Do New Writers Have Creative Control?
Nikoda asks: How much creative control do you have to give up to your editor/publisher especially as a new writer?
For licensed properties like Halo or Star Wars the licensor has final say on everything. They may value your creativity and ability to write, but you have no control over the project.
For non-licensed intellectual property, that is stuff that you've developed on your own, you'd be surprised how much creative control you retain, even as a new writer.
First and foremost (and this may or may not be a good thing) agents and acquiring editors today simply don't have time to take on a project that isn't in their opinion near perfect i.e. needing many changes.
In some cases, an editor/agent may turn down your project, and give you specific reasons. In that case it's up to you to decide if you wish to address those issues and change your project, and then resubmit.
Second, there are a series of checks and balances during the publishing process. You turn in a manuscript. Your editor gives you feedback, and you accept or reject these suggestions. Either party has the option during these checkpoints to refuse to continue in the publishing process. It is extraordinarily rare to get this far and have things fall apart. The only time I have seen it happen is when the acquiring editor leaves and a new replacement editor asks for sweeping changes (this event is lovingly called an “orphaned” novel).
Bottom line: barring unusual circumstances, if someone bothers to buy your novel they are not going to change it that much.
For licensed properties like Halo or Star Wars the licensor has final say on everything. They may value your creativity and ability to write, but you have no control over the project.
For non-licensed intellectual property, that is stuff that you've developed on your own, you'd be surprised how much creative control you retain, even as a new writer.
First and foremost (and this may or may not be a good thing) agents and acquiring editors today simply don't have time to take on a project that isn't in their opinion near perfect i.e. needing many changes.
In some cases, an editor/agent may turn down your project, and give you specific reasons. In that case it's up to you to decide if you wish to address those issues and change your project, and then resubmit.
Second, there are a series of checks and balances during the publishing process. You turn in a manuscript. Your editor gives you feedback, and you accept or reject these suggestions. Either party has the option during these checkpoints to refuse to continue in the publishing process. It is extraordinarily rare to get this far and have things fall apart. The only time I have seen it happen is when the acquiring editor leaves and a new replacement editor asks for sweeping changes (this event is lovingly called an “orphaned” novel).
Bottom line: barring unusual circumstances, if someone bothers to buy your novel they are not going to change it that much.
posted by Eric Nylund at 7:42 AM
5 Comments:
One caveat you’ll have to worry about later: if you sell an acquiring editor a novel based on an outline, and then deliver something that is significantly different--that's another story. For an author selling their first novel, however, an editor is going to want see the _entire_ manuscript before they buy it.
Before the editor gets your manuscript, what guarantees does a new writer have that they won't just take it and run? Thanks.
-EmF
I knew the part about for your first shot, you need to have a full length manuscript. (Gotta prove you can actually come through and write it, I imagine). But I talk to a lot of people who are always saying how they refuse to let some publisher get a hold on their precious work and change their vision and all that. I figured the publishing world was probably a little too big and too busy to bother with that sort of thing, but you never know unless you've been there. I can see how saying you're going to do one thing and doing something different could pose trouble and the same with the orphaned novel, but I accept that as sort of the deal you make when you decide to enter this world.
Thanks for the continued input!
EMF -- there are no guarantees. But I've never heard of this happening with any legitimate editor or publisher. Even the hint of such impropriety is enough to ruin careers. Look at what happened recently when certain best-selling authors were accused of plagiarism! My advice: don't worry about it. If you want an added layer of security, however, you can register your work with the Writers Guild of America. I believe it costs about $30 and you can do it online. They date and catalog your work so you can prove when you wrote a particular piece.
Wow. Awesome info. Thanks, Eric.
-EmF
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