publishing

# Publishing ## Overview Take a final manuscript into readers' hands. This skill fills the publishing metadata in `story.md`, writes the copyright page, builds and checks the ebook and print interior, walks the author through distribution, pricing, and launch, and keeps an inventory of the rights the author holds. Planning files live under `publishing/` in the story project. The author makes every account, upload, purchase, payment, and signature; this skill prepares, checks, and records. ## Prerequisites A story project whose manuscript is final or nearly so. Verify `story.md` exists and read `title`, `status`, `author` or `authors`, `genre`, `series`, `book-number`, `cover`, and any publishing fields already set. If `status` is not `complete`, say that metadata and launch planning can start now but the files must be rebuilt after the last revision. ## Language And Market Read `language` in `story.md` (a missing field means `en`) and ask which countries the author is publishing in. The book's language decides the language of the description, keywords, and copyright page; the market decides the ISBN agency, subject schemes, retailers, and pricing rules. The references start from the US and UK English-language market and note the rest: Thema subjects and ISBN agencies elsewhere in `references/metadata-checklist.md`, other retail routes and fixed book prices in `references/launch-plan.md`, and rights by language and territory in `references/rights-one-sheet.md`. Never assume a US retailer, scheme, or law applies elsewhere; say what to check. ## When to Use - Filling retailer metadata: ISBN, publisher, date, description, keywords, BISAC and Thema subjects, language, cover alt text, AI disclosure - Writing the copyright page or checking epigraph and lyric permissions - Building and checking the EPUB or the print interior; choosing trim size - Choosing retailers and exclusivity, setting prices, planning a launch - Recording rights, reviewing a contract offer, drafting a rights one-sheet - NOT for query letters, agent submission, synopsis, or blurb drafting (use `submission`; this skill reuses its blurb) - NOT for audiobook scripts, screenplays, translations, or other formats (use `adaptation`) - NOT for revising the manuscript (use `revision-continuity`) ## Hard Rules - Never invent an ISBN, publisher or imprint name, publication date, price, review, endorsement, sales figure, award, or bestseller claim. Ask, or leave a `[TODO: author to supply]` placeholder. - Never assert current retailer specs, royalty rates, or fees as fact. They change. Give the working figure as a starting point and tell the author to check the retailer's current spec before relying on it. - Legal, tax, and contract matters are **not legal or tax advice**. Flag issues, explain why they matter, and recommend an agent, a publishing lawyer, an accountant, or an author organization's contract-vetting service. - Never create accounts, upload, buy, sign, or send. The author does. - `ai-disclosure` must say what actually happened. Ask the author how AI tools were used; never minimise it. ## Workflow ### 1. Readiness ```shell story validate . story links . story continuity . story prose . story wordcount . --write story build . --format metadata ``` The metadata sheet lists every missing field in its readiness checklist, including a `Permissions cleared for quoted matter` row that names each matter page still at `permission: pending`, whatever the story status, and a `No [TODO markers in chapter prose` row that names each chapter still holding a `[TODO` marker, which every build would print. Report it with the validate findings, and any `has no prose yet` warning from the build: that chapter would ship as a heading-only page, so ask whether to write it or remove it. `validate` warns about `permission: pending` only once the story `status` is `complete`, and about a research note with a `risk` but no `reviewed-by` only when a final or complete chapter uses it, so also search the files directly before publication: ```shell grep -l "permission: pending" matter/*.md grep -l "^risk:" research/*.md ``` Report every pending permission, and every risky note without `reviewed-by`, whatever the chapter status. If `story passes .