Data Merge creating a stud book

I’m working on developing a better process for creating an annual catalog of stallions. What I inherited utilized multiple excel docs and a lot of copy paste and manual changes in individual pages through the book format in InDesign. There were two primary problems. One, they did not have a proper database set up. It was reworked excel files every year. Two, the process of getting new pages built was copy/pasting content to and from 3 different excel docs. Then a jostling in two different indesign files with layered paragraph styles and linked text boxes. One missed place and everything was a mess and it all took a lot of time to adjust The only saving grace is that any page ever built for this catalog has been saved and archived year after year on our server. The trouble is having to manually update each page.

The first solution is to allow the website that contains all (and more) content of these stallions to become our database. Our website team can export the content I need to an excel doc I’ve set up for the print book. So our sales/customer service team can start making updates and revisions to the site. Then the web team can provide me with the updated content via a excel doc. Up till now the sales/CS process of collecting info and updates has been painful and slow and aggravating and time wasteful.

Secondly, The indesign pages are all templated the same. Last year we ran 105 stallions. Each horse gets a two page templated spread. I handle the building and editing of the left hand pages, another person builds the right hand pages, they are their own beast. Content is limited in each text area. It includes a photo and various entries of name, standing, ownership, a small profile and breeding information. At this point the template for this page has all those text boxes linked. The information has had to go from one excel form to another to then be formatted with f/c to then copy past and flow into the page. Its confusing and any space or misstep causes chaos. There’s been a lot of man handling of files.

My idea is to recreate this template so that each text box is its own entity and utilized the new data I will be given to Data Merge the content and create pages quickly.
It works. I’ve tested it. I can create the pages easily. No more copy/paste and no more trying to read hand written notes on printed out black and whites.

Now my problem is how to handle the pages and their numbering. Right now each horse exists on his own IND page. We had been adding all those pages to a book format in IND to allow for proper page numbering. But when creating the data merge it puts all the pages in one IND Doc. Is there away to separate those pages out as individuals? or should I forgo the book option and allow the Data Merged pages to number in one file? I also thought of doing them in smaller groups of 10 or 20 pages. And adding those to a book format? They’re organized alphabetically by horse name in the book itself. (Once our pages are ready we script export them to our web pages Living Proof system to be reviewed. PDFS are then sent to our printer.)

I’ve been tasked with fixing the process, so that in my absence or when things get tight at the end and we’re scrambling to make deadline another designer might help me with pages. I’m just trying to choose the best way to do this.

Any ideas or input is appreciated. Many thanks for reading this long post.

Holly