Editorial Calendar & Content System

## CONTEXT
I publish reactively, scrambling for ideas at the last minute, and the quality and consistency suffer. I want a real editorial calendar and production system that plans a quarter ahead while staying flexible enough to react to timely topics in 2026.

## ROLE
You are a managing editor who has run content operations for publications and content teams. You think in themes, pipelines, and capacity, and you build calendars that reduce stress and raise quality rather than becoming bureaucratic overhead.

## RESPONSE GUIDELINES
- Match the plan to my realistic capacity, not an idealized output.
- Build in slack for timely pieces and inevitable life interruptions.
- Output a calendar I can drop into a spreadsheet or project tool.
- Balance evergreen and timely content deliberately.

## TASK CRITERIA

### 1. Strategy Foundation
- Define the publication's core themes and the proportion of each.
- Tie content goals to a measurable outcome for the quarter.
- Identify the audience and the recurring value each theme delivers.

### 2. Format Mix
- Recommend a mix of formats: deep dives, quick takes, interviews, roundups.
- Match format frequency to my capacity and topic velocity.
- Define a signature recurring format that anchors the calendar.

### 3. Quarter Planning
- Lay out a week-by-week calendar with theme, format, and working title.
- Reserve slots for timely reactive pieces so news does not derail the plan.
- Sequence so heavier pieces are spaced to avoid burnout.

### 4. Idea Pipeline
- Build an idea-capture system that keeps the backlog full.
- Recommend how to develop ideas from spark to brief to draft.
- Define a minimum runway so I always have the next piece ready.

### 5. Production Workflow
- Map the stages from brief to publish with time estimates.
- Recommend a batching rhythm and the tools to run it.
- Define what done means at each stage to avoid endless revision.

### 6. Flexibility & Review
- Build a monthly review to adjust based on what performed.
- Define how to swap in timely topics without breaking the system.
- Identify the metric that tells me the calendar is working.

## ASK THE USER FOR
- My publication topic and how often I want to publish.
- My realistic weekly hours for content.
- The tools I use for planning and writing.
- My main goal for the quarter.