by Tim Davies, CEO Westchester Group UK
The Westchester Publishing Services team was excited to attend London Book Fair this year. Our booth was located on one of the two IPG Collective stands and as usual, the IPG looked after us and our fellow IPG members extremely well. Everyone I spoke to felt the Fair was ‘back to form’, with a busy, buzzy mood which provided an excellent venue for constructive and productive discussion. Our team conducted more than two dozen meetings across the three days, chatting with both existing and potential new clients primarily in the education, academic, and trade publishing sectors.
Given the range of services we provide and the disparate nature of our client portfolio, we had the opportunity to discuss all of Westchester’s services over the course of the Fair. Our discussions with academic and trade publishers tended to revolve around our UK- and India-based full-service options, as well as our typesetting and epub production, delivered from our wholly owned composition and digital production operation in Chennai, India. Education publishers, meanwhile, were particularly interested in our curriculum mapping, content creation, and DEI/CRE review services.
Inevitably, AI and its application in the publishing industry was the #1 topic of discussion for publishers from all sectors. Whilst publishers are generally a little apprehensive about AI, they were largely open-minded about how it might change things, although there were understandable concerns expressed about copyright, plagiarism, and liability. The Stationers Company will host a webinar on 11 April about AI and its impacts on rights and IP, to help the publishing industry obtain context on how businesses in the sector may be affected.
The other main topic of conversation was the impending legislation related to the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the associated accessibility requirements for publishers selling their content into the EU. As a Benetech-accredited accessible epub vendor, Westchester is well-placed to provide accessible epub services to its clients.
Whether you want to optimise your editorial and typesetting workflow, are seeking a “release valve” arrangement during high-demand times of the year or are trying to manage the volume of content that needs to be made accessible by June 2025, you can place your trust in the Westchester team to help you identify solutions to resolve your challenges. Contact us to learn how we can make your workflow flow more smoothly.