Everyone is a genius ...
In this blog, Jurgen tells you more about how Crius Group deals with the concept of "knowledge" and especially how you, as a professional within the book trade, can take advantage of this.
Jurgen Willems
Managing Director at Crius Group
Einstein knows best
"Everyone is a genius ... but if a fish is judged by its ability to climb trees, it will consider itself a failure all its life."
A fantastic statement by Albert Einstein 🤓 in which he says everyone has talents, as long as you keep yourself occupied with what you are good at. Having a talent for something, usually means that you enjoy doing something, immersing yourself in it and therefore having the necessary knowledge. Discovering your talent can take a long time, but you gradually discover what you don't want and what you need to focus on.
I have been leading Crius Group for many years now, but I started my career in production. So I am used to working on concrete projects, even now! In this way, I have been directly involved in countless book productions and have worked extensively with publishers and editors. It is still a passion of mine: helping publishers to create qualitative content in a smart way. Preferably in such a way that it can be published in any desired form.
Focus
Crius Group focuses on publishers with services such as typesetting (page layout) and content management. This seems and is now evident, but if you have followed us a little, you know that this did not go without a hitch. It is not so long ago that we came up with our own app management system or did tests with the infinite possibilities of ePub3. We soon discovered that this is another "cup of tea". The use of apps by publishers was not as commercially interesting as everyone thought. Moreover, this was a different specialism in which you are very dependent on external playback platforms, which meant that a lot was unpredictable. A wise lesson that made clear which way we did (not) have to go.
The focus is now entirely on production processes, where I would like to quote again the metaphor from the blog "Content knows no boundaries" by Jordy Willems. The production of a book can be divided into creating, managing and publishing of content. When you compare the creation (writing and / or preparing and structuring content) with the foundation of a house, you can say that building the first and second floor is much easier.
You've probably heard or read this before, but what does this mean in the context of editing and support by Crius Group? Namely that it pays off to invest in a perfect preparation of your content, because it makes management and publication easier. But take into account the distinction between the creation of new content and the perfection or digitization of existing materials.
At the bottom it often turns out better
Crius Group is regularly asked to convert old files (such as PDFs) to another digital format. It is not only about the conversion itself, but also about assigning the correct metadata so that files are easy to find. This usually involves manual work that costs a lot of money. Sometimes this can't be avoided, but often it is possible to automate things. This requires an effort, but at the bottem, it often turns out better 👊.
In this regard, there are also possibilities when creating new content. Crius Group has its own CMS to create medium-neutral content, but for many parties this is a bridge too far or simply not necessary. You can also achieve a lot with simpler solutions and tools. Examples? There is a lot possible in MS Word and how about using InCopy?
Be the extension
Assuming that you share my opinion and vision by now, the next question is: what is the added value of Crius Group? By adding editorial support to the existing services, we want to be even more an extension of you as a publisher. You can focus on the content and you can at least use help with all other things. Do you wonder how this works exactly? In an ideal situation, internal and external employees work together perfectly and it is important that everyone is on the same line. That is why we not only invest a lot in acquiring this knowledge, but we are also happy to spread it to everyone involved. We are working hard on expanding our network with professionals and, where necessary, we will train them 🎓.
So what's the conclusion?
Everyone is a genius as long as you focus on the talent that you possess. At Crius Group these are publishing processes and with our editorial support we take it one step further. We do not 'just' do this by placing people or entering content. We consult with you, advise you on the process and let you benefit from our knowledge and experience.
Let's talk! ☕️
Are you a publisher and do you need support with editing in the form of temporary employees or outsourcing work? Do you want to know more about these specific processes? Or are you a (freelance) editor, project manager or do you have other experience in the book trade? And would you like to join us and know more about production processes? I would like to talk to you!