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Results
- One process for everyone. Automations handle file naming and folders, so nobody has to remember the rules.
- Fewer email chains. Feedback and notes live in WoodWing tasks, not inboxes.
- Less work for design. Editors and sales turn PDF spreads into JPEGs themselves, in one click.
- Self-service sales assets. Sales, marketing, and publicity get files with permissions already attached.
Used product(s)
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About the client
Founded in New York in 1949, Abrams was the first US publisher to specialize in art books. Today, they publish about 375 titles a year across art, photography, cookbooks, children's books, young adult fiction, graphic novels, and manga.
That range means that very different books move through production simultaneously, each on its own timeline. Some are text-led; others are art-heavy and rely on close collaboration with outside designers and artists.
Mary O'Mara, Vice President of Publishing Operations, oversees Abrams' managing editorial department, its ebook department, and its archives. She's also responsible for the integration between WoodWing and Firebrand, Abrams' title management system.
More than 100 people at Abrams work with WoodWing solutions, from editorial and design to sales and marketing.
The challenge
Like many book publishers at the time, Abrams initially relied heavily on paper-based workflows. As technology evolved, the team began routing books as PDFs through its own servers.
Without a shared file system, small inconsistencies added up. As naming conventions weren't always followed, people were losing track of items, files ended up in different places, and each asset was circulated through a separate email thread.
The pressure didn't stop at the book production team. Sales and marketing were constantly chasing spreads, so design spent hours creating assets by hand.
The goal
Abrams wanted one environment for both its files and its workflow: a single place to produce books, manage feedback, and make sales and marketing assets accessible across the company.
The team evaluated three to four alternatives, from publishing systems to general file-sharing and work-management tools. None covered everything.
WoodWing hit the marks of not only the file system, but also the workflow solution, which is what we needed just as much as the digital asset management.
Mary O'Mara – Vice President of Publishing Operations
The solution
Abrams runs its book production in WoodWing Studio and stores and shares files in WoodWing Assets, integrated with Firebrand to keep title data and production files connected.
Automations do the heavy lifting, and Mary's favorite turns PDF spreads into correctly named JPEGs for catalog, Amazon, and cover feeds with one button. “It's been really nice to not have to field a lot of image requests,” she says. “The Brand Portal and Sharelinks give sales, marketing, and outside artists direct access.”
The process
A core team of seven to eight people worked with WoodWing's professional services team for about 18 months before go-live, followed by a gradual rollout across titles. Together, they built the setup, worked out the kinks, and checked with other departments that it would work for them.
The technology came together smoothly, including the Firebrand integration. The partnership has continued well beyond go-live.
Every time we have an idea for a little update to make everybody's lives easier, everybody's on board. They want to hear our ideas and figure out how to implement them. Especially if it's something nobody's asked for before, it seems like fun for the WoodWing team to figure it out.
Mary O'Mara – Vice President of Publishing Operations
The conclusion
The biggest gain for Abrams isn't a faster production schedule. Its books have many quirks, and production time has changed little. The gain is the time and stress taken out of everything related to the production and sales of a book. Design no longer spends hours producing assets on request. Sales and marketing find what they need with permissions already attached.
Asked why she would recommend WoodWing to other publishers, Mary is clear: “It puts a process in place that everyone can follow. It integrates well with book publishing workflows, and it works with other software, like Firebrand. It's the whole package in terms of making and selling a book.”
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