Book Publication – Process

1. Introduction

The publication or release of a monograph or edited collection is a major moment in the lifecycle of a manuscript. At this point the "finished product" is released to the world and disseminated through the various channels that we have at our disposal. This is also a "point of no return." Even though small corrections can be made after publication, the entire process is aimed at minimizing the occurrence of such requests.

2. Goal & Objectives

The primary goal of this process is to release a reviewed, copyedited, and proofed manuscript as a publication in print and digital formats.

The process covers the following objectives:

The creation of a complete metadata record for a release
The creation of finalized print and digital files for a release
The completion of the book page on the website and triggering of sales
The annoucement to the author

3. Role Model

The following roles are relevant in the context of this process and need to be assigned to persons or teams / groups involved in the process.

Role	Task	Assigned staff
Process Manager (PM)	To maintain the process definition / description (this document) To perform process reviews as a basis for the continual improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of the process To ensure adequate communication to increase the awareness for the process To organize trainings on the process for people involved in the process	Vincent
Typesetter	To generate the digital and print book files	Vincent
Metadata Officer	To update the metadata record To update the web page	Vincent

4. Relevant Business Objects

Business objects are “things” that are required, produced, or processed by the process or one of its activities. The following objects are relevant:

Business Object	Description
Print PDF	The final PDF generated by the Typesetting Software
Ebook PDF	The final PDF generated by the Typesetting Software with front cover generated by the Illustration and Photo Editing Software
Metadata Record	The metadata record of the publication hosted and maintained on the Metadata Management platform
Letter to the Author	The standard letter sent to the Author upon release of the publication
Book Web Page	The page on the publisher website dedicated to the publication
Thoth Identifier	The identifier of the publication metadata record. This is a hash that is part of the URL of the metadata recod in Thoth, for example `1841b54c-b495-4bb5-9bcf-054e5c393af3`
Front Cover PDF	The final PDF of the front cover generated by the Illustration and Photo Editing Software
Front Cover JPG	The final JPG of the front cover generated by the Illustration and Photo Editing Software
ISBN Record	The metadata record of the publication on the ISBN Management platform
Print Book Product Page	The product page for the print book on the Print Publishing platform
Print Book Distribution Product Page	The product page for the print book on the Print Distribution platform
Alt Text	The word processor file containing the edited alt text for any images
Typesetting Files	The Typesetting Software book and chapter files

5. Activities

There are publication activities that happen pre- and post-release. All activities (except 5.1.3) apply to all publications.

5.1 Pre-Release

5.1.1 Generating Print PDF

This activity generates a print-ready PDF that can be uploaded to the Publishing Platform.

Input	Finalized InDesign book and document files (from Proofing)
Roles Involved	Typesetter
Outputs	Print PDF file of the publication interior
Actions	Print PDF Generation Final PDF Check If correction needed, correct the InDesign file and return to 1. Otherwise done.
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.2 Extracting and Uploading DOI References

Input	Print PDF (from 5.1); DOI Extraction Script; DOI Upload Script; Thoth Identifier
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Metadata Record updated with DOI references
Actions	DOI Extraction DOI Check DOI Upload
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information	During DOI Check you may find additional small errors in the PDF. Return to 5.1.

5.1.3 Adding Chapter Metadata to the Metadata Record

Input	Metadata Record
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Metadata Record
Actions	If the publication is an edited collection, Chapter Metadata Addition Otherwise skip.
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information	During Chapter Metadata Addition you may find additional small errors in the PDF. Return to 5.1.

5.1.4 Uploading Print PDF

Input	Print PDF, Front Cover JPG
Roles Involved	Typesetter
Outputs	Ebook PDF
Actions	Print PDF Upload
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.5 Generating Ebook PDF

Input	Print PDF, Front Cover PDF
Roles Involved	Typesetter
Outputs	Ebook PDF
Actions	Ebook PDF Generation
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.6 Generating the Epub

Input Ebook PDF, Alt Text, Typesetting Files, Front Cover JPG Roles Involved

Outputs

–

Actions

Epub Generation Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.7 Updating the Metadata Record before Release

Input	Metadata Record
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Metadata Record
Actions	Pre-Release Metadata Record Update
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.78 Updating the ISBN Records

Input	ISBN Record, Metadata Record
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	ISBN Record
Actions	Final ISBN Record Update
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.89 Adding Publication to SQL Database

Input	Metadata Record
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Updated SQL Database
Actions	SQL Database Publication Addition
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.1.910 Adding Publication to the Internet Archive Usage Data Python Script

Input	Thoth Identifier, Internet Archive Usage Data Python Script
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Updated Internet Archive Usage Data Python Script
Actions	Internet Archive Usage Data Python Script Update
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.2 Post-Release

Part 2 of the release can be undertaken after the Print Publishing platform has approved the book for publication. This takes between 24–72 hours, and the platform will send a notification email to info@punctumbooks.com with the subject "Your paperback book has been published!"

In the meantime the ebook PDF has been uploaded to the Cloud Storage of the Metadata Management platform

5.2.1 Updating the Metadata Record after Release

Input	Metadata Record, Print Book Product Page
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Metadata Record
Actions	Post-Release Metadata Record Update
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.2.2 Updating the Book Web Page

Input	Metadata Record, Book Web Page
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Book Web Page
Actions	Post-Release Book Web Page Update
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.2.3 Creating the Print Distribution Product Page

Input	Metadata Record
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	Print Book Distribution Product Page, Metadata Record
Actions	Print Distribution Product Page Creation Add the Print Book Distribution Product Page URL to the Metadata Record
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

5.2.4 Uploading to Repositories

Input	Metadata Record, Ebook PDF, Front Cover JPG
Roles Involved	Metadata Officer
Outputs	–
Actions	Repository Upload
Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information

Move on to Publication Outreach Process 5.1.

5.3 Epub Generation

5.3.1 Generating the Epub

~~Input~~ ~~Ebook PDF, Alt Text, Typesetting Files, Front Cover JPG~~ ~~Roles Involved~~

~~Outputs~~

–

~~Actions~~

~~Epub Generation~~ ~~Alternative Actions, Exceptions, Additional Information~~

Document Control

Document ID	SPM-PUB-001
Document Owner	Vincent
Version	1.1
Last Date of Change	October 2, 2025
Next Review Due Date
Version & Change Tracking