Solving the "Accidental Publisher" Problem

I've spent enough time working with healthcare organizations, school districts, associations, and municipalities to recognize a common challenge: most of them need to publish, but none of them are actually publishers.

They produce manuals, training materials, educational resources, community reports, and technical guides. Publishing isn't optional—it's essential to their mission. But here's the problem: building and maintaining an in-house publishing operation pulls resources, focus, and budget away from what they're actually trying to accomplish.

That's why I'm excited about The Grandview Group's formal collaboration with S4 Carlisle to create S4CGV—a partnership designed specifically for organizations that do publishing but aren't publishers.

A Partnership Built on Proven Collaboration

This isn't a new relationship we're testing out. The Grandview Group has collaborated with S4 Carlisle on numerous projects since 2018, which makes this formalized partnership with Kris Srinaath and the S4C team that much more valuable—we've already worked together, we know each other's strengths, and we trust each other's judgment.

Most notably, S4C and The Grandview Group partnered on the development, production, and promotion of The Workplace Violence Prevention Handbook (Crisis Prevention Institute, 2022). That project required exactly what S4CGV now delivers: stakeholder research and validation, content development grounded in real-world expertise, professional production, and strategic distribution. It worked because we brought complementary capabilities to the table.

A Back-Office Solution Organizations Actually Need

Here's what we've learned: organizations don't need someone telling them what to publish. They need a complete back-office publishing solution that can enable them to publish things people will use, recommend, and endorse.  Put another way: organizations that publish content–in whatever format–need to create more engaging content. The best way to produce more engaging content is to engage your target audience in the development of that content. It works.

And S4CGV is dedicated to providing the expertise and infrastructure to make it happen. We handle the entire publishing lifecycle—from content ideation and stakeholder validation through editorial development, design, production, accessibility compliance, translation, and distribution across print, digital, and online formats.

The difference is this: when you work with S4CGV, you're not outsourcing discrete tasks. You're gaining access to an integrated publishing operation with 50 years of production expertise (S4C's strength) combined with stakeholder engagement and content validation methodologies (Grandview's strength).

Publishing That Starts with People, Not Platforms

What makes S4CGV different from traditional publishing services is our commitment to validation before production. Too many organizations invest heavily in content that never finds its audience because nobody asked whether stakeholders actually needed it or how they would use it.

We start with people. Through focus groups, surveys, stakeholder interviews, and audience engagement processes, we help organizations understand what people actually need. This validation-first approach means you're building advocacy before you publish—turning stakeholders into advisors and promoters. 

Then S4C's production capabilities take over: AI-powered workflows, multi-format publishing, 60+ language translation, accessibility compliance, and professional design that meets the professional standards you aspire to achieve.

The Bottom Line

If you're an organization struggling with the "accidental publisher" problemS4CGV might be exactly what you need. Let's talk about what professional back-office publishing capabilities could mean for your organization.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Brake is Founder & CEO of The Grandview Group, S4 Carlisle’s partner in the S4CGV collaboration. Connect with him at d.brake@thegrandviewgroup.com to explore how stakeholder-validated publishing can support your mission.