` shows unfinished revision passes, say so before production starts. ### 2. Metadata Fill the `story.md` fields with `references/metadata-checklist.md`: `isbn`, `publisher`, `publication-date`, `language`, `description`, `keywords`, `subjects`, `copyright`, `cover-alt`, `ai-disclosure`, and `authors` for co-written books. Take the description from `submission/blurb.md` when it exists (the `submission` skill drafts it). Write the description and keywords in the book's language. `subjects` holds BISAC codes only; when the author's distributors ask for Thema, choose the codes from the checklist and record them in `publishing/launch-plan.md`. Rebuild the sheet and repeat until the checklist is clean: ```shell story validate . story build . --format metadata ``` ### 3. ISBNs and copyright page 1. Explain the ISBN choices in `references/metadata-checklist.md`: one ISBN per format and edition, who issues them in the author's country (outside the English-speaking markets too), and the trade-offs of a free retailer ISBN. Record the ebook or print ISBN the author supplies in `isbn`. 2. Create the copyright page and fill it from `references/copyright-page.md`: ```shell story add matter "Copyright" --order 0 --heading false ``` Use an `order` lower than every other front page so it sits first (behind the title page); `story add matter` otherwise takes the next free number. `--heading false` writes `heading: false` (on an existing page, edit its `heading:` key rather than adding a second one). Without this page, every build except Shunn generates a minimal one from `copyright`; write it by hand when the book needs credits, permissions, or a Library of Congress line. 3. For each epigraph, lyric, or quoted page in `matter/`, set `permission` (`not-needed`, `pending`, `granted`, `public-domain`), `rights-holder`, and `credit`. Quoting song lyrics almost always needs permission. ### 4. Ebook First agree the look of the ebook, review copy, and print interior with the author. Without a `build-style` block in `story.md` they keep the classic look (Georgia, centred headings, indented paragraphs, `* * *` scene breaks). To change it, add one entry, for example: ```yaml build-style: - preset: elegant scene-break: "~" ``` `preset` is `classic`, `modern`, or `elegant`; `body-font`, `heading-font`, `heading-style`, `scene-break`, `drop-caps`, and `paragraphs` override it, and `css` adds a `.css` file from the project. Never set a font the author has not chosen, and remind them that an ebook reader can replace the fonts. The Shunn manuscript and DOCX builds ignore the block. Run `story validate` after editing it: a bad value stops the EPUB, HTML, and print builds. ```shell story build . --format epub ``` The EPUB carries accessibility metadata, language, semantic chapter and matter markup, a landmarks nav, the cover with `cover-alt`, and the metadata fields. If the author has EPUBCheck or Ace by DAISY installed, run them on the file in `dist/` (`java -jar epubcheck.jar <file>.epub`, `ace <file>.epub`) and fix errors before upload. Ask the author to open it in at least one reading app and in the retailer's previewer. ### 5. Print interior Follow `references/print-interior.md`: 1. Choose the trim size with the author (`5x8`, `5.25x8`, `5.5x8.5`, `6x9`, `a5`), then build: ```shell story build . --format print --trim 6x9 ``` 2. Render the PDF. If the author has a paged-media engine installed (Prince, WeasyPrint, `pagedjs-cli`, or Chrome as a fallback), let the CLI find and run it: ```shell story build . --format print --trim 6x9 --pdf ``` It writes `dist/<story-id>.pdf`. Name an engine with `--pdf-engine <name|path>`. With none installed it stops (exit 4) and lists what to install; the CLI bundles none. 3. Check the rendered PDF against the printer's file requirements; use its actual page count for the cover. 4. Tell the author to get the spine width and full cover wrap template from the printer's cover calculator, and to order a printed proof before release. ### 6. Distribution and pricing Lay out the options in `references/launch-plan.md`: KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital or another aggregator, and direct sales, plus the trade-off between exclusivity (KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited) and going wide. For a book sold outside the US and UK, or not in English, add the routes and fixed-price rules in its Outside the US and UK section. The author decides; record the choices in `publishing/launch-plan.md`. Discuss pricing with the considerations in the same reference, not a formula. ### 7. Retailer page copy Draft into `publishing/retailer-copy.md`: a short description (the first two lines, which show before "read more"), the long description (checked against the metadata sheet's character count), series-page copy when `series` is set, and A+ or enhanced-content