Publishing & Strategy Consulting

Our Signature Editorial, Platform, and Business Development Projects & Blueprints

These powerful and customized consulting projects-the heart of Janet’s practice–are designed to take your ideas, creative projects, and business (every author is an entrepreneur today) to the next level of creative development, reach, impact.

Publishing & Strategy Starter Plans provide a level of expert feedback and recommendations that literary agents don’t have the time for, that most freelance editors and writing teachers are not experienced in, and that business advisors and marketing experts see from the vantage of “what sells” but not necessarily from the vantage of what’s new, what’s next, what will work and have staying power over the long term and in the context of finding a broader (perhaps national) audience. What’s more, Starter Plans get to the heart of you–what steps and strategies will tap into your greatest strengths and address the specific ambitions that you have for your work.

A Publishing & Strategy Starter Plan may explore:

your current writing, publishing career, and opportunities
your relationships, platform, and core audiences
your business (or author model), goals, and publishing and professional pathways and strategy
your launch plans, financial and sales scenarios, constituency building, and bigger-picture of goals, success, fears, and opportunities

We will help you hone, plan, test, get unstuck, go public, and accelerate the impact of your work and your potential revenue (for yourself or your cause) all while honoring “the Slow Hunch” (from Steve Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From) when I project needs more time to be fully “cooked.”

Potential Publishing & Strategy Starter Plan outcomes may include a combination of:

Concept Assessment and Thought Partnership to identify, brainstorm, and/or hone 1-3 key ideas with potential positioning, beta testing plans, research, writing strategy, and a high-level outreach and platform blueprint that can be implemented during the creative process.
Proposal and Manuscript Assessment and Recommendations with editorial feedback, marketplace feedback, and strategies for revision, queries, pitching, publishing pathways, and platform development.
Publishing Pathway Strategy and Plans (including ebooks and the range of electronic publishing; print-on-demand; self-publishing; traditional publishing; hybrid options) to design a possible sequence of publishing steps–the “sweet spot” that will be right for you and your work.
Messaging, Titling, Sticky Ideas and Idea Set Development, if it fits the project stage.
Platform Development and Constituency-Building Advising and Blueprint so you can find a place to belong and increase your visibility and relationships while strengthening your ideas, your voice, your message, and your reach. (We’ll explain why this is so essential no matter what your goals or project.)
Signature Talk and Speaking Outreach Advising and Plan, if this is a key area to leverage or to consider for in the future.
Career Advising and Planning for Authors, Experts, Though Leaders and Nonprofits to adjust to a shifting marketplace, professional life, and goals and to create a grounded, passionate connection to your work-that will also have the greatest potential to succeed with readers, clients, and audiences.
Thought Leader and New World of Publishing Intelligence including the different ways to “publish” and share ideas today with a plan for using blogs, video, audio, live events, and other experiences to make an impact with your work.
Business Plans for Idea-Driven Experts and Authors–think an intensive brainstorming and tutorial with your own executive editor, publisher, and business advisor rolled into one.
Publishing & Strategy “Therapy” for Writer’s, Experts, and Thought Leaders to address the emotions of going public with your work, and dealing with the challenges, expectations, confusing messages, and unrealistic information that is hard to assess and apply to your situation, experience, and dreams. You’ll “get” what’s possible, what’s not, where to invest your time, creativity, passion, and resources and what you need to do now and what can come later.

This is a perfect starting place, especially if:

