publishers-project-init

/publishers-project-init

Scaffold the publishers/ directory and register it in the project bible.

What this does

Creates a publishers/ folder at the current working directory's project root with six empty subdirectories:

publishers/
├── covers/         # Cover concept briefs (and PNGs in v1.0 with image-gen)
├── jacket-copy/    # Blurbs, cover lines, positioning copy
├── positioning/    # Audience and pitch docs, threshold reads, list strategies
├── trailer/        # Trailer scripts and render manifests
├── blog-posts/     # Chapter extractions reformatted (v1.0)
└── social-copy/    # Launch copy (v1.0)

Then adds a ## Publishing section to .great-authors/project.md:

## Publishing

**Path:** `publishers/` (at project root, sibling to `.great-authors/`, `manuscript/`, and `film/`)
**Current artifact:** `<user-chosen-slug>`

Commands that generate publishing artifacts (`/publishers-channel` save triggers, `/publishers-build-book-site`, `/publishers-build-trailer`) write to `publishers/<subdir>/<current-artifact>.md` by default. Update `Current artifact` when moving to a different launch or a different work in a series.

When to use

• Starting the publication-form stage on a project that has manuscripts and/or film artifacts.
• Extending an existing great-authors / great-filmmakers project with publishing-stage work.
• Before invoking /publishers-channel with save triggers (which need to know where to write).

Instructions for Claude

When this skill is invoked:

1. Verify .great-authors/ exists in the current working directory. If not, tell the user: "This skill assumes a project bible at .great-authors/. Run /authors-project-init (from great-authors-plugin) first to scaffold the bible, then re-run this skill."

2. Check for existing publishers/ directory. If it exists, ask: "A publishers/ directory already exists. Overwrite the scaffold (destroys existing content) or skip (leaves it alone)? (overwrite/skip)" — default skip.

3. Read .great-authors/project.md to import title and genre. If a ## Film section exists (from /filmmakers-project-init), note the current scene; the publishing artifact slug often aligns with it.

4. Ask the artifact-slug question. One question:

   • "What's the slug for the publishing artifact you're starting with? Default: same as the project slug. Accept any kebab-case identifier (e.g., arizona-strip-launch, chapter-01-blog, season-rollout)."

5. Create the directory tree. Six empty subdirectories under publishers/:

   • covers/
   • jacket-copy/
   • positioning/
   • trailer/
   • blog-posts/
   • social-copy/

6. Update .great-authors/project.md. Read the existing file. If it already has a ## Publishing section, ask whether to overwrite it. If not, append the ## Publishing block documented above, substituting the user's chosen slug into Current artifact.

7. Report:

   Created publishers/ with subdirs:
     covers/  jacket-copy/  positioning/  trailer/  blog-posts/  social-copy/
   
   Updated .great-authors/project.md with ## Publishing section.
   Current artifact: <slug>
   
   Next:
   - /publishers-channel <persona> to channel a publisher (chip, tina, perkins, jann, silvers, diana, bennett, george).
     Substantive output (cover briefs, jacket copy, positioning docs) saves to publishers/<subdir>/<slug>.md by default.
   - /publishers-build-book-site to scaffold an Astro book site from manuscript/ chapters (v0.2+).
   - /publishers-build-trailer to compose the great-filmmakers render scripts into a trailer.
   

Notes

• This skill does not commit to git. The user owns their repository.
• The publishers/ directory is for ARTIFACTS at the publication-form stage. The bible stays at .great-authors/; the manuscript stays at manuscript/; film artifacts stay at film/. Each has its own owner.
• If the user's project has no .great-authors/ directory at all (working on a one-off cover for a standalone piece), the skill still creates publishers/ but emits a warning that personas won't have bible context to read before working.
• The current-artifact slug is editorial: a single project might have multiple publishing artifacts (a cover, a jacket, a launch rollout, a magazine extraction) and the slug is just the convention for "what we're working on right now." Update it when you move to a different artifact within the same project.