| name | book-publishing |
| description | A full production pipeline where an agent team collaborates to perform e-book manuscript editing, proofreading, cover design, metadata setup, and distribution preparation all at once. Use this skill for 'publish my e-book,' 'edit my manuscript,' 'create a book cover,' 'e-book metadata,' 'book proofreading,' 'self-publishing preparation,' 'e-book distribution,' 'manuscript review,' 'ebook production,' and all other aspects of e-book publishing. Also supports cover creation or metadata setup when an existing manuscript is provided. Note: actual EPUB/PDF file conversion, bookstore account registration, print ordering, and marketing execution are outside the scope of this skill. |
Book Publishing — E-Book Publishing Full Production Pipeline
An agent team collaborates to perform e-book manuscript editing, proofreading, cover design, metadata, and distribution setup all at once.
Execution Mode
Agent Team — 5 members communicate directly via SendMessage and cross-validate each other's work.
Agent Composition
| Agent | File | Role | Type |
|---|
| manuscript-editor | .claude/agents/manuscript-editor.md | Structural editing, style correction, ToC | general-purpose |
| proofreader | .claude/agents/proofreader.md | Spelling, grammar, notation standardization | general-purpose |
| cover-designer | .claude/agents/cover-designer.md | Cover concept, image generation | general-purpose |
| metadata-manager | .claude/agents/metadata-manager.md | Classification, description, keywords, distribution | general-purpose |
| publishing-reviewer | .claude/agents/publishing-reviewer.md | Quality verification, spec compliance | general-purpose |
Workflow
Phase 1: Preparation (Performed Directly by the Orchestrator)
- Extract from user input:
- Manuscript: Manuscript file to edit
- Genre: Business/Self-Help/Fiction/Essay/Technical
- Publishing Goal: Self-publishing/Publisher submission/Internal distribution
- Distribution Platforms (optional): Kyobo, Ridibooks, Amazon KDP, etc.
- Existing Files (optional): Edited manuscript, cover, etc.
- Create
_workspace/ directory and _workspace/covers/ subdirectory
- Organize the input and save it to
_workspace/00_input.md
- If existing files are present, copy them to
_workspace/ and skip the corresponding Phase
- Determine the execution mode based on the scope of the request
Phase 2: Team Assembly and Execution
| Order | Task | Assigned To | Dependencies | Deliverable |
|---|
| 1 | Manuscript editing | manuscript-editor | None | _workspace/01_edited_manuscript.md |
| 2a | Proofreading | proofreader | Task 1 | _workspace/02_proofread_report.md |
| 2b | Cover design | cover-designer | Task 1 | _workspace/03_cover_concept.md |
| 3 | Metadata | metadata-manager | Tasks 1, 2a | _workspace/04_metadata.md |
| 4 | Publishing review | publishing-reviewer | Tasks 2a, 2b, 3 | _workspace/05_review_report.md |
Tasks 2a (proofreading) and 2b (cover) are executed in parallel. Both depend on Task 1 (editing).
Inter-team communication flow:
- manuscript-editor complete -> Deliver terminology list to proofreader, tone/genre/target to cover-designer, title/keywords to metadata-manager
- proofreader complete -> Deliver finalized notation to metadata-manager
- cover-designer <-> metadata-manager: Cross-confirm exact title/subtitle/author name notation
- publishing-reviewer cross-validates all deliverables. When RED Must Fix is found, request revisions from the relevant agent -> rework -> re-verify (up to 2 times)
Phase 3: Integration and Final Deliverables
- Verify all files in
_workspace/
- Confirm that all RED Must Fix items from the review report have been addressed
- Report the final summary to the user:
- Edited manuscript —
01_edited_manuscript.md
- Proofreading report —
02_proofread_report.md
- Cover concept/images —
03_cover_concept.md
- Metadata/distribution —
04_metadata.md
- Review report —
05_review_report.md
Modes by Task Scale
| User Request Pattern | Execution Mode | Agents Deployed |
|---|
| "Publish my e-book," "Full publishing prep" | Full Pipeline | All 5 |
| "Just edit the manuscript" | Editing Mode | manuscript-editor + proofreader + reviewer |
| "Just proofread" | Proofreading Mode | proofreader + reviewer |
| "Just create the cover" | Cover Mode | cover-designer + reviewer |
| "Just set up metadata" | Metadata Mode | metadata-manager + reviewer |
Using Existing Files: When the user provides an edited manuscript, cover, etc., copy the files to the appropriate location in _workspace/ and skip the corresponding agents.
Data Transfer Protocol
| Strategy | Method | Purpose |
|---|
| File-Based | _workspace/ directory | Storing and sharing major deliverables |
| Message-Based | SendMessage | Real-time delivery of key information, revision requests |
| Task-Based | TaskCreate/TaskUpdate | Progress tracking, dependency management |
File naming convention: {sequence}_{deliverable_name}.{extension}
Error Handling
| Error Type | Strategy |
|---|
| No manuscript provided | Switch to "planning mode" where manuscript-editor designs ToC and chapter outlines from title/topic |
| Cover image generation failure | Proceed with text concept and prompt only, available for user retry |
| Agent failure | 1 retry -> if still fails, proceed without that deliverable, note omission in review report |
| RED found in review | Request revision from relevant agent -> rework -> re-verify (up to 2 times) |
| ISBN not issued | Include issuance procedure guidance, proceed normally with remaining metadata |
Test Scenarios
Normal Flow
Prompt: "I want to publish this manuscript as an e-book. It is a self-help book, and I will distribute on Kyobo and Ridibooks." + manuscript file attached
Expected Result:
- Editing: Structural + line editing notes, ToC optimization
- Proofreading: Spelling/grammar/notation correction report
- Cover: A/B concept + image generation attempt
- Metadata: BISAC/KDC classification, description, keywords, Kyobo/Ridi distribution settings
- Review: Full consistency matrix, pre-distribution checklist
Existing File Utilization Flow
Prompt: "The manuscript is already edited, just set up the cover and metadata" + edited manuscript attached
Expected Result:
- Copy edited manuscript to
_workspace/01_edited_manuscript.md
- Cover Mode + Metadata Mode merged: Deploy cover-designer + metadata-manager + reviewer
- Skip manuscript-editor, proofreader
Error Flow
Prompt: "Prepare e-book publishing, no manuscript yet, just have a topic — 'Gen Z Financial Planning'"
Expected Result:
- Switch to planning mode: manuscript-editor designs ToC and chapter outlines
- Skip proofreading (no manuscript)
- Cover concept and metadata drafted based on the plan
- Review report notes "Manuscript incomplete, planning stage"
Extended Skills per Agent
Each agent leverages the following extended skills' specialized knowledge to enhance deliverable quality:
| Agent | Extended Skill | Knowledge Provided |
|---|
| manuscript-editor | /developmental-editing | SPINE check, genre-specific editing standards, pacing analysis, editing report format |
| cover-designer | /cover-design-psychology | Genre cover conventions, typography strategy, AI prompts, A/B testing |
| metadata-manager | /book-metadata-seo | BISAC/KDC classification, keyword optimization, AIDA descriptions, pricing psychology |
