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Author “Control” in Traditional Publishing

Here’s the thing about traditional publishing that a lot of people don’t realize… hundreds of thousands of manuscripts are sent to agents and publishers every year, and they wade through them all to choose the most promising ones. But they’re doing it to make money, so every decision made is based on what’s best for their bottom line. The editors employed by publishing houses are, for the most part, really good at what they do. They understand writing, storytelling, and most of all, the market. They know how make a great story even better, and the publisher will do all they can to increase the odds of a book’s success. After all, they’ve taken a huge risk, investing thousands of dollars into the book’s production, so they want to get that money back and make a profit.

So, when your editor suggests changes to your manuscript, it’s in your best interest to agree. If there’s something you’re very passionate about keeping, it’s well within your rights to speak up, but you’d better have a good reason. The last thing you want to do is make yourself hard to work with. Not only could you risk the publisher pulling your contract, you could potentially earn a bad reputation in the industry and find yourself unable to land another contract. This is especially true earlier in your career. Once you’ve had three or four books sell really well, publishers will have more confidence in you, and you’ll have more leeway in terms of rejecting changes you don’t want to make.

Having said that, though, your editor is unlikely to ask for dramatic changes to plot, setting, or character. After all, the publisher bought your manuscript because they liked the story that’s already there. Any changes you’re asked to make will usually be more superficial, like trimming the word count, cutting out unnecessary scenes, or perhaps adding a scene here or there. Editors may also help you make changes that shore up your story’s theme, drive home a particular point, or tighten up the plot. But again, they’re unlikely to suggest really drastic changes.

But when we talk about self-published authors having “full control” over their novels, we’re talking about more than just content. Traditionally published authors, especially earlier in their careers, generally have little to no say about things like title, book cover, book trailer, and promotional campaigns. This often comes as a surprise to aspiring authors who put a lot of sweat and tears into choosing a title, planning out the cover, and deciding who will do the music for their official book trailer. While you’re probably fine to let your publisher know what you envision, they’re under no obligation to meet you requests and probably won’t.

The silver lining to all of that, though, is it’s pretty rare to hear an author do anything but gush about their book as they watch it go through the production phase. Once you’ve been through the query trenches and have not just survived, but have come out with a book deal, most people will be so over-the-moon and grateful, all those little changes won’t really matter that much.

If you want 100% control over all of those things, however, it’s definitely worth considering whether self-publishing is a better fit for you.