assets/img/bmaker/bmaker-story-plan-01.webpKeep the manuscript tree about the text. Use the publication plan for the work required to finish and deliver that text.
1. Start with the kind of work
For an article, capture the thesis, reader outcome, audience, tone, channel, length, source material and scope. For a book, begin with the larger outline and the stages that take it from research to publication.
2. Turn vague effort into stages
Research and outline. First draft. Editorial revisions. Proofreading. Layout and cover. Publication. These are not sections of the book; they are stages of the work around the book. Give them dates, notes, milestones and checklist items only where useful.
3. Let the plan expose the bottleneck
A weekly view can show that drafting is ahead while proofreading is blocked, or that a cover deadline now matters more than another round of structural edits. A plan is valuable because it changes what you pay attention to.
assets/img/bmaker/bmaker-story-plan-02.webp4. Keep the scaffold editable
The plan is not a contract with yesterday's assumptions. Reorder stages, rebuild the article structure, add a subsection, change a deadline or remove a task. The project should absorb what you learn while writing.
5. Finish with readiness, not just word count
When the manuscript is stable, editorial checks and the publishing package help verify that the deliverable is actually ready: text, positioning, author information, rights, AI-use declaration where relevant, and the export format required today.
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Why publication plans and wizards? · From manuscript to publishing package
The book is text. Publication is work.
Keep both in the same project, but give them different structures.