Case Study: Gibbs Smith Moves to Digital Publishing in Record Time

Gibbs Smith Education a publisher specializing secondary school social studies textbooks, needed to find a way to move to digital publishing quickly to meet the requirements of school districts, while ensuring they met the curriculum standards set by each state.

“We needed to meet the needs of schools who want the option of print or digital,” said education sales and marketing director Corine Sayler. “We knew schools were not buying as many printed texts as they used to.”

As a company that prides itself on Pulitzer nominated authors and meticulous attention to grade level-appropriate content, Gibbs Smith wanted to move to digital publishing in a way that preserved the levels of quality editorial and graphic design that had been so successful in print. Gibbs Smith also recognized that selling material in a digital format would open up new sales opportunities and revenue models, and was determined that any digital effort should be carried out on their own terms and to their own standards, to maintain control over their content and audience relationships.

But with a thinly stretched staff, the risk of developing ebook publishing software in house was too high so they began a search for a digital publishing platform partner. Tizra was the platform of choice based on factors including:

Tizra’s ability to achieve the digital transition quickly
Gibbs Smith’s ability to maintain direct control over development, both before and after launch
Tizra’s proven track record of successful deployments

“Tizra helped us transition to digital content in a timeframe others said was ludicrous,” stated Sayler. “Tizra never said no, they were flexible, adaptable and responded positively to our needs.”

In a matter of months, Gibbs Smith went from a print-centered company to one with a vital and growing new digital product line, which is every bit as much a part of their identity and mission as the books they’ve been publishing for 40 years.

To learn more, read the entire Gibbs Smith case study here.

Are you looking to move to digital publishing? Let us show you how Tizra can help.

Comments

Digital Einstein Papers Launches on Tizra

Launching today, THE DIGITAL EINSTEIN PAPERS is a publicly available website of the collected and translated papers of Albert Einstein that allows readers to explore the writings of the world’s most famous scientist as never before. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [ PDF Version ] Princeton, NJ – December 5, 2014 – Princeton University Press, in partnership with Tizra, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and California Institute of Technology, announces the launch of THE DIGITAL EINSTEIN PAPERS ( http://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu ). This unique, authoritative resource provides full public access to the translated and annotated writings of the most influential scientist of the twentieth century: Albert Einstein. “Princeton University Press has a long history of publishing books by and about Albert Einstein, including the incredible work found in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein,” said Peter Dougherty, director of Princeton University Press. “We are delighted to make these t

Our Superficial Review of Surface: It Works with Tizra!

The new Microsoft Surface tablet was on the doorstep at Tizra HQ this morning, and we took a little time to run it through some basic tests. Overall, our feeling was in line with the reviews: Nice hardware, and potentially attractive for those looking for a more mobile way to use MS Office. Still a ways to go on software, though. We tried the Windows RT version of Internet Explorer 10 on a few Tizra sites, and overall they worked as expected, though interactions with the new reading interface we've just developed (more on this soon) were sluggish. Part of it may be incompatibility with some underlying scripts, which will be tuned as IE 10 becomes more of a factor. Part of it was probably just our unfamiliarity with new Metro interface. So for now, our minds are open on Surface as a device, but more importantly, we're thrilled to see another major player striving mightily to develop better ways for users to interact with the great content our customers deliver through

Tizra is at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair

Tizra is in Germany! On Tuesday, October 9th, we are at the Tools of Change Frankfurt Conference. For the rest of the week -- Wednesday, October 10th through Sunday, October 14th -- you can find us at the Frankfurt Book Fair , at the American Collective Stand - Hall 8.0 S949 . If you are also in Frankfurt, we'd love to connect! Please email or call us at +1 401-400-2989 and we'll happily set up some time. Hope to see you there. Entrance to the Frankfurt Book Fair "Festhalle."

Tizra Blog

Search This Blog