BiblioSuite in 2023

2023 was another year of big changes and industry shifts for publishing. Crucial conversations on AI have dominated this year, providing food for thought for organizations across the trade on the future of the industry.

This year, perhaps more than ever, we've come to realize the disruptive and transformative roles technology plays in enabling publishers to progress in key areas, such as sustainability and strategic innovation, and ensure they are successful for years to come.

Modernizing our ways of working, identifying and embracing new challenges and opportunities more confidently and quickly, and taking advantage of the efficiencies tech can bring will only strengthen everything publishers do. We're incredibly excited to be contributing to these developments at such an exciting time for the industry, resolving publishers' challenges and helping to drive change in 2024 and beyond.

#BiblioSuite similarly has undergone some exciting developments to keep up with these rapidly changing times. 2022 saw the completion of the inclusive launch of BiblioSuite to customers, providing an all-in-one system harnessing cutting-edge technology and personalized dashboards.

Now, at the end of 2023, BiblioSuite has been put to use by our wide range of publisher customers across entire workflows. Many are using one or multiple slices of the software tactically to solve specific problems, or plug gaps where a solution isn't already in place – seeing efficiencies and time savings blossom.

Connecting at BiblioU 2023

We were delighted to once again bring together hundreds of publishing professionals at our customer-exclusive event, the BiblioU Annual Meeting 2023. Representatives from world-leading publishers including Disney, 爱思唯尔 , Hachette UK , HarperCollins Publishers , Harvard University Press , Macmillan , Oxford University Press , Penguin Random House , Princeton University Press , and Sage came together to gain insights into the latest developments and practical advice on how to maximize their use of BiblioSuite.

As well as our wide range of online sessions – this year featuring insights into AI, integrations, optimization, digital asset management, audiobooks, and the value of rights in publishing – select North American-based customers gathered in-person to watch the online event, network with peers, and gain one-on-one consultation and training with our team.

“Very useful and enjoyable event. It was great to have a preview of future developments for BiblioSuite, all of which look set to help publishers improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Lovely also to be able to network and share thoughts with industry experts. Thank you, Rod and team.” – Martin Hill , Director, Kogan Page Publishing and Founder, MPHC

Read more about why the combination of cutting-edge software plus a thriving and engaged community just works for BiblioSuite users.

Taking on Inventory Management

In November, we launched our latest White Paper, which shares insights on the changing landscape of inventory management – and the importance of technological support when it comes to elevating your systems for the future.

We are immensely grateful to our contributors Stuart Anderson (Penguin Random House), Ken Brooks ( Treadwell Media Group ) Charles Cooper ( Arcturus Publishing Limited ), Cathy Felgar (Princeton University Press), Gareth Jarrett ( Maverick Publishing Specialists ), Martin Klopstock (Kogan Page), John Normansell ( Manchester University Press ) and James Powell ( Boydell & Brewer ) for sharing their collective wisdom on what publishers most need to know now – from innovations in print and prioritizing sustainability, to cost-efficient supply chain management, and developments in AI technologies.

Coming soon: BiblioFlow

In 2023, we've been working hard behind-the-scenes, reimagining BiblioDAM to provide an even more elevated service to help publishers manage their assets and metadata more effectively. We’ll be reintroducing this as BiblioFlow in 2024 – and you can expect to hear lots more from us on this in the New Year.

Like BiblioSuite itself, publishers can pick and choose the DAM functionality that best meets their needs, delivering a personalized and cost-effective solution. But the best part for publishers? BiblioFlow doesn’t just focus on storage. Specifically developed for publishers, BiblioFlow works with your existing workflows by bringing together assets AND metadata in a single, centralized system – organized and distributed however and wherever is needed.

This means that you can tap into powerful workflow tools that aid the digital production process and organization of all your digital files and content (fully integrated with product metadata, scheduling and rights management for complete control), and allow you to easily distribute assets for better collaboration throughout the publishing supply chain.

“BiblioSuite DAM securely stores audiobook files and product data, automating the transfer of data and images to our webshop and external sales platforms.” – Christine Frehe , Project Developer & Product Owner, BiblioDAM, Verlagsgruppe Oetinger

Virtusales at industry events

The team around the world were pleased to attend a huge number of both in-person and online events this year.

