Special Advertising Supplement: Strategic Allies: Global Ebook Outsourcing: A Primer

"They are different workflows, but we do both," says Aptara's Panchanathan. "On the frontlist, [conversion] just happens to be an extra step in the process, [though] an additional process [you can add is] enhancing frontlist titles, adding extra assets, interactivity, audio and video."

An outsource partner can guide you in the best process for adding those extra steps and can make sure your titles are available in almost any format.

"I could get a request in from an online ebook vendor that I've never worked with before," hypothesizes Shaw, "and they can send me a format I've never seen and say they need 10 books tomorrow. I can go to Aptara and chances are, 1) they've seen the format, 2) they have somebody available, and 3) they can hit the quality and pricing I need to get that turned around within a short period. … Even if they had not seen the format, if I can provide them the sample and a specification of what it might look like, my guess is they will find a way to do it."

Backlist provides a whole host of additional issues. Some publishers have soft copies in obsolete or non-XML formats; others possess rare and degraded single hard copies that must be preserved through the conversion process. (The standard process for converting a hard copy is to cut the spine and run the individual pages through a scanner, but there are non-destructive methods of conversion, as well). But a provider will get the job done, even if it means scanning page by page by hand or, in rare instances, retyping an entire book manually.

A Game of Strategy

No matter who your company decides to partner with, the initiative needs to have support from on high.

To be successful, a partnership "needs to have a very strategic thrust. It needs to have absolute blessing and push from C-level," says Aptara's Ganesan. "If not, I've seen these things not go anywhere. You do a little bit and it levels off. It needs to be made part and parcel of the operation, not so much to save cost, but more like, 'Hey, things are happening fast and we need a partner who can understand the whole digital revolution and take us through this change."