It’s been 10 days since my last post — apologies for the gap!
The reason for the radio silence is a good one: I’ve been deep in the process of migrating our flagship course, Global Publishing Strategies (developed with the support of the Singapore National Arts Council), to a brand new site focused entirely on IP development and strategy.
More on that launch very soon.
But today, I want to zoom out for a moment — not just to announce what’s coming, but to reflect on why we built this course in the first place. And why we’re officially launching it now, in such a dramatically reshaped format.
Because the truth is, most creators don’t actually need more content.
They need a roadmap.
Content Is Not Strategy
Over the years, I’ve met hundreds of writers, translators, designers, and creators who wanted to turn their craft into a business. Many were incredibly talented. Some had published widely. A few had built small audiences.
But they all came to me with the same vague question:
“How do I get more visibility?”
“How do I make this sustainable?”
“How do I get people to pay?”
And nine times out of ten, their assumption was that they needed to produce more content — post more, publish faster, pitch harder.
But what they actually needed was clarity:
What kind of IP are you building?
Who is your audience?
What rights do you hold?
What can you license or repurpose?
What structures and systems are in place to scale?
In short, they didn’t need a “content plan.”
They needed a publishing strategy.
War Story #1: The Translation That Outgrew the Book
Let me tell you about one of a wake up call I had. Years ago, I was hired to translate a novel by a well known Chinese author. The work was complex, layered, and culturally specific — just my kind of project. I poured months into the translation, and when it came out, the reception was modestly positive.
But what really surprised me was what happened next. An international publisher reached out — not to buy the translation, but to ask about multimedia rights. They wanted to develop an educational product based on some of the stories inside the book.
When I heard about this development, I realized: this wasn’t just a book. It was IP. It had legs. It could travel — but only if someone mapped the route.
War Story #2: The Product That Wasn’t a Product (Yet)
Another time, I was brought in as a creative consultant for a team that had developed a beautifully designed bilingual children’s story series.
The authors had grant funding, nice packaging, and a clear educational mission. What they didn’t have was a publishing strategy.
There was no SKU system. No licensing model. No bundling strategy. No clarity on whether they were targeting parents, schools, or NGOs. Every time they printed a batch of books, it sat in a storage unit waiting for someone to “find” it.
They didn’t need another social media post.
They needed a strategy to turn their content into a product ecosystem.
And once we built that — pivoting toward licensing bundles, creating classroom add-ons, and partnering with a language learning platform — the entire project came alive.
What Global Publishing Strategies Actually Teaches
This is why Global Publishing Strategies was never meant to be just a course about “how to publish.”
It’s a way of thinking that helps you:
Diagnose what kind of content you’re sitting on
Understand what kind of IP you could be building
Protect your rights without stifling your reach
Make choices about formats, partners, and platforms based on your goals
And most of all, move from reactive creator to strategic publisher
And we built it with real world contributors — people who’ve sold international rights, negotiated TV adaptations, licensed educational formats, and managed publishing houses in multiple languages.
It’s not theory.
It’s not just me talking.
It’s what actually works.
Coming Soon…
We’re officially launching Global Publishing Strategies with a full upgrade:
A streamlined format focused on high leverage decision points
A tighter integration into our new IP incubator, The Kiln
And a price point that reflects both the value and the future-proofing it provides
You’ll hear more in the coming days.
And if you’re a long time reader here, you’ll get early access.
But for now, let me leave you with this:
If you’ve been building content, but not momentum…
If you’re juggling pieces without a big picture…
If you feel like your work is publishable but not powerful...
Then it’s not your content.
It’s your strategy.
Let’s fix that.
©2025 Shelly Bryant