Strategic Labs for Authors Who Want to Publish Smarter

Author, you should be thinking like a Publisher — before you write another word.

Learn to see your book the way Publishing Professionals do — and make smarter choices from the start.

A cartoon-style illustration of a middle-aged man with gray hair, glasses, a beard, wearing a suit, tie, and holding a smartphone, against a yellow background.
A colorful wall constructed from stacked books of various sizes and colors.

These labs are for you, if:

You’re writing a book — nonfiction, memoir, fantasy, or fiction — and you know this:

Publishing is complicated, and you can’t afford to get it wrong.

You’re not here for vague advice or another writing webinar. You want to understand how the publishing world actually works.

A good idea isn’t enough
to get agents to sign you, for readers to find you, and for publishing platforms to do the work for you.

You’re committed to learning how to:

  • Make smart, strategic decisions about your book’s direction

  • Increase your chances of getting a traditional deal

  • Or publish your book yourself — professionally and confidently

Whether you’re just getting started or revisiting a project that stalled, this course will give you the insider perspective most first-time authors never get — until it’s too late.

That’s why this live 3 lab series is designed to help you think like the people who make publishing decisions — so you can make your book more pitchable, publishable, and positioned for success

  • “Working with Linda clarified everything. I went from vague ideas to a clear roadmap for my book.”

    Anne Fiorelli

  • I have worked with a couple of different book coaches, and this is the first time I’m exiting the book proposal process and feeling like I have a very solid proposal that I am truly excited about.

    Maya Sharfi

  • Working with Linda and Studiolo Secondari was a rewarding experience. From our first conversations, Linda demonstrated an ability to listen with empathy, understand the heart of our story, and shape it into something lasting.

    Charlie Komar

  • Before our work together, my book was all over the place. Now I know exactly who it’s for and how to structure it.

    Happy Customer

Meet the 5 Publishing Mindsets
That Shape Every Successful Book

  • A cartoon illustration of a middle-aged man with glasses, gray hair, and a beard, wearing a suit and tie, holding a smartphone against a yellow background.

    The Publisher

    Position Your Book

  • Illustration of a woman with shoulder-length gray hair, glasses, and purple earrings, holding a pen against a purple background.

    The Agent

    Pitch With Purpose

  • Digital illustration of a man with brown hair and a suit, holding glasses, smiling against a light blue background.

    The Editor

    Shape Your Concept

  • Illustration of a woman with short black hair holding a coffee mug, smiling, wearing a light-colored collared shirt, with a necklace and earrings, against a light green background.

    The Marketer

    Know Your Reader

  • Illustration of a woman with shoulder-length gray hair, glasses, red lipstick, smiling, with her hand resting on her chin, against a pink background.

    The Strategist

    Get Discovered

What You’ll Learn (A Publisher’s-Eye View)

Digital illustration of a middle-aged man with gray hair, beard, glasses, wearing a suit and tie, holding a smartphone, against a yellow background.

Each lab in this series focuses on one foundational area of publishing strategy: market position, audience clarity, and discoverability. But you won’t just learn about these concepts — you’ll learn how publishing professionals actually use them to make real decisions.

You’ll see how editors evaluate a book’s position in the market, how marketers connect books with real readers, and strategists shape a book’s discoverability before a single word is written.

By the end of this series, you’ll have the insight — and the tools — to make smart publishing decisions before you write another word.

Author Strategic Labs

In these strategic labs, you will step back from the manuscript to see the bigger picture by clarifying your book’s position, audience, and path to visibility.

Lab 1: Market Position

Seeing Your Book Like a Publisher

Build a strategic “comps” list that clarifies your book’s category, tone, and market position — the way editors and agents do.

Publishers and Agents rely on comps to determine:

  • Where your book fits

  • How it will perform

  • How to pitch it internally

  • Who will buy it

In this class, you’ll think like:

  • The Editor – refining your book’s concept and positioning

  • The Publisher – assessing category viability

  • The Agent – anticipating pitch comparisons

Outcome: A clear, focused comps list that helps you define where your book fits — in tone, category, and market lane — so you can shape it with confidence.

Coming soon!

