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Publication Command Center

The detail page for any publication — a tabbed hub for managing the publication's content, formats, editorial pipeline, manuscripts, contracts, calls for submissions, royalty splits, and tasks.

What the Publication Command Center Is​

Click any publication on the Publications list to open its command center. The page consolidates everything tied to a single publication into a tabbed interface: who's in it, what formats it's available in, where it sits in the editing pipeline, which manuscripts have been submitted to it, contract status per contributor, marketing-ready pull quotes, calls for submissions, royalty splits, and tasks.

Most tabs are gated behind feature flags. If a tab isn't visible, the workspace doesn't have that feature enabled — see Workspace Settings to turn them on.

The sticky header includes:

  • Cover thumbnail, title, and a subtitle showing publisher (when set) and first publication date
  • Badges: word count, story count, workflow template (or "Workflow: None"), status (Planned, In Progress, Published, Unpublished, Cancelled), and one per genre
  • Action buttons (right side):
    • Send Update — appears only on the publisher's original publication when the Author Invitations feature is enabled. Opens a flow for sending updates to invited authors.
    • Edit — opens the publication edit form
    • Delete — opens a confirmation dialog with an optional cascade-delete option

Use the Back link at the top to return to the Publications list.

Tabs​

Overview​

Always shown. Three regions:

Publication Details card — cover, title, subtitle, type, publisher, series, genres, description, universal book link, additional links (each with a copy-to-clipboard button), and first publication date. The author appears inline when the publication has exactly one story.

Story Content area — depends on what's linked:

  • Empty publication: A choice card asks "How would you like to add stories?" with two paths: Add New Story or Link Existing Story for accepted content, and Log a Submission when the Manuscripts feature is enabled
  • Has stories: A sortable table with # (display order), Story Title, Author, Type (original/reprint), Words, and a delete action. Add more via Add New Story or Link Existing Story above the table.

Editors section — for publication curators (separate from story authors). Add by typing a contributor name with optional role notes.

Author Invitations section — when the Author Invitations feature is enabled, lists pending and accepted author invitations with an Invite Author button.

Formats​

Always shown. Manage editions of the publication — ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio.

  • Add Format for the first format opens an empty-state card with Create First Format
  • Each format card shows ISBN, price, page count, release date, notes, and an "Available At" section linking to retailer URLs
  • Click the format name to edit it; use the X button to delete
  • Add per-channel retailer URLs from the format card via + Add Retailer Link

Editing Pipeline​

Available when the Editing Workflow feature is enabled.

  • Three count cards at the top: Not Started, In Progress, Complete (only shown when at least one story has a status)
  • Workflow Status table with columns Story Title, Author, Words, Type (inline-editable dropdown), Workflow Status (dropdown when a workflow template is assigned), and Notes (inline-editable)
  • The workflow template is set via Edit → Settings → Editing Workflow dropdown — see Editing Workflows for how templates work

Manuscripts​

Available when the Publication Submissions feature is enabled. The publisher-side slush pile — track stories submitted to this publication and review them as a team.

  • Five summary cards: Total Submissions, Received, Under Review, Acceptance Rate, Average Review Time
  • Filter bar: status dropdown plus free-text search across title and author
  • Add Submission to log a manuscript manually
  • The submissions table shows date submitted, title, author, word count, status, vote tally, and notes
  • Cast vote on submissions you haven't yet voted on (Accept / Reject / Maybe), and expand to see all reviewers' votes
  • Per-row actions: manage reviewers, accept inline, reject inline, or Move to Contents (when the submission is accepted and linked to an internal story — promotes it into the publication's table of contents)

Contracts​

Available when the Contract Management feature is enabled. Per-publication contract management.

  • Three count cards (Not Started / In Progress / Complete)
  • The toolbar shows what's pending: how many contracts will generate PDFs versus track-only, with Create N Contract(s) and Regenerate N PDF(s) buttons
  • After generating PDFs, a Download ZIP button appears — download before leaving the page (PDFs aren't stored on the server)
  • The contracts table has one row per story-author pair. The Template column is editable for "Not Started" rows; created contracts show the template name read-only
  • Bulk actions: Set Template (assigns a template to selected rows) and Delete Selected
  • The default template comes from Edit → Settings → Default Contract Template; per-row overrides save on the appearance

See Managing Contracts for how templates and workflows are configured.

Pull Quotes​

Available when the Pull Quotes feature is enabled. Curate review excerpts for marketing reuse — quote text, attribution, source, and a clipboard-ready format.

See Pull Quotes for the full workflow — adding, reordering, and copying formatted quotes.

Calls​

Available when the Publication Submissions feature is enabled. Manage outbound invitations asking specific authors to submit work to this publication.

See Calls for Submissions for the full workflow — drafting, sending, tracking responses, and what invited authors see.

Royalty Splits​

Available when the Royalty Splits feature is enabled. Record how royalties for the publication are split among contributors using fixed percentages and remainder shares.

See Royalty Splits for the full workflow — the two-layer model, bulk actions, and how the summary cards are calculated.

Tasks​

Available when the Tasks feature is enabled. Per-publication task list using the same UI as the main Tasks page.

  • Three view modes: List, Board, Calendar (Calendar view supports drag-to-reschedule due dates)
  • Group By dropdown for grouping in board view; Show Completed toggle
  • Add Task, Use Template (apply a task template to the publication), and Import (CSV / JSON / Trello)
  • Tasks created here are automatically linked to the publication

See Managing Tasks for the full task management capabilities.

Per-Publication Feature Toggles​

Some features can be turned on or off per publication, overriding workspace defaults. Configure these in Edit → Settings:

  • Editing Pipeline
  • Manuscripts (toggles the submissions feature)
  • Contracts

Each is tri-state: Inherit (use the workspace default), On, or Off. Per-publication toggles can't enable a feature your workspace administrator has disabled at the admin level.

The Editing Workflow, Contract Workflow, and Default Contract Template are also assigned in Edit → Settings.

Tips​

  • Set workflow templates per publication, not globally: Different publications may move at different paces — use the Edit → Settings tab to pick the right template for each
  • Download contract PDFs before leaving the page: The ZIP isn't stored on the server, so download it as soon as it's generated
  • Use Calls for outbound invitations, Manuscripts for inbound: They share the Publication Submissions feature flag but solve different problems — Calls is "I'm inviting these specific authors to submit," Manuscripts is "review what came in"
  • Move accepted submissions to Contents: Once a manuscript is accepted and linked to an internal story, the Move to Contents action promotes it into the publication's table of contents — saves a step
  • Use Pull Quotes early: Add quotes as reviews come in, even before the publication is launched — they're ready for marketing copy when you need them