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CHAPTER SIX · INQUIRE · CONTENT AUDIT INTAKE · Q3 SLOTS OPEN
We take new retainer slots quarterly, and we keep a tight client roster — eight to twelve B2B companies at any one time. The brief below is the same intake form we have used since 2022. It is a content audit in disguise. The act of filling it out is, for most prospects, the single most useful thirty minutes of strategy work they do that quarter.
CONTENT-AUDIT INTAKE BRIEF · 6 SECTIONS · ~ 8 MIN
Tell us what you publish, and what you wish you published.
Every retainer engagement starts with this brief. Editor-in-chief reads it personally — Mira, the founder, not a bot — and replies within two working days with a fit assessment, a comparable client engagement, and a discovery call slot.
The brief is the audit. By the time you finish answering it, you'll already know what you wish you were publishing — and that is, in most cases, the answer.
— Mira Saiki, on the intake form
What happens next.
№ 1+ 2dEditor replyMira reads the brief and writes back personally — fit assessment, comparable engagement, discovery-call slot.
№ 2+ 5d30-min discovery callWith Mira and the senior editor likely to lead the engagement. We talk thesis, calendar, and hard constraints.
№ 3+ 10dWorking memoA 4-page memo — proposed editorial calendar, three sample headlines, scope of practitioner interviews, fixed price.
№ 4+ 14dSign & startSingle-page master agreement. First essay calendar locks. Engagement begins on the first of the month.
Five questions we get most.
Do you write under our brand or yours?
Yours. Every essay we write under retainer is published on your domain, under your bylines or a "from the editors of [Your Company]" group byline, depending on your preference. We will not co-brand.
Can we use AI to scale this?
No. Every essay is interview-led, fact-checked, and edited by humans. We will use AI for transcription and for first-pass research support, but no piece ships without a senior editor having read every paragraph.
What if our category is technical?
Most of our retainers are technical — fintech, dev tools, security, climate. Our editors specialize in interviewing practitioners, which is the same skill regardless of how technical the subject is.
Is twelve months really the minimum?
Yes. The archive does not begin to compound until month nine, and twelve months is what it takes for a publication to find its voice. Six-month engagements are not financially or editorially worthwhile for either side.
Can we read a sample first?
Yes —
our five-essay sample is gated by email only. No sales call. The sample includes the most-cited piece in our archive, plus four representative practice memos.