Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed how often I refer to “my team.”

The excessive references are an outworking of what’s going on in my professional life right now. I’ve had some exciting changes and forward momentum on my projects. Hopefully I can let you all in on my big secret soon (it’s so fun!), but until then I thought maybe we should talk about what authors mean when they refer to their “team.”

As an author, your team is anyone invested in building your career and/or assigned to work on one of your books.

If you go the traditional publishing route (and that’s what I’ll focus on here), many of your team members will be employed or contracted by the publishing house who buys your manuscript. That, however, is not true of the number one team member on our list:

Your Agent

In the world of traditional publishing, your agent will likely be the first member of your team.

It’s important to know that in publishing, you don’t hire agents. At least, you shouldn’t. Most often, agents choose which authors and projects they want to work with through a process called querying.

Note: We’ve talked a lot about querying agents here on Go Teen Writers, but I don’t see that we’ve done a thorough look at the process. Come back next week, and I’ll dig deeper into this, okay?

If, throughout the querying process, you and an agent decide you’d like to work together, the agent will present you with a contract and, if you choose to sign it, the two of you will enter into a professional relationship.

If an agent asks you to pay them up front, something might be fishy. Your agent makes money when they sell a manuscript to a publishing house on your behalf. They make a commission on the sale and, often, depending on how your contract is structured, on other rights sold relating to that work.

Both the querying process and the commission structure are safeguards, and they ensure that your agent is invested in your project. Agents work hard to sell the books they’ve selected because they believe in their potential, and because it is in their best interest professionally.

Your agent is your biggest professional advocate. They represent you to the publishing world, so it’s important that they maintain a good reputation and be skilled at what they do.

Your Editor

When you receive an offer from a publishing house, it is usually because one of their editors read and liked your work. Most editors do not have the power to decide whether or not the house will acquire your book, but if they would like to buy it, they pitch your book to their team which will likely include the rest of the editorial staff as well as marketing and sales.

If they are successful and the house agrees to make an offer that you accept, the editor takes on the job of working with you to turn your manuscript into a book that can be displayed at bookstores and read by readers.

As a new writer, you have no control over which editors will love and want to acquire your work. I’ve worked with editors who weren’t my dream fit, and I’ve worked with editors who perfectly suited me. I definitely prefer the latter, but it is possible to produce shelf-worthy books regardless.

The Editorial Assistant

This is a position that a rookie author might overlook. But the editorial assistant working with your editorial team does so much for your project. Often editorial assistants read manuscripts before or alongside an editor. They compile notes and they act as a sounding board for the editorial team. In many cases they become a project’s biggest champion.

I am the lucky beneficiary of an enthusiastic editorial assistant who worked hard to get my project acquired. I owe her the world and I know many published authors feel the same about the editorial assistant who plucked them out of the slush pile.

Your Marketing/Publicity Experts

I probably shouldn’t group these two departments together, but I’m going to anyway. The reason is simple: when I was gathering info for this article, I came across a variety of experiences and organizational structures within different houses. Some publishers have big marketing and publicity teams and some publishers have a single marketer and publicist. In smaller houses, these jobs are often taken on by the same few people.

The marketing folks are responsible for creating and implementing campaign strategies and advertising for your book. Their job is to know what’s going on in the market so they can generate enthusiasm for your story, in person, online, and elsewhere.

The publicity team, on the other hand, is your advocate to the media. Whether it’s online ads, exposure in print, television spots, major reviewers or bloggers, the publicist’s job is to get word of your story out on the streets. They do this by exhausting their contacts and utilizing the materials generated by the marketing team.

Your Sales Team

I had the opportunity to attend a sales meeting once. Just after I signed my first book contract, my publisher flew me out to meet with the team members who have the job of selling my book into bookstores.

That’s right. Just because you have a book deal, there’s no guarantee every Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Target, or Costco will carry your book. Your sales team is tasked with pitching your book to retailers for consideration. These folks are incredibly valuable to you and you may never meet them. Crazy right?

The Artists and Designers

Your publisher likely has an art and design team. These departments work together to create a package. That’s right, your book is a package and you want it to be appealing to your target audience.

Enter these guys. From your cover to the interior design of your novel, from fonts to wingdings to spacing, this crew has one job: to make your book look awesome. While you may have some say in the appearance of your finished product, this crew works hard to know what does and does not work on a bookshelf. Their expertise is valuable. Lean into that.

NOW! Your team is so much bigger than you realized, isn’t it? And I’ve only scratched the surface.

There are often several different editors with different specialties who will work on your book. There are proofreaders who will pull out a fine tooth comb and seek out typos. Your publisher has a legal team who will work with your agent on your book contract. There are people who work to sell your manuscript to international publishers and those who specialize in audiobook rights. You may even have the opportunity to work with a film agent.

Every single person I’ve listed here–and likely many I’ve forgotten–make up an author’s team. I think it’s super cool to have so many intelligent people invested in the success of your book. For all it’s faults, publishing can be an amazing, highly collaborative industry. And I love it for that.

Tell me, did you realize an author’s team was so large? Anything here that surprised you?

Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.

Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.

It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.

To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.

For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.