On January 1st, certain New Year’s resolutions are always popular—eat better, exercise more, quit smoking (again), finally write that book—but the start of a new year is a great time for business-related resolutions, too. So if you’re looking to get more out of your book-related business, here are five resolutions that can help you start the year off right.
Resolution 1: Whip your data into shape
You’re living in the year 2014—but is your data? There are a couple big changes coming over the horizon: the transition from ONIX 2.1 to 3.0 is in motion, and the new Thema subject codes are starting to roll out in an ONIX feed near you.
If you deal with metadata, take some time out from the back-to-work rush and make sure you know your Time Period Qualifier list from your Related Products field. Here are a few links to help you brush up:
Resolution 2: Become a product ninja
All of our products come with a handy help manual that can answer your questions, suggest efficient workflows, and maybe even show you a whole new way to use your favourite BNC product. Hint: Take a peek at the “what’s new?” section in each manual to check out our most recent upgrades.
View the help manuals for CataList, SalesData, BiblioShare, Prospector, Webform, or PubFight.
Resolution 3: Spend more time getting to know your readers
A picture is worth a thousand words, and an infographic, if we’ve calculated correctly, is worth exactly five thousand words. Er. Eleventy-five thousand words. Um… let’s hand this over to the experts at BNC Research, shall we? If you want to know more about Canadian reading habits—and who doesn’t?—these infographics are a great place to start.
- Infographic: Kids & Teens E-Reading Study
- Infographic: Canadian Book Consumer 2012
- Infographic: Nerd-Spotting
Resolution 4: Learn what defines a “bestseller”
We weren’t surprised to see that our most popular blog post of the year was The Definition of a Bestseller. We are often asked how many copies a book needs to sell before it’s considered a bestseller in Canada, but it’s not as simple as that. Read our blog post to find out why.
Resolution 5: Get the most bang for your professional development buck
BookNet is committed to professional development for the book industry. That’s why we put on events like our annual Tech Forum, which takes place on March 5 & 6, 2014. (Early-bird pricing ends on January 17, so register now!) This year, we’re also offering a one-day conference for people who work in ebook production: ebookcraft. If you design or otherwise work with ebooks, you won’t want to miss this day of conversation about standards, best practices, and the future of digital books.
Good luck with these and all your other resolutions. Here’s to a productive 2014!
