Custom Publishing: Primis

Custom Publishing: Primis

Ronald Gladden

INF 620

Patricia Riley

April 16, 2013

Custom Publishing: Primis

Perhaps the most crucial problem you will face after expressing an interest in starting a new business or capitalizing on an apparent opportunity in your existing business will be determining the feasibility of your idea. Getting into the right business at the right time is simple advice, but advice that is extremely difficult to implement. The high failure rate of new businesses and products indicates that very few ideas result in successful business ventures, even when introduced by well established firm. Many strike out on a business venture or ideas so convinced of its merits that they fail to thoroughly evaluate its potential.

A feasibility study involves gathering, analyzing and evaluating information with the purpose of answering the question: "Should I go into this business?" Answering this question involves first a preliminary assessment of both personal and project considerations. McGraw-Hill’s Primis Custom Publishing established a standard for educational publishing when it launched its custom publishing operation in 1990. In response to the needs of changing curricula and the concern over high prices of textbooks for students, McGraw-Hill introduced the concept of making books for individual school needs and adapting books that we already publish to better fit a teacher’s course content. Primis’s team had a tough time creating Pimis because the technology the team required had not yet been used in 1988 but the team continued on to create McGraw-Hill’s Primis.

Every college course is unique. Similar subject matter can be presented in vastly different ways, depending on the professors, the students, and even recent public events. Ideally, a professor could easily assemble a single textbook with readings and assignments that reflect his or her interests and the latest research in a field of study. The...