Reprints Gain Clout As Profit-Pushers

For years, publishers have treated reprints like a shy little cousin—always invited to the party, but never a big part of the conversation. In today's digital world, however, reprints are bringing in the bucks, earning them a seat at the big people's table. Reprints have, for the most part, long been a profitable part of business for most publishers. But, today, moving from analog to digital files that can be easily customized, shared and tracked online has opened up new revenue opportunities. Many large publishers outsource their reprint efforts, relying on marketing companies to assume the task of extracting the maximum value of articles from respected publications. Reprint-services companies have evolved into full-service creative and marketing entities, developing trade show, direct mail and marketing materials for vendors based on their clients' editorial content. Experienced service companies recognize that if content is king, reprinting should be its queen. Dick Wright, president of Wright's Reprints of The Woodlands, Texas, says outsourcing the reprinting function allows publishers to focus on producing future issues. "They are heavily involved in putting out the magazine, so we take charge of creating and marketing the reprints." Wright's company, which handles reprints for Hachette Filipacchi and Primedia, offers a variety of service levels, including sales and call center functions.Because publishers only have to pay reprint-services companies when they make a sale, the overhead is minimal. And, if reprint-services companies want to make money, they need to make the sale. And because this is what reprint service companies do full time, they get to know what works and doesn't work in reprint sales. Nora Akins, chief operating officer of FosteReprints, Michigan City, Ind., says reprint-services companies can encourage vendors to use positive reviews as central components of marketing campaigns, while maintaining a clearer separation of church and state between the publisher's editorial and sales efforts. Marketing prowess and creativity, not printing capability, distinguishes valuable service organizations, according to Akins.Wright says publishers also have flexibility in determining profits by setting the end-user pricing. "We make recommendations based on a pricing matrix of our costs, but ultimately the revenue model is in their hands," Wright says. REPRINTS IN THE E-ERADigital files, most commonly in HTML, Quark, Adobe's PDF or Photoshop formats, have enabled reprint services to easily expand their offerings to include customizing brochures, direct mail pieces or press kits on demand. "We're considering dropping reprints from the company name because we do so much more," says Wright. The Internet has enabled his company to streamline communication with publishers and reprint purchasers, Wright says, by putting all of the transactions, including ordering, proofing and shipping, online. Using digital proofs compresses the delivery cycle by eliminating the use of couriers or delivery services to get final approval. Because there is no industry-specific customer relationship management software, Wright's Reprints developed its own application to allow publishers to track deliveries and view royalty payments on their reprint sales online, send digital proofs via FTP, and receive e-mail confirmations. Other reprint companies use combinations of spreadsheets, database or homegrown solutions to manage transactions. Wright says the demand for e-prints—created for online display—has been steadily increasing, and now makes up 15 percent of his company's revenue. E-prints are usually in HTML or PDF format, and allow reprint customers to offer the full article online without sending readers to the publisher's Web site. Publishers license e-prints for one month to a year, and reprint-services companies usually host the e-print on their Web site to protect the copyright. Wright says most vendors order both hard copy and electronic reprints, although a small number only order electronic copies. According to Andrew Elston, vice president, content licensing and development, at publisher Primedia, every year the number of customers who request only e-prints grows. Elston says there's more than meets the eye to setting a price for e-prints. "A large part of the overhead isn't about paper and ink. It's about customer support, and spending time with them to decide the best options," says Elston. He notes that Primedia, which produces Motor Trend and Home Theater magazines, among others, has improved its bottom line by outsourcing its reprint operations. "It's much more cost effective for us to work with an outside organization. There are less people to manage, and the companies we use do great jobs." Akins, whose company works with publishers Ziff-Davis and Crane's, says the transition to digital files has simplified adding a company logo or calling out the publication name to a reprint for posters, self-mailers or press kits. Companies that aren't thinking about all the potential reuses of their content are selling themselves short. Slumping ad pages have put a premium on revenue, and, "Most publishers are aware of the opportunity," Akins said.An IN-HOUSE ADVANTAGECMP Media, publisher of InformationWeek, Technology & Learning, and Network Computing, is one of the few large publishers that still produces and manages reprints internally. Mike Blau, director of inside sales and operations, says his company is growing its reprint business by more than 10 percent a year, and that managing reprints in-house allows the company to sell them more quickly. "We can have reprints produced within five days of the first copy being printed," Blau says. The reprint team there begins calling on vendors as soon as the editorial copy is finalized, he says, whetting the appetites of companies whose products have been mentioned favorably. Blau says they create low-resolution PDF samples of product reviews that are e-mailed to prospective buyers. CMP, Manhasset, N.Y., manages reprints internally because using an outside agency could result in a conflict of interest if it is selling competing brands, says Blau. TECHNOLOGICAL LIMITATION AND EVOLUTIONWhile e-prints are growing in popularity, Blau says publishers should recognize that digital distribution also presents challenges. He says CMP discovered several vendors creating PDFs of articles without proper authorization. "Searching the Internet [for unauthorized PDFs] could be a full-time job," Blau says. CMP digitally watermarks files when sending out samples, and the company hosts the e-prints on its Web site to control distribution and protect its copyright. Reprint Management Services (RMS), Lancaster, Pa., provides services to PC World, RCR Wireless News and Builder magazine, and offers an e-print alternative to the PDF format. RMS says its NXTbook format is easier to navigate online than PDFs, and provides a closer representation of the magazine's or book's look and feel. NXTbook is a two-page layout that can be animated to simulate turning pages, says Jeff Martin, director of business services at NXTbook Media, which RMS acquired last year. Martin says NXTbook does not require a plug-in to be viewed in a Web browser. The technology allows pages to be tracked so that companies can learn how many people viewed the file and for how long.Technology, in general, however, has been slow to change in the reprint industry, says Martin. "It's not like there's a new thing coming out every month." Offset printers dominate the reprint services landscape, with companies relying on digital printers or color copies for short runs. After all, relationships, not technology drive the reprint business, says Martin. Reprint-services companies specialize in finding the right contact within a company because "otherwise there's no sale." Outsourcing reprint services can also give publishers access to more resources when they're needed. "If you have a 'Top 100' issue coming out, it's tough for one person to handle all the calls," says Martin. - John GartnerJohn Gartner is a technology writer based in suburban Philadelphia.

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Reprints Gain Clout As Profit-Pushers

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