When you work with me, the client comes third

Businesses are supposed to put the customer first. I don’t. I don’t even put the customer second. I put them third.

I suppose my inspiration is the former slogan of the famed Boston-based restaurant Legal Sea Foods: “At Legal, the customer comes second.” Their point was: the quality of the fish came first. And everyone who ever ate at Legal’s knew what that meant: good fresh fish.

So what comes first?

My main job is to help people create great books.

It’s not that I don’t care about my author clients. I treat clients as if they are esteemed royalty, and their needs are essential. I listen closely to what they want and that sets up everything I do.

But before the author comes the reader. The book needs to serve the reader’s needs. If the author wants to do something that will make life harder for the reader, or fail to give them what they’ve been promised, I’m going to do everything possible to fix that. I’ll explain to the author why they’re wrong. And if the author is any good, they’ll agree.

But before the author, and before the reader, comes the book. The book and the ideas in the book have to have some sort of integrity. They need to hang together as a whole and do its work. The book comes first, the reader close behind, and the author just behind that.

Making books that have no integrity is bad for readers and bad for authors.

Making books that don’t serve readers is bad for authors.

So I serve my author clients by serving the books and the readers first. Just like Legal Sea Foods: with me, the product comes first.

What about everybody else?

I work with publishers. I explain their needs to authors, but in the end, the book, the readers, and the authors come first.

I work with a ghostwriting agency. The people there are excellent. I do everything I can to serve their needs and treat them fairly, but in the end, the author comes before the agency.

Sometimes, I work with authors’ companies. The authors are doing their books to benefit their companies. But if I need to choose between the author and the company, the author wins.

Doesn’t this limit my clientele?

It sure does. Authors who want me to serve their needs over the needs of the book or the readers are not going to like working with me.

If I can spot that dynamic coming, I just avoid those author clients altogether. They’re not my target audience.

I must be missing out on clients this way. Good. Because I’m getting the clients who respect the work and want the best possible outcome for the book and the readers.

If my name is anywhere in the acknowledgments, the book is going to be good and to serve the readers well.

I think that means something.

What do you think?