ideas (a comparison chart of series books, a character or map panel, a mood image with a quote). Follow `../submission/references/blurb.md` for the copy itself. Copy the chosen long description into `description`. ### 8. Launch Build `publishing/launch-plan.md` from the T-90 to T+30 timeline in `references/launch-plan.md`: ARC team, newsletter and reader magnet, street team, preorder, launch week, and paid ads with a test budget and stop rules. Update the plan as the author reports what happened; never fill in results they did not give you. ### 9. Rights and contracts 1. Keep `publishing/rights.md` from the inventory in `references/rights-one-sheet.md`: every right (print, ebook, audio, translation by language or territory, film and TV, and the rest), who holds it, the term, and the reversion terms. The original-language rows use the book's own language, not English by default. 2. When the author has a contract offer, read it against `references/contract-red-flags.md` and list each clause that matches a red flag with the question to ask. State that this is not legal advice and recommend a lawyer or agent before signing. 3. For rights the author wants to license, draft a one-sheet from `references/rights-one-sheet.md`. ## Conventions - Planning files: `publishing/launch-plan.md`, `publishing/retailer-copy.md`, `publishing/rights.md`, `publishing/one-sheet-{right}.md` (for example `publishing/one-sheet-audio.md`). - Each file has YAML frontmatter with a `type` (`launch-plan`, `retailer-copy`, `rights-inventory`, `rights-one-sheet`) and `updated: YYYY-MM-DD`. - `publishing/` is outside the story model: the CLI does not validate it and builds never include it. Build output in `dist/` is disposable; rebuild it rather than editing it. - One `story.md` holds one edition's metadata. When the ebook and print ISBNs differ, record the one being built in `isbn`, set it before each build, and keep both in the copyright page and `publishing/rights.md`. - Dates are `YYYY-MM-DD`. Word counts come from `story wordcount .`. - After any manuscript change, rebuild every format and recheck page count and spine width before re-uploading. ## CLI Maintenance Use the Story CLI when it is available. If `story` is not installed, use `bun run story --` from the Story Skills repository checkout or the bundled fallback `node ../story-maintenance/scripts/story.js` with the same arguments, resolving the path relative to this skill folder. If no CLI is available, fill the metadata by hand from `references/metadata-checklist.md` and tell the user that the EPUB, print, and metadata builds need the CLI. After editing `story.md` metadata, adding matter pages, or changing the manuscript: ```shell story reindex . story wordcount . --write story links . story validate . story build . --format metadata ``` ## Reference Files - **`references/metadata-checklist.md`** - Every publishing field, ISBN agencies and trade-offs, keywords, BISAC and Thema subjects, descriptions, AI disclosure, and CIP or PCN notes - **`references/copyright-page.md`** - Copyright page template, optional lines, permissions credits, and legal deposit notes - **`references/print-interior.md`** - Trim size choice, page-count estimates, rendering to PDF, printer checks, cover wrap, and proofs - **`references/launch-plan.md`** - Distribution and exclusivity, routes outside the US and UK, pricing considerations including fixed book prices, and the T-90 to T+30 launch timeline with ARCs, newsletter, and ad testing - **`references/contract-red-flags.md`** - Clause-by-clause red flags for publishing and rights contracts, and where to get a professional review - **`references/rights-one-sheet.md`** - Rights inventory template by language and territory, and one-sheets for foreign, audio, and film rights ## Shared Conventions Every story skill follows the shared conventions in [`../story-maintenance/references/conventions.md`](../story-maintenance/references/conventions.md), resolved relative to this skill folder. Read it before creating, renaming, or linking story files. If that file is missing because this skill was installed without `story-maintenance`, the essentials are: kebab-case ids and filenames, YAML frontmatter on every story-project file, `_index.md` files as the authoritative registries, bidirectional links between entities, `characters` for who is on the page and `mentions` for who is only referred to, `status: deceased` plus `died-in: chapter-{NN}` for deaths, and no project-local generator or build scripts (run only the installed or bundled Story CLI).