We were joined by Andreas Arnold, CIO & CTO at Penguin Random House UK; Nick Wright, CIO at Bonnier Books UK; Brendan Goss, CIO at Hachette UK; and James Long, COO at Pan Macmillan at The London Book Fair to discuss the rapidly-evolving role of technology in publishing, and its increasing prominence and importance in day-to-day publishing processes to further efficiencies. Read more about the session here.

The Virtusales team was heavily involved in delivering a number of sessions this year at the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) Annual Meeting. EVP, North America, Rodney Elder , and Director of Academic, Mark Collins presented on various topics all focussed on leveraging technology for sharing scholarly content, streamlining workflows and managing any saleable product to meet current and future challenges – including open access requirements.

We were also pleased to attend Frankfurter Buchmesse , G?teborg Book Fair, STM Week 2023, as well as the STM Conference in October, the Publishers' Licensing Services (PLS) Conference, IG Digital Jahrestagung 2023, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit, the AUPresses Annual Meeting, the Book Industry Study Group Annual Meeting of Members 2023, the Literacy Partners Gala Dinner, and the The Association Of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) Annual Conference and Awards to name just a few.

The team also attended and sponsored Publishers Weekly 's AI Conference and The Independent Publishers Guild Autumn Conference – as well as their Metadata Award for 2023, where we were pleased to support and recognize independent publishers who are committed to enhancing their metadata and product management processes.

BiblioSuite Community successes

In 2023, we were delighted to welcome a number of new customers to the BiblioSuite Community, and share just some of the successes organizations have seen since implementing BiblioSuite – which you can read more about on the Virtusales website.

In November 2023, Ohio State University Press opted for a wide range of Biblio workflows including Product Management, Production, Contracts and Rights, Sales Analytics, and Inventory Management to unify its books and journals, signifying a strategic first step towards streamlining their processes and supporting the team's productivity.

“We needed a modern, intuitive, forward-thinking system that would support both our books and journals workflows, and facilitate communication internally across all departments. BiblioSuite was certainly the right choice for Ohio State and we’re excited to see the impact the system and its streamlined processes will have on our productivity and bottom line.” – Tony Sanfilippo , Director, Ohio State University Press

Universal Write Publications – an independent publisher of Black Academic Excellence – selected BiblioSuite to elevate its digital workflows, keeping pace with big players in the industry, to better support its essential mission to give a platform to marginalized scholars.

“We chose BiblioSuite not only because we’re confident its solutions meet all our current and future business needs but because we were blown away by the Virtusales team’s flexibility and professionalism. We’re excited to partner with Virtusales and can hardly wait for our system’s imminent go live.” – Dr. Dr. Ayo Sekai, Ph.D. , CEO & Founder, Universal Write Publications

Ohio University Press chose to automate and streamline its bibliographic and acquisitions processes by selecting Biblio's Product Management solution. This has enabled them to manage all their products (books and beyond), digitize paper-based workflows and effortlessly share, track and report peer reviews, review copies and reading samples.

“We are delighted to be joining BiblioSuite’s accomplished community of university presses and are eagerly looking forward to the efficiencies, enhanced project tracking, quality metadata and time-savings that BiblioSuite will give us.”? – Beth Pratt , Director, Ohio University Press

Podium Entertainment went live with BiblioSuite’s royalties management solution:

“BiblioSuite Royalties was the perfect choice for Podium, with its ability to handle complex royalties calculations including audiobook subscriptions, and its support for any saleable product. The functionality available is fantastic and a complete game-changer for our business.”? – Jon Oxidine , COO, CFO, Podium

We worked with Xander Uitgevers B.V. to deliver a high speed, fully scalable royalty system that is capable of handling even the most complex royalty calculations and payments for their products.

“We are so grateful to Virtusales for their expertise in delivering this project. The team was incredibly helpful throughout and a joy to work with. Thanks to Virtusales’ professionalism and the team’s publishing prowess, we did the impossible.” – Sander Knol, Director, Publisher

Despite the challenges that 2023 brought to the fore for publishers and the industry at large, it's been fantastic to see how BiblioSuite has been able to support organizations large and small in their efforts – and just some of the strides they have been able to achieve.

We're looking forward to another exciting year ahead in 2024, working with publishers and brands to better their processes with innovative workflow tools for the entire publishing lifecycle, and developing #BiblioSuite to continue to meet the industry's ever-changing requirements.

Thank you to everyone who has worked with us in 2023!

The Virtusales Team