speckl/docs/distribution-strategy.md

Speckl Distribution Strategy

The whitepaper is done. Now it needs a path to the world.

Created: May 7, 2026 (8:05 PM heartbeat) Status: All items pending — blocked on Scott for human-required actions

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The Asset: Whitepaper v2

• ~19,000 words across 8 complete sections
• Commit: 6121fd6 — pushed to Forgejo
• Sections: The Spec-Code Gap, SpeckDL Language, Compiler Architecture, Embedded Provenance, Consensus Protocols, Real-World Applications, Related Work, Future Work & Roadmap
• Positioning: "specification language with compiler-level provenance for teams that need evidence of correctness more than proof of correctness"

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Priority-Ordered Distribution Plan

P0: Show HN (May 12-13)

No gatekeepers. Post is ready.

• Post: docs/show-hn-announcement.md — written, copy-paste ready
• Optimal timing: Tuesday or Wednesday, 8-11 AM UTC (based on analysis of 1,200 launches)
• What it needs: Scott's HN account, click "submit"
• Expected: ~50-200 upvotes for a well-written open source technical tool, potential for front page
• Risk: Low — even a modest response builds awareness and creates a permalink

P1: arXiv Preprint + Weekly Blog Posts

Builds the knowledge graph around Speckl before conference submissions open.

• arXiv: Submit whitepaper as a preprint to cs.SE or cs.PL
  • Requires: academic email or endorsement (Scott may need an endorser)
  • Value: citable, discoverable, timestamped — standard for CS credibility
• Blog series: 5 posts extractable from whitepaper sections
  1. "The Spec-Code Gap" — why specs rot and what to do about it
  2. "SpeckDL by Example" — language tutorial (already exists as speckl-by-example.md)
  3. "Compiling Provenance" — how Speckl generates PROV-O, CycloneDX, SPDX
  4. "Consensus from Spec" — Paxos, Raft, Two-Phase Commit in SpeckDL
  5. "The Future of Spec-Driven Development" — roadmap and vision
  • Host on: speckl.scoble.me/blog (Storj static) or scott.scoble.me/blog
  • Each post cross-links to Show HN thread and whitepaper

P2: Conference Submissions (2027 Cycle)

All major 2026 cycles are closed. Speckl's whitepaper (completed May 7) is well-timed for the 2027 submission cycle.

Target Venues (2027)

Venue	Focus	Typical Deadline	Fit
FMCAD 2027	Formal methods + CAD	Apr-May 2027	Strong — state machines, verification
FM 2027	Formal methods (broad)	~Dec 2026	Strong — methodology + tool
ICSE 2027	Software engineering	~Aug 2026	Good — spec-driven dev is an SE topic
ASE 2027	Automated SE	~May 2027	Good — compiler-level generation
NFM 2027	NASA Formal Methods	~Dec 2026	Strong — provenance + verification
SPLASH Onward! 2026	New ideas in programming	~Jun 2026	Possible — "grand visions" track

Note on FMCAD 2026

FMCAD 2026 (Graz, Sept 14-18, co-located with VSTTE) has already closed: abstract deadline April 26, paper deadline May 3. It would have been an ideal venue, but Speckl's whitepaper wasn't complete until May 7. 2027 is the target.

P3: QCon SF Talk Proposal (~Jun 2026)

Practitioner conference, not academic. Faster cycle.

• QCon SF 2026 call for proposals typically opens ~June
• Topic: "Spec-Driven Development: From TLA+ to TypeScript" or "Building Evidence into Specs"
• Less competitive than academic venues, reaches working engineers
• Scott's existing speaking experience (3 talk forks) positions him well

P4: Journal Publication (Rolling)

• TOSEM (ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology): rolling submissions, high prestige
• JAR (Journal of Automated Reasoning): rolling, good fit for formal methods + automation
• Both take 12-18 months but produce durable citations

P5: Cold Email → First Consulting Client (Summer 2026)

When: After at least one public artifact is circulating (Show HN + arXiv).

• Pipeline already built: speckl/outreach.md
• Top targets: Dan Lorenc (Chainguard), Said Ziouani (Anchore)
• Emails verified: dlorenc@chainguard.dev ✅, sziouani@anchore.com ✅
• Content: Consulting one-pager drafted (speckl/docs/consulting-one-pager.md)
• Pricing: Drafted, needs Scott review
• Approach: "We've been building Speckl — an open standard for spec-driven development with compiler-level provenance. I'd love 20 minutes to understand how your team handles the spec-to-code gap."

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Blockers Inventory

Blocker	Priority	Owner	Status
Show HN submission	P0	Scott	Post ready, needs HN account
arXiv endorsement/account	P1	Scott	Whitepaper ready
Blog posts publishing	P1	Scott or @content	Content mostly written
Consulting one-pager review	P3	Scott	Draft complete, needs pricing validation
Cold email send	P3	Scott	Targets identified, emails verified
engineering#9 (parser fix)	P0 tech	@engineering	4-bug scope documented
Storj credentials	—	Scott	Expired, blocks new deploys
ClawHub/npm auth	—	Scott	Blocks MCP experiment

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Timeline (Ideal)

May 12-13:  Show HN goes live (P0)
May 14:     arXiv preprint submitted (P1)
May 15+:    Blog post #1 published, weekly cadence (P1)
Jun:        QCon SF proposal submitted (P3)
Jul:        First cold emails sent (P5)
Aug:        ICSE 2027 deadline (P2)
Sep:        First consulting engagement (P5)
Late 2026:  Conference submissions for 2027 cycle (P2)

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Decision Framework

If Show HN gets strong traction (>200 upvotes): → Prioritize blog series, community building, open source contributions → Defer consulting — let inbound interest come naturally

If Show HN gets modest traction (<50 upvotes): → Still publish arXiv + blog for credibility → Proceed to cold email for consulting (validates need regardless of HN)

If Scott can't get to Show HN by May 20: → Skip it — publish arXiv first, blog series second → Show HN can happen anytime, but momentum matters

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What NOT to Do

• ❌ Don't rush a paper to a 2026 venue with a late deadline — a rejected rushed paper is worse than a polished 2027 submission
• ❌ Don't cold email without at least one public artifact circulating — credibility gap
• ❌ Don't build more compiler features before distribution — the compiler works well enough to demonstrate the concept
• ❌ Don't start a new venture — Speckl is the highest-ROI path to revenue