You have written and possibly published one or more books or products, but you’ve gotten stalled or you feel ready to leap ahead to the next level. You are seeking strategic direction and specific advice on your idea, manuscript, commercial viability, platform, plan, and other issues to accelerate your next steps.
You are experiencing success in your current or recent professional work and you have a passion to reach a much wider audience. However, you’ve been told: “You have no platform”; “The market is already too crowded”; “Your idea is too general and isn’t “hooky” enough”; or other issues that have you stuck.
You want to publish a book to jump-start a new career, consulting practice, or other goals, but it’s turned out to be harder than you thought. You need advice to understand the overall publishing picture, entrepreneurial author and business strategies, and how to move forward.
You are a serious fiction or nonfiction writer and have possibly taken writing workshops and/or attended publishing conferences, and are now ready to move from writing to publishing. You want to get seasoned advice on your idea(s), your work, your platform, your potential, and your best next steps to reach the widest possible audience.
You have made previous efforts at book publishing but have not taken a comprehensive, author-as-entrepreneur approach to your ideas and strategies. You’re ready to get clear and take action-even if it’s different from the steps you’ve imagined.
You have chapters, a manuscript, or other developed writing and it’s important that it be read and reviewed in order to get the type of feedback and direction you need at this stage. In particular, you may need advice on your manuscript or idea’s structure, scope, positioning, and other editorial decisions and strategies.

“Working with Janet was like ‘grad school’ for a serious author; a true ‘insider look’ from someone who’s bought and sold many properties. Janet was an advocate for the best possible long-term view for me and that was invaluable. And enjoyable too!”

-Andrea J. Lee, founder of The Wealthy Thought Leader and author of Money Meaning and Beyond

“The impact of my work with Janet unfolded over a number of months of thinking and action, but ultimately I discovered Janet was right about everything (which is not easy for me to say) and I followed nearly all her recommendations. She gave me a crash publishing tutorial and astute high-level advice in the scope I needed.”

-Michael Bungay Stanier, founder of Box of Crayons and author of Get Going & Get Unstuck and Do More Great Work

“What makes Janet special is her ability to relate to a project in the most profound way. Her insight about my work is so deep and valuable that I am in awe at her ability to understand what I was trying to say and how I was trying to reach, even before I myself was fully aware of it.”

-Christine Forest, MD, psychiatrist and founder of Better Than Cured

“It’s difficult to describe how profoundly helpful Janet Goldstein is. She’s direct, constructive, creative and a fantastic listener. I recommend her to anyone who is serious about leaving the rejection cycle behind and who wants to build a strong constituency for their work. Janet: Thanks so much for a revolutionary process-challenging, helpful and life-changing.”

-Jean Baur, award-winning short-story writer, consultant, and author of Eliminated! Now What? Finding Your Way from Job-Loss Crisis to Career Resilience

“Like everything true, Janet’s ideas are so clear and insightful that, looking back, you wonder what you could have been thinking.”

-Alexander Cummings

How it works:

The goal is to create a project that will lead to great insight, creative ahas, specific steps/timelines, information, and feedback that will be immediately helpful. The Starter Plan approach allows for high value, healthy intensity and focus, wide-open thinking, and customized goals and recommendations. The plan is structured around achievable, near-term goals so there are immediate insights and concrete results.

Preparation and steps include:

Completion of a Project/Client Questionnaire that not only captures the current iteration of your ideas(s) and/or business, launch, or product, but also delves into your audience, platform, background, goals, and experiences.
If applicable, reading and review of complete manuscripts, previous books, articles, speeches, marketing and business plans, and/or other materials. Research that may include review of comparison books, analysis of the market, sales data, and other “intelligence” that may inform the consulting work
Strategy/Brainstorming Sessions by phone or in person. The design of the consulting will be determined in the planning stage but frequently includes a 1/2- or 1-day in person session (in NYC or your home base), though the process works very well by phone or Skype as well.
The preparation of specific deliverables which might include: Memo of Recommendations; Reader’s Report and Editorial Recommendations, Draft Concept/Positioning Statements, Business Plans and Publishing Pathway Plans; Timelines, Blueprints, Budget and Resource Plans, Referrals.
As part of the project or upon conclusion, we can discuss additional projects, services, or supportive coaching with Janet, her team, or other recommended people and services. And you can expect “keep in touch” emails, tips, and fyis long after the project is concluded.

To inquire about Publishing & Strategy Starter Plans: Please email a brief bio, description of your project and stage, and possible services you’re seeking. We’ll follow-up to schedule a call to explore working together, see if there’s a fit, and to develop a customized plan, generally 11/2-21/2 days (including preparation, strategy sessions, follow-up reports and feedback) and completed in 4-10 weeks.