How much control would a publisher have of your manuscript?

Question

you're about to have a book published: some thoughts came across my mind: they'd probably inform you about spelling, grammar etc, but what about the title, the length and some of the content. who decides the look of the book? would it all be negotiated? what if you don't agree, who has the last say?

Answer 1

You don't have any say. As soon as you sign that contract, you sign everything over to the publisher. They can change the title, choose whatever cover they want, decide the length, and even the content. If they want your character to die in the end of the novel rather than live because they believe it'll make it better, you better believe that they're going to want you to do that, which is why having a literary agent is the best thing because they can negotiate such things with a publisher. As for the author, there are no rights, and he or she is completely defenseless.  

Answer 2

It's, er, really not that bad, you know.

Think of it this way. If they hated your book so much they have to change everything about it, they never would have acquired it in the first place.

It's EXTREMELY rare for a publisher to rip an entire manuscript to shreds and demand a total rewrite. Now, an editor may ask you to delete certain sections that they don't feel contribute to the story, or they may ask you to play up other aspects and deepen something else, but that's about making the book better. Not changing it completely.

Length is something that's taken into consideration at the beginning. If you've overshot their target length by 20K words, then they'd probably ask for a revise and resubmit before they sent a contract. If you don't want to revise to their suggestions, then you can consider it a rejection. Move on to the next publisher.

That said, you do retain a certain amount of control. If you decide that you and your editor simply can't agree on something important -- and I'm not talking about comma placement here -- then you can a) request a different editor or b) use the out clause in your contract.

The publisher is in control of your title and your cover art. You have limited say there, but as someone else mentioned, they're in the business. They know what sells.

But things happen. I know someone who's in the very trouble you're talking about and she's considering using her out clause because what they want is very different from the story they accepted. It's difficult for her, but as I mentioned, it's also the first time I've had it happen to anyone I know.

Answer 3

It depends on how badly they want to publish your book!

If they are very keen, you could make it a condition of your contract that you have final say over the book jacket (not an unusual request) and there's a good chance they'll agree to that. Publishers often make 'recommendations' - such as editing length, changing minor plot points - which are less 'advice' than they are conditions, i.e unless you satisfy them they will 'pass' and go with someone else's manuscript.

In the end though, it does depend on how badly they want it. If they have other authors lined up who are willing to bend they might drop you if they think you're being obstructive. If it's your first book, try and be as flexible and cooperative as you can, after all they know their business better than you! Plus you can comfort yourself with the fact that next time you'll have more say-so!