/submission

name: submission
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "write a query letter", "query", "querying", "pitch", "blurb", "back cover copy", "jacket copy", "comp titles", "comparable titles", "synopsis for agents", "submit to agents", "submission tracker", "self-publishing description", "retailer description", or wants to prepare and track a finished manuscript's submission to agents, publishers, or retailers.

Submission

Overview

Get a finished manuscript out the door. This skill checks submission readiness, drafts the submission package (query letter, pitch, synopsis, blurb, comp titles), builds the manuscript in submission format, and keeps a tracker of where the book has gone. Package files live under `submission/` in the story project. The author sends every submission themselves; this skill prepares materials and records outcomes.

Prerequisites

A story project with a complete or near-complete draft. Verify `story.md` exists in the project root and read its `status`, `genre`, `sub-genre`, `premise`, `author`, and `contact` fields. If `status` is not `complete` or `revising`, tell the user the package can be drafted now but the readiness check will fail until the draft is finished.

When to Use

• Checking whether a manuscript is ready to submit
• Drafting or revising a query letter, pitch, synopsis, blurb, or comp list
• Building a Shunn-format manuscript for agents or magazines
• Writing a retailer or back-cover description for self-publishing
• Recording queries sent and responses received
• NOT for self-publishing production (ISBNs, retailer metadata, print

interiors, launch, rights): use the `publishing` skill. This skill still drafts the blurb and retailer description it uses

• NOT for revising the manuscript itself (use `revision-continuity`)
• NOT for reader feedback rounds (use `feedback-triage`)

Hard Rules

• Never invent the author's bio, credentials, awards, publication history,

platform, or contact details. Ask the user, or leave a clearly marked `[TODO: author to supply]` placeholder.

• Never invent agent or publisher names, submission guidelines, dates, or

responses. Tracker entries come from the user.

• Never send, email, or upload anything. The user submits.
• Never claim sales figures, bestseller status, awards, or endorsements for

comp titles or the author that the user has not confirmed.

• Package copy describes the book as written. Read the manuscript and the

bible; do not promise events, tone, or an ending the draft does not deliver.

Workflow

1. Readiness check

Run the deterministic checks and report every finding before drafting:

story validate .
story links .
story continuity .
story prose .
story wordcount . --write
story report .

Then check what the CLI cannot:

1. Validate, links, and continuity have no errors. List warnings for the user to accept or fix. 2. `story prose .` shows no avoided spellings, and the user has reviewed the other findings. If `style-sheet.md` is missing or still the scaffold, suggest the `voice-style` skill first. 3. Every chapter has `status: revised`, `final`, or `complete`. List any still at `outline` or `draft`. 4. The total word count sits inside the range for the category in `references/word-count-norms.md`. Those ranges are rough conventions: state the number and the range, and ask the user to confirm current norms for their market. Never pad or cut to hit a number without the user's direction. 5. No `[TODO` markers remain in chapter prose. 6. Open questions and planted promises are resolved, or deliberately left for a sequel (check `story.md` `precedes`).

Give a verdict: `ready`, `ready-with-caveats` (list them), or `not-ready` (list the blockers and hand them to `revision-continuity`).

2. Pitch and logline

1. Read `story.md` (premise, synopsis), the main arc files, and the protagonist's character file. 2. Draft a one-sentence pitch: protagonist + goal + obstacle + stakes, in under 35 words. `../story-init/references/title-logline.md` has the logline recipe. 3. Offer two or three variants; the user picks. Save the chosen pitch at the top of `submission/query.md`.

3. Comp titles

Follow `references/comp-titles.md`. Propose candidates with a one-line reason each, mark every one unverified until the user confirms year, category, and fit, and save the agreed list to `submission/comps.md`.

4. Query letter

Follow `references/query-letter.md`. Draft `submission/query.md` with the hook, one or two book paragraphs, the metadata line (title, genre, word count rounded to the nearest thousand, comps), and a bio placeholder the author fills in. Keep the letter between 250 and 350 words. If the user names a specific agent, add a personalization line only from facts the user provides.

5. Synopsis

1. Generate the mechanical draft:

   story synopsis . --pages 1 --out submission/synopsis-1-page.md
   story synopsis . --pages 3 --out submission/synopsis-3-page.md

2. The CLI output is a scaffold stitched from the `story.md` synopsis and each arc's Setup, Rising Action, Climax, and Resolution sections. Rewrite it into polished prose: present tense, third person, main characters' names in capitals on first use, every major turn, and the ending revealed. Agents expect the ending; never withhold it. 3. Keep the 1-page version near 500 words and the 3-page version near 1,500. Overwrite the generated files with the rewritten versions and add the frontmatter from Conventions below. 4. If the output is thin, the arc files are thin: fill the missing arc sections with the `plot-structure` skill, rerun, then rewrite.

6. Blurb and retailer description

Follow `references/blurb.md`. Draft `submission/blurb.md` with a tagline, the back-cover copy (150-200 words), and, for self-publishing, a retailer description with the same copy plus a comp line if the user wants o