Bringing EPUB to life

I participated in a fantastic demonstration of the new XQuire CCMS and continue to be amazed by some of the killer-app features in the product.

XQuire is a component content management system meant to unify the print and digital strategies of publishers. Much like the name implies, XQuire brings content management to the component level, allowing metadata annotation, re-use, and versioning on sections, images, figures, tables, even assets such as video and audio.

However we've seen that before. What really impresses me about XQuire is how it brings EPUB to life.

In the demo today, I watched as the team dropped in a Word manuscript and it was converted into XML and modified as EPUB in a web-based editor. From there, Lu Doan dragged various assets from the sidebar directly into the EPUB including images, audio and video. Within seconds, what was once a manuscript in Microsoft Word was an interactive EPUB.

To me, this is the future of publishing - the ability to leverage the power of XML without exposing it to users, enabling users to move content quickly through the editorial and production process and produce both print and digital products in multiple container formats.