Author-Publisher Relations--Part 3: Editorial Control
Aside from issues of trust and power, some authors fret over issues of control. Many control issues concern the manuscript. Some authors believe strongly that their words should not be subject to outside forces. Their thinking runs something like this: They are the experts and no one can tell them what to write. Reviewers have their own axes to grind or cancel each other out and thus can be ignored. Customers should have the good sense to want what they are providing. Authors who think lilke this also tend to see their editors as adversaries and treat every editorial request as an issue of ownership and control. If you tend to hold strongly Orwellian views, consider the following reasons other than thought control that editors might have for asking you to revise, add, or delete material.Chief Reasons Editors Ask for Changes
to Organization or Content
• The book is too long for its intended market or its budget and has to be cut.
• Undocumented opinion is presented as fact.
• Undocumented facts seem inaccurate or misleading.
• Information seems outdated or lacks currency.
• Topical coverage seems unbalanced or biased.
• Material is judged to be strongly offensive to some or all readers.
• Abstractions or conclusions are insufficiently supported by concrete examples.
• Language or expression seems inappropriate to the subject, course, or audience.
• Digressions, redundancy, or lack of transitions compromise meaning or coherence.
• There are errors of grammar, punctuation, spelling, or usage.
• The manuscript departs significantly from the agreed book plan.
• New intelligence about the market or competition suggests changes.
Editors, too, are experts. They can save you from yourself and help you craft a successful book--the editor’s true purpose. Reviewers and customers also are experts. Authors uninterested in satisfying the people who will order, buy, and read their textbook should consider self-publishing or custom publishing instead. Positive author-editor relations are built on mutual respect, benefit-of-the-doubt trust, power-sharing, and rationally negotiated control over content. In my next post I will explore nuances of author-editor relations from both perspectives. As before I certainly welcome readers' responses or input on these topics.
All the best,
Mary Ellen
Labels: author-publisher relations
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