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Publish or perish

As an organisation, you may be engaged in life-changing work or offer superior products and services, but if you remain unknown, it does not make good business sense. Publishing can be the solution to help you share knowledge, demonstrate accountability, market your organisation, products, or services, or advocate for a particular course of action.

Thankfully, there are several platforms available that can increase your reach to potential clients, partners, and stakeholders, depending on your budget, content, or audience. These platforms include books, newsletters, journals, reports, manuals, and e-publishing.

Books are either fiction or non-fiction, with the latter being based on factual events and people, including biographies, textbooks, history, and essays. Newsletters are targeted bulletins for a specific audience or the general public and serve as mouthpieces and marketing tools for the organisation issuing them. Journals are peer-reviewed publications aimed at specific professional communities, providing critiques of existing research, introducing new research, or commenting on emerging issues or topical developments.

Reports can take many forms, such as financial reports, study reports on topical issues, or strategic plans. They are objective, recommending a plan of action based on their findings. Conversely, manuals contain instructions for executing specific tasks, such as assembling machinery or operating electronics.

E-publishing, or digital publishing, is an online-based publishing platform that includes websites, blogs, e-newsletters, e-books, and downloadable documents. Regardless of the platform, publishing can help you reach a wider audience and convey your message effectively.

Consider two crucial online and print format factors to make your publication stand out in a competitive field: copy editing and design. Copy editing guarantees the accuracy of your publication’s content, while design focuses on its visual appeal and packaging.

It is essential to work with professionals who can provide valuable advice on important topics such as copyright and market standard to ensure that your publication is of the highest quality. Partnering with a publishing house that specialises in both print and digital formats can prove advantageous, as they have access to a diverse range of skills and talent, particularly when differentiating each medium’s design aspects.

For print publishing, design considerations include typography, layout, formatting, cover design (including dust jackets as necessary), and binding, with the ultimate goal of enhancing accessibility and readability for readers.

When it comes to digital publishing, design elements must be carefully considered, particularly for websites and blogs. These include responsiveness, loading time, ease of content uploading, compatibility with multiple browsers, security, social media integration, and functionality.