by Lynda Morgenroth

(All Rights Reserved)

What follows are informal suggestions for establishing and maintaining productive relations with colleagues through the long haul of writing and publishing a book.

1. From the start make sure you're on the same page. If specific instructions haven't been given, and this vagueness -- issues about editorial approach, writing style, numbers of chapters, deadlines, word lengths -- seems worrisome, ask or submit a sample. At least every few months, check in.


2. Reply to every email and phone call even if it's just to acknowledge that you've received it. The attention to detail you demonstrate in the business of writing helps to develop confidence in you as a writer, as well as a colleague.


3. Anticipate problems. Avert them with inquiries, suggestions, and ideas.


4. Don't bad-mouth one staff member to another, even if the urge seems irresistible, and even if the person you are speaking with seems to agree with your assessment. Most organizations bear much in common with dysfunctional families. Spite, jealousy, and mischief-making abound.


5. Try to be cooperative and flexible. Don't sweat minor matters of style and changes of words. Save your serious objections for the most important matters -- maintaining the integrity of your work, or resisting a silly title, or compromising the truth.


6. When you are horrified by a decision -- be it type font so small a magnifying glass will be needed, or a book title you think is a practical joke -- be even-tempered and conciliatory in your response, rational and specific about your objections, and ready to suggest alternatives. Don't rant. Reason. Recommend.


7. The creation and publication of a book is a lengthy process, a long term relationship. Be polite to everyone. Consider the impact of everything you say or write. Analyze. Strategize. Evaluate. What do you want? How can you get it? And in the end, will western civilization topple if you do not get your way?


8. Be meticulous in your communications. Do not estimate or prevaricate. Every exchange, no matter how small, is an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and reliability; to develop a relationship of civility and trust with your colleagues.


9. Be judicious and fair, tolerant of other points of view. The fairness you display in communicating with colleagues may affect how receptive your editor is to a controversial subject or approach in the writing of your book.


10. Develop different approaches to dealing with short and long term problems. In the event of an immediate, serious problem, write a clear but respectful protest that includes recommendations. In the event of a longer range problem, develop a strategy of successive communiques designed to deal with the problem in a calm, rational way, preferably building consensus.


11. Assume your correspondence will be circulated, even (or perhaps especially) if you ask that it be held confidentially. Use polite language. Pretend you are a diplomat, especially if you are not.


12. Acknowledge colleagues' contributions. Demonstrate appreciation. Try to be specific about exactly what you appreciated. At the very least, say thank you.


13. If you don't understand something, ask. Any writer or publisher wants to work with colleagues committed to getting it right. If you are compliant in accepting vague terms -- thinking it will ingratiate you with a colleague, or because you are embarrassed about not "getting it" -- your compliance may come back to haunt you because a colleague may be less confident in your writerly integrity.


14. On important communiques -- letters or emails that you feel will have far ranging effects -- try to prepare drafts and wait a few hours, preferably overnight, to review before sending. You will find that sometimes you change your mind, or that you find a more eloquent, effective, or less inflammatory form of expression.


15. Department of World Peace: Form alliances with everyone -- from receptionists to editors to executive directors. It takes a village to write, publish, and market a book, not to mention to live a life.



Lynda Morgenroth is a feature writer and essayist, and author of Boston Neighborhoods (Globe Pequot) and Boston Firsts (Beacon Press).





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