The world of web publishing has many benefits over traditional print distribution, a digital footprint being one of the most notable perks.  The ability to track and collaborate around online content has certainly made my job easier in recent years, and as the cloud emerges as a necessary means for communicating around work, more tools are being developed for the publishing world in particular.

Today brings a major update from freelance writing network Contently, which has opted to make its editorial management platform free.  What you’ll still get charged for is the ability to search for journalists, and adding more writers to your managed dashboard.

Founded two years ago, Contently made a name for itself under the TechStars incubator program, and has raised over $2 million in funding.  The idea is to connect professional writers with publishers, who are increasingly seeking out high quality content for their online pubs.

Freeing up the management platform is a great way to lure publishers into Contently’s system, extending a tool they need on a daily basis.  Managing several writers is a practice in patience and requires a variety of project management skills, and Contently is playing to the specific needs of the online publisher to increase activity across its platform.

“We realized that we essentially built a contributor management system that we always wanted–it tracks versions and manages assignments,” says CEO Shane Snow.  “This is something a lot of publishers in general could use, and throw away the spreadsheets they’ve been using for managing internal processes.”

Like any good platform service, Contently is incorporating as many points of interaction as possible for collaborative efforts in the cloud.  This is a value-add that’s transformed many web-based products, like YouSendIt and the recently acquired Syncplicity.  For the publishing industry in particular, digital media has altered the demands on writers and publishers alike, and it’s shifting the very nature of the editorial process.  So much of content’s life cycle can be tracked across social media sites and other channels to identify influence and reader behavior.  The result is an inclusion of more data tools being added to platforms such as Contently.

“We can put together 100 points of data on each journalist based on past work experience, and analyze their portfolio,” Snow explains.  “Their own social followings, performance of work, what editors are saying, does it matter where they live?  It’s all really interesting to us.”

We’re likely to see more data influence work its way through Contently’s platform, applied to search and recommendations, and management, a trend that’s making its way throughout the tech journalism field.  Others like Parse.ly have taken a data-driven approach to improving the publishing sector, while LinkSmart leverages data to help publishers refocus on text content.