Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for publishers.
A checklist built from how publishers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Title catalogue and formats
- Editorial and production schedule
- Author contracts and royalties
- Print orders and stock
- Trade orders, returns and credit notes
- Subscriptions, advertising and rights
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For commissioning and managing editors
- For production
- For sales and distribution
- For rights and contracts
- For finance and directors
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Titles by stage and schedule status
- Net sales by title, format and channel
- Royalties earned and payable by author
- Unearned advances by contract
- Stock on hand against reprint levels
- Returns by distributor and title
- Subscribers due for renewal this month
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Barcode scanners and label printers
- Distributor order files
- Online store
- Payment gateway
- Accounting software export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it for books or for periodicals?
- Can royalties differ by format and territory?
- How does it help decide a reprint?
- Does it deal with distributor returns?
- Can authors see their own statements?
- Does it track translation and other licences?
- Can our current catalogue and contracts be loaded?
- What happens to our data if we move away?
- How is it priced?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Title status is spread across files
- Contract terms are hard to apply
- Print quantities are guessed
- Returns are slow to reconcile
- Rights and licences are poorly tracked
Prefer to talk it through? See the publishers page.