▪Editorial Services
From
Raw manuscript
To
Edited, structured content
From raw manuscript to clean, structured, ready-to-typeset content.
Our Sectors
Trade Publishers
High title volumes across many formats. We take the operational burden off your team.
Overview
Trade publishers come to us when their internal production team is fully booked and another season is already in the calendar. We absorb the volume, hold the schedule, and deliver every title ready for distribution across print, ePub3, and audio, without requiring you to hire or restructure. Our team slots in alongside yours, picks up the brief, and keeps things moving.
Market context
What is changing
- European Accessibility Act (EAA) makes accessible ePub3 mandatory for EU ebook sales from 28 June 2025
- Audiobook revenue growing steadily, with listeners expecting faster release alongside print
- Retailers and aggregators increasingly enforce accessibility metadata and file standards
- Margin pressure pushing publishers toward leaner in-house teams and flexible outsourcing
The challenges
What trade publishers are up against
Audience challenges
- Managing high title volumes without proportionally increasing headcount
- Hitting retail release windows and distribution deadlines across multiple formats
- Coordinating print PDFs, accessible ePub3, and audiobook production from one manuscript
- Meeting European Accessibility Act (EAA) requirements for ebooks on the EU market
Workflow challenges
- Seasonal spikes that saturate internal capacity months in advance
- Late author corrections that cascade across multiple output formats
- Keeping print and digital files in sync when content changes after sign-off
- Passing ePub3 accessibility checks required by distributors and the EAA
Process
How it works
- From
- Raw manuscript
- To
- Accessible ePub3 · XML · PDF · ONIX
Editorial
Typesetting
Digital
Relevant services
What we run for you
Case studies
Proven with trade publishers
| Challenge | How Crius Group helps |
|---|---|
| Seasonal volume spikes exceed internal capacity | Flexible outsourcing that scales up and down without hiring cycles |
| Multiple formats from one manuscript | Single-source workflow generates print PDF, ePub3, and audio in parallel |
| Late corrections cascade across formats | All formats share one source, so a correction applies once and propagates |
| EAA accessibility requirements for EU ebooks | Accessible ePub3 output built to EAA standards by default |
| Audiobook demand requires additional resource | Audiobook production handled in the same pipeline as print and digital |
Good to know
- Single-source publishing
- A production method where one structured, validated file, typically XML, is the master from which all output formats (print PDF, ePub3, audiobook, data feeds) are generated. Changes are made once and propagate to all formats automatically.
- European Accessibility Act (EAA)
- EU legislation (Directive 2019/882) that requires ebooks sold on the EU market to meet defined accessibility standards from 28 June 2025. For ePub3, this means proper semantic markup, navigation, alt text for images, and correct reading order, among other requirements.
What does a trade publisher outsource to a production services company?
Trade publishers typically outsource typesetting, copy-editing, proofreading, ePub3 conversion, audiobook production, and ONIX metadata preparation. These are the high-volume, format-specific tasks that are expensive to staff in-house year-round but essential for every title.
How long does it take to produce an ePub3 from a finished manuscript?
Turnaround depends on title complexity and format, but a standard trade title can move from final manuscript to a validated, accessible ePub3 in two to four weeks. Highly illustrated or complex-layout titles take longer. Working from a structured source file (rather than a layout file) significantly reduces production time.
Frequently asked questions
How do you help trade publishers manage seasonal production peaks?
We operate as an extension of your in-house team. During peak seasons we absorb the additional title volume through semi-automated typesetting and a scalable editorial team, so your own capacity is never the bottleneck. You stay in control of the schedule; we handle the throughput.
Can you deliver print and ePub3 from the same source file?
Yes. We structure content in a single validated source and use automated pipelines to generate print-ready PDF, accessible ePub3, and audio assets from it. When content changes, all formats update together, which avoids the version drift that comes from maintaining separate files.
Are your ePub3 files compliant with the European Accessibility Act?
Accessibility is built into our ePub3 workflow by default, not added as a final check. Every file we deliver meets the technical requirements of the EAA (mandatory for EU ebook sales from 28 June 2025), including proper semantic markup, image alt text, reading order, and ONIX metadata flags.
Ready to start a production line?
Log in to the portal to submit a request, or reach out and we'll set things up together.