etc.)-- Scouting for bloggers to send book review requests to — Pitching to those bloggers and tracking responses —
Formatting (and perhaps light editing) of blog posts, or organizing content — Managing your Street Team Facebook group (posing questions to keep the group engaged, answering questions, sharing upcoming news, etc.)-- Creating box sets in Scrivener from individual novels — Moving works translated into a foreign language from Word into Scrivener — Scheduling tweets and Facebook posts (ones that don't
require your direct input or engagement with your audience)-- Transcribing audio interviews or notes — For non-fiction authors, VAs can do an enormous number of tasks around webinars or other training you offer (e.g., planning and booking the event, scheduling guests, managing registration lists, dealing with the back - end technology, creating and proofing slide decks, sending out advance information
packages to the trainees, and then sending out follow - up information to the trainees, etc..)
If you present a
package that is
formatted exactly as they
require you stand a better chance of reaching an agreement with the publisher.
What if metadata in the
package were reduced to a set of links, one
required to point to the publication metadata and the others doing what they do now pointing out to other record
formats.
But just as the DDA model has challenged libraries, publishers, and vendors to rethink traditional methods of buying and selling, asking all sides to place their trust in the user's ability to drive purchasing, so, too, has the idea that books in digital
format being grouped together and sold as a
package required all involved to further rethink how to amass content as efficiently and logically as possible.
On a serious note, R is powerful, easy to understand, has a professional look to the output of the graphics
package, has a wide following, has custom
packages for all kinds of field - specific uses, doesn't
require the use of proprietary
formats, can read most
formats (and can be configured to read the rest if you want) and it's free.
I can think of a perfectly good, and far more believable, alternative explanation: CDs are a dying
format, and when their only value is as an intermediate step (manual ripping, metadata tagging, and album art sourcing still
required) towards listening to the songs on them on a tiny flash memory - based playback device, sales will decline as alternative sources become available that don't
require the extra effort, don't junk up shelves with unwanted
packaging, don't cost as much to buy, etc..
So the loan
package that answers all of the lenders questions in an easy to understand
format will get worked on before the one that
requires a phone calls to get the answers.