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About
In the beginning...
In the beginning...
Steve and Lisa Carlson started Upper Access Publishing in 1986. To help manage their own publishing business, the Carlsons commissioned the development of a Windows application to track orders, inventory, and to calculate royalties.
The first version of this program was called “PIIGS” (Publishers Invoicing and Information Generation System), was published in 1989. Yes, Steve and Lisa have a good sense of humor, but are both accomplished and knowledgeable publishers of several successful books. Both have been highly involved in the independent publishing industry.
Upper Access Publishing was acquired by Square One Publishing in 2021.
Ron Lawrence joined the effort in 1990, and has been the principle developer and support for PubAssist. Ron came with an extensive background in software engineering and manufacturing systems.
PiiGS Version 2 was a complete rewrite. Version 1 was enormously successful and users had a long wish list for the next version. In 1998, PiiGS was renamed as Publishers’ Assistant. Ron and Steve continued to work together for nearly 30 years, until Steve’s retirement in 2018.
In 2009, Upper Access Publishing and Publishers' Assistant announced a change in our offering. Knowing that the initial price was prohibitive for startup publishing businesses,, instead of charging for the software, we made the software available for FREE. We offered a support contract that was affordable to independent publishers. Our user base went from hundreds to thousands of users across the world.
Through these years, Publishers’ Assistant has met the many challenges in this enigmatic business. The focus, however, has always been to provide serious capabilities at a price that independent publishers can afford.
“Upper Access helped develop the early versions of Publishers’ Assistant through the early 1990s because we–and other small book publishers–needed an affordable business program that is specific to publishing. Since then, Ron has been fully responsible for what PubAssist has become–a software program that has evolved to meet the constant changes in both computer technology and the publishing industry. The continuing success of our publishing business would not have been possible without Ron’s hard work on the software that is central to our daily work.”
Steve Carlson, Upper Access, Inc.
And now? We will do it again!
And now? We will do it again!
Announcing...
Announcing...
Illumination is the next generation of PubAssist. It is a completely new and web-based technology, able to be deployed on your server of choice! Now all computers (Mac's, PC's, and phones) can access Publishers' Assistant,
BUT!...
Your data will still be your own!
Read more about Illumination...Your data will still be your own!
About Ron Lawrence
About Ron Lawrence
...still here, still devoted to small busineses, still taking support calls for Publishers' Assistant, and is still the principal developer for Illumination! Ron is a full-stack web-application developer employing all levels of web technology. Illumination uses the LAMP platform and is based on the RAPIDS framework.
Read more about Illumination...Learn more about the features of the PubAssist and why it works so well for independent publishers...
Learn more about the features of the PubAssist and why it works so well for independent publishers...
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