Edizioni Nottetempo Case Study: Project at a glance
| Client | Edizioni Nottetempo |
| Sector | Independent publishing (Books and e-books) |
| Technology | Magento 2 (Open-source) |
| Project Scope | System migration, UI/UX redesign, internationalisation (Foreign Rights), and e-book workflow automation |
| Key Outcome | Complete automation of e-book generation and implementation of a pre-sale lead generation system |
The Client: Edizioni Nottetempo – independent publishing with a global outlook
Edizioni Nottetempo is an independent publishing house based in Milan, founded in 2002 by Ginevra Bompiani, Roberta Einaudi, and Andrea Gessner. Publishers of essays, fiction, and poetry, they have maintained a constant dialogue with the international literary scene since their inception. They are dedicated both to discovering foreign authors to translate into Italian and to promoting Italian writers abroad.
The Challenge: Aligning the e-commerce system with a new brand positioning
During a period of significant growth and transition, Edizioni Nottetempo relocated its offices from Rome to Milan and refreshed its brand image with a profound design overhaul of its book covers. Consequently, the publishing house’s e-commerce store needed to be upgraded to mirror and enhance this new visual identity.
The previous site was becoming obsolete, and the publisher urgently required more robust promotional and marketing tools—features that their legacy system simply lacked the capability to deliver.
The Solution: Transitioning to Magento 2, bespoke customisation, and publishing automation
We recommended a migration to Magento 2. This enabled us to completely redesign the web store and manage their extensive catalogue more efficiently, importing all historical data securely from the legacy system.
The project involved developing bespoke features and extensions specifically tailored to the publishing sector:
Multi-store management and internationalisation
The system was divided into two core areas: the Italian store dedicated to direct B2C sales, and an English-language “Foreign Rights” section. The latter was designed as a strategic showcase where titles available for international licensing are presented to foreign publishing partners without a purchase option.
Automating e-book workflows and pre-sales
We implemented several bespoke customisations to digitalise and streamline key business processes:
- Automated E-book Generation: Upon receiving an order for a digital book, the system automatically generates the secure e-book file via a native software integration with Book Republic.
- Pre-sale Notification Mechanism: Books not yet available for purchase are published on the site as previews. Customers can enter their email address to receive an automated notification the moment the title goes on sale, creating a highly effective tool for lead generation.
Advanced marketing tools
Leveraging the powerful native marketing features of Magento 2, product promotions, discount campaigns, and coupon codes tied to new editorial releases are now far simpler for the internal team to launch, track, and manage.
The Results: Operational and commercial success for the publisher
The new e-commerce store represents a concrete commercial asset for Edizioni Nottetempo, integrating the brand’s updated visual identity with streamlined administrative and promotional workflows. Automating digital logistics for e-books has eliminated manual order handling, freeing up internal resources and accelerating delivery times. The newly introduced marketing features consistently drive sales of new releases, all within a strategic partnership that continues to this day.
FAQ: Publishing e-commerce & system automation
Why is Magento 2 suitable for a publishing house if they do not face complex physical inventory issues?
Magento 2 is far more than a tool for heavy warehouse logistics; it excels at handling highly structured databases with complex taxonomies (such as authors, series, genres, and cover formats) and multi-store architectures. For Edizioni Nottetempo, it was the ideal choice because it allowed us to separate the Italian transactional store from the English-language B2B Foreign Rights showcase, whilst keeping both managed under a single control panel.
How does the integration with Book Republic work for selling e-books?
The API integration we developed completely automates the digital delivery process. When a user purchases a digital book, Magento communicates instantly with Book Republic’s systems. They generate the file with the correct watermark/DRM and make it available for immediate download in the customer’s personal account area, requiring zero manual intervention from the publisher.
How does the pre-sale notification feature support book marketing campaigns?
In publishing, building anticipation before a book launch is essential. Allowing readers to join a waiting list directly on the product page of an upcoming title enables the publisher to gauge market interest, collect highly qualified leads (fully GDPR-compliant), and drive an automated sales spike the exact moment the book is released.
If your business is looking to upgrade its digital infrastructure to align with a new brand positioning, needs to automate data workflows with external partners, or wants to leverage the marketing power of Magento 2, get in touch today for a free 20 minute call.
