How your publisher, agent, editor, and other partners think about your book

All book projects are team efforts. But if you’re on a team, it helps to know your team members’ motivations. Here’s what everyone on your team really wants:

• Your traditional publisher wants to sell as many books as possible. So their motivation is to get the book done on time, make it salable, and make it sell. It’s better if it’s got stuff in it that people will share, like great advice or juicy stories. But sometimes your objective is to get visibility for your ideas, not just to sell books. Don’t compromise your vision for the publisher’s sales goals.
• Your agent wants to place the book with a publisher. This means they have to think like a publisher, in terms of book sales. They also want to maximize your advance. Agents are focused on making you and your book sound as desirable as possible. Be clear about which publishers are more desirable for you; the advance is not the only factor in your decision of which publisher to choose.
• Your hybrid publisher wants to get your book out efficiently. Hybrid publishers also like books that sell a lot, but since they work for you, they are far more author-focused than traditional publishers. But publishers don’t like to do extra work. So they’ll be looking for books that are easy to produce and print, which means avoiding last-minute changes. (This should be your goal, too.) So long as you and your hybrid publisher have good communication, your motivations should be aligned.
• Your ghostwriter wants a smooth process with clear source material. The ghostwriter wants to produce your book as efficiently as possible. They’ll lead you in a direction of producing useful source material and reviewing drafts efficiently. That’s likely to be best for your book, but don’t let the ghost create a version of the book at odds with your actual ideas.
• Your coauthor wants the book to match their vision. All coauthors have differences of opinion on what the book should be. Clarifying those differences and dividing the work based on a clear plan are the key to a successful coauthoring relationship.
• Your editor wants to make the ideas and writing in your book as clear as possible. For a successful editing relationship, be sure that the editor isn’t taking your book in directions you’re not comfortable with. Editors are also frustrated with multiple writing and rewriting passes, so be clear about how you’ll avoid them, or handle them if they happen.
• Your copy editor wants to point out grammatical mistakes or passages that lack clarity. You should support this goal, but can push back where the copy editor’s suggestions would remove features that you’re personally fond of.
• Your production team wants to efficiently turn a manuscript into a book. The production team at your publisher or publishing services company lays out pages and covers. They are focused on making the pages look great as efficiently as possible. It’s your job to point out where the decisions they’ve made are getting in the way of the book looking good, such as figure references on the wrong page or inappropriate blank spaces in the layout. Note that production teams will find late changes frustrating.
• Your publicist wants to make you visible. Their job is to find places that will allow you and your thinking to shine. Be certain that the opportunities you are attaining are actually helpful to your image, rather than just creating visibility that won’t advance your long-term goals.

Only the author truly knows their objectives

All of these partners are out to help you and your book to be successful. With appropriate communication, you can make sure you are all aligned behind a common goal.

But your interests and theirs are not exactly the same. So be clear about what you want. Being aware of the differences in motivations is helpful in making sure you can achieve your goals and theirs together.