Definition of Done
What: This is my draft Definition of Done for my writing, to help me decide when I’m done and need to push Publish. I will continue to evolve it over time.
Why:
To help me ‘open the tap’ - resist the perfectionist urge to keep polishing and tweaking and never actually get something published, and at the same time
To make sure I haven’t missed anything important for the publication target
Note: The only DoD requirement for Comments or Bluesky posts is that the post must be
(1) kind/supportive and (2) on point/helpful.
Assumptions (entry criteria):
The following are already set up or updated for the Substack publication:
1100x220 image for the publication’s email banner (preamble)
Text content for publication email header and footer
The following are well-defined for the planned article:
Target audience(s) (who and why they care, why they might bother reading)
Prerequisites (what this article does & doesn’t assume the audience knows)
Target topic and key takeaways for the audience(s)
All Publications
Content broken into sections and with small paragraphs and call-outs to help readability for a neurodiverse audience
Zero spelling or grammar errors (unless I’m deliberately choosing to break rules)
Ensure any images I use:
Comply with my AI Usage Policy - either original or appropriately attributed/licensed.
Have captions (and alt text descriptions, if the caption isn’t already clear).
Do not reflect or perpetuate biases.
Credit and any necessary permissions have been confirmed for extensive quotes exceeding 'fair use’
People I quote directly have been offered an opportunity to review and confirm that they are ok with how they are quoted
Review feedback has been requested and incorporated from 2+ reviewers per major topic or book chapter (ideally: a reviewer from each stakeholder group)
Contributors are credited appropriately (with a link of their choosing)
At least 10 potential headlines were written before choosing one (and try to incorporate the 4P’s in it) - following this good advice from Derek Hughes via
inDocument has been created for capturing errata and suggested improvements to a future article, page, or book chapter (may use Comments on the post for this purpose)
Articles and Pages
Clear takeaways are defined and, if relevant, next step(s) are identified
420x300 (why that size, Substack?!) image or a larger one with similar aspect ratio has been selected for use in the article and/or on the SEO images, and configured in the post settings
Post URL and SEO settings customized appropriately
TO DO AFTER SCHEDULING/PUBLISHING:
Share a Note with a link, selected excerpt, and brief summary
Share a ‘skeet’ to Bluesky with the link and brief summary
For AISW:
Create the standard 1920x1080 banner image for the LinkedIn Newsletter edition. Use either a photo of the person, an image they provide, or the placeholder microphone image.
Write and schedule/publish the LinkedIn Newsletter edition for the interview
Write and schedule/publish the post for sharing the newsletter edition to my followers, with the brief summary
For other posts, consider posting to my LinkedIn company page
Books
SO many things here: TO DO - bring in references I’ve collected for to-do lists
,,,
