Author Assistant Training Workbook 2: Managing the Author Catalog
Author Assistant Training Workbook 2: Managing the Author Catalog
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Learn how to organize, maintain, and protect one of an author business’s most valuable assets: its catalog.
As an author’s publishing business grows, so does the complexity behind the books.
One title may exist as an ebook, paperback, hardcover, audiobook, special edition, or inside a boxed set. Series can include prequels, novellas, spin-offs, and multiple reading orders. Covers change. Prices change. Links break. New editions appear. Files pile up with names like FINAL, FINAL2, and REALLYFINAL.
An author assistant needs to know how to keep all of it straight.
Author Assistant Training Workbook 2: Managing the Author Catalog teaches aspiring and newer author assistants how to build and maintain an organized, reliable author catalog—and how to recognize problems before they become expensive or embarrassing mistakes.
Inside the workbook, you’ll learn:
- What actually belongs in an author catalog
- How to build and maintain a master catalog
- How to track series, reading order, prequels, novellas, and boxed sets
- The difference between formats and editions
- How ISBNs and other product identifiers fit into catalog management
- How to recognize and prevent metadata inconsistencies
- How to maintain useful change logs
- Practical file-naming and asset-management systems
- How to archive old files without losing important publishing history
- How to track retailer, direct-sale, and other product links
- How to manage product status and availability
- What happens behind the scenes when an author rebrands or changes a cover
- How to identify all the places a publishing change may need to cascade
- How to perform a basic catalog audit
You’ll return to Fable & Fiction Publishing, the fictional publishing company used throughout the Author Assistant Training series, to put those skills into practice.
Instead of simply reading about catalog management, you’ll work through realistic publishing situations, organize product information, evaluate conflicting records, build update procedures, and decide when you have enough information to act—and when you need to ask the author.
The workbook culminates in a Fable & Fiction Catalog Rescue, where you’ll inherit a catalog that hasn’t been properly maintained for six months.
Prices don’t match. Covers are outdated. A paperback has disappeared. A release date conflicts across systems. An audiobook is missing from the records. A subtitle hasn’t been updated. Even the contents of a boxed set are questionable.
Your job is to figure out what happened—and what to do about it.
An Answer & Discussion Guide and Skills Check are included so you can evaluate both your answers and the reasoning behind them.
This workbook is ideal for:
Aspiring author assistants building practical publishing knowledge, newer author assistants learning catalog management, virtual assistants preparing to specialize in the author/publishing industry, and authors training someone to help manage a growing catalog.
Format: Digital PDF workbook
Training Level: Beginner / Foundational
Series: Author Assistant Training
Publisher: A Novel Idea Publishing Education Series
This is Workbook 2 in the Author Assistant Training series.
Once you understand the author business, it’s time to learn how to manage the products at the center of it.
About Nellie H. Steele
Nellie H. Steele is an award-winning author of mysteries, romances, and adventures filled with unforgettable characters who often steal the pen right out of her hand. A lifelong bookworm and animal lover, she now spends her days surrounded by rescue pets while crafting twisty mysteries and soap-opera-style romances that keep readers hooked until the very last page. Escape into her books today—you just might find your next favorite character.