Cartoon woman with short dark hair, earrings, and necklace, smiling and holding a mug, wearing a light-colored shirt against a light green background.

Lab 2: Your Reader

Understanding Your Audience Like a Marketer

Knowing your audience changes everything — from your cover design to your tone of voice.

You’ll learn:

  • How to profile your ideal reader using real-world data

  • Where your readers find their books — and what makes them buy

  • How audience clarity sharpens your approach to cover design, promotional outreach, and sales channels.

In this class, you’ll think like:

  • The Marketer – crafting audience-driven messaging

  • The Publisher – aligning the reader with the market

  • The Agent – articulating audience value in your pitch

Outcome: A well-researched, human-centered reader profile that guides your creative and marketing choices — and shows agents, editors, and readers that you understand exactly who your book is for.



Coming soon!

Lab 3: Discoverability

Illustration of a woman with shoulder-length gray hair, wearing black glasses and a black top, smiling with red lipstick against a pink background.

The Strategist’s Guide to Book Visibility

Most authors think about visibility after the book is done. This class flips that.

You’ll learn:

  • How metadata, keywords, and categories shape discoverability

  • How search engines, distribution channels, and algorithms work behind the scenes

  • How to build a simple, sustainable strategy for being found

In this class, you’ll think like:

  • The Strategist – engineering discoverability into your book’s DNA

  • The Publisher – optimizing shelf placement and search visibility

  • The Marketer – designing for relevance and reach

Outcome: A simple, sustainable discoverability strategy that uses metadata, keywords, and categories to help your book get found — by the right readers, in the right places, at the right time.

Coming soon!

Meet your Coach

A middle-aged woman with shoulder-length gray hair, wearing black glasses with purple rinsed lenses, and a black top, standing against a plain white background.

I’m Linda Secondari, founder of Studiolo Secondari and a publishing strategist with more than two decades of experience helping authors create books that resonate and find their audiences. I cut my teeth as an in-house Creative Director — most recently at Oxford University Press — where I partnered with editors, marketers, publishers, and authors to shape meaningful books and position them for real-world impact.

Those years taught me how books compete in a crowded marketplace: how they signal to readers, how they communicate value, and how they’re discovered. My work now centers on sharing that understanding with authors who want to produce books with clarity, intention, and a strong sense of where their place is.

I bring a blend of creative direction, editorial insight, and market strategy — all designed to help you approach your work with the mindset and confidence of a seasoned publishing professional.

Here’s what I’ve learned after shaping hundreds of books:

The most successful authors don’t just write well — they think like publishers.

Happy Clients

  • image of a book titled "The Inner Alphabet: Me, from A to Z."

    “I am absolutely thrilled with the transformation that Studiolo has brought to my book. Their creativity and meticulous attention to detail have created something truly magical!”

    Malaika Moses, The Inner Alphabet

  • Book titled 'Sticky Fingers' by Tom Bentley, showing a black and white photo of the lower back of a person's jeans with a lipstick mark in the back pocket.

    “A big handclap for Linda + the design team at Studiolo Secondari for their creative work — collegial, imaginative and fun — on Sticky Fingers.”

    Tom Bentley, Sticky Fingers

  • Book titled 'Past Performances' by James Collard featuring a black and white photo of racehorses and jockeys at the finish line.

    “Linda + her team did an excellent job and I want you all to know how much I appreciate all the time and work contributed on my behalf. I am proud of the product we produced. ”

    James Collard, Past Performances

  • A white book with embossed text that reads 'KOMAR' on the cover.

    "You did a beautiful job bringing our story to life (...), and the book continues to mean a lot to our family."

    David Komar, Komar: One Family, One Story, One Reputation

  • Book titled "Black Ink" by Jabari Khalfani, with a torn paper design on the cover, placed against a black background.

    “We are so happy because you really listened to what we liked and put that on the cover. The cover really spoke to us.”

    Jabari Khalfani, Black Ink

  • Book cover titled South Street by Barbara G. Mensch with an introduction by Phillip Lopate, showing a black-and-white photograph of a busy street scene with vendors and pedestrians.

    "I loved loved loved what (Linda) did with my material and so did everybody else!"

    Barbara Mensch, South Street