Poor Collaboration Derails Publishing Projects—Here’s How to Fix That

It’s not uncommon to hear from first-time authors who say, “I didn’t think publishing a book would be this complicated.” And I understand why. Writing a book is a monumental task, but it’s also a solitary one. The transition from writing to publishing feels like crossing into unfamiliar territory — a place full of technical terms, deadlines, and professionals who don’t always speak the same language.

In many cases, the trouble begins when authors try to piece together a publishing team on their own. They hire a designer from Fiverr, a freelance editor from a friend’s recommendation, and a formatter when they realize they need one. There’s nothing inherently wrong with hiring specialists. But what often happens is that each of these service providers only sees a small piece of the puzzle. No one is looking at the whole book, the whole vision, the whole audience.

The risk of scattering your vision

When your publishing process is disjointed, you spend just as much time managing people as you do refining the book itself. A freelance editor may make suggestions that affect layout, but the designer is already working with an earlier version of the manuscript. A cover artist might create something striking, but it misses the tone of the writing because they’ve never read the book. The formatter, brought in at the last minute, receives conflicting instructions and works under pressure.

What you end up with isn’t necessarily bad, but it often feels like a patchwork effort. The book doesn’t cohere. It doesn’t flow from the same internal logic or creative source that you brought to the writing process. Instead, it reflects the handoffs, misunderstandings, and misaligned timelines that shaped it.

You don’t want your publishing experience to be an extended game of telephone. You want clarity, continuity, and care.

Why one team makes all the difference

The solution is incredibly simple: work with a single publishing partner—someone who handles editing, typesetting, cover design, and guidance for uploading to online retailers. This approach gives your book a unified creative direction. Your cover design reflects the tone and genre of the writing. Your typesetting honours the pacing and rhythm of your sentences. Your editor, designer, and formatter all know the audience you’re writing for—because they’ve been talking to you the whole time.

At Foglio, we’ve seen again and again how this model leads to better books. When a team stays with a project from beginning to end, they develop a familiarity with it that no standalone freelancer ever could. They see the changes from early drafts. They understand why certain sections matter more than others. By the time we go to print, we’re not just applying polish. We’re bringing the book to life in a way that’s faithful to its soul.

And if we’ve done our job well, we’re the people who know your book best—after you, of course!

The difference is not just in the outcome

One of the most overlooked parts of the publishing journey is how it feels. I’ve spoken to too many authors who have described the experience as frantic, overwhelming, or transactional. That’s often the result of working with fragmented teams. Everyone has their own process. You, the author, become the central coordinator—answering emails, following up on timelines, fixing handoff errors, double-checking changes.

Contrast that with the experience of working with a single, organized publishing partner. When you entrust your book to a team that communicates openly, shares files in one place, and works from a shared schedule, something shifts. The process stops being a series of tasks and becomes something closer to an act of leisure.

You can focus on your story. You get excited about design drafts. You look forward to the next version of your manuscript because it’s one step closer to sharing something meaningful with the world. There’s no scrambling. There’s no crossed wires. There’s just deliberate, thoughtful progress, and it’s liberating.

A clearer, calmer way to publish

Good collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. It’s something you plan for. When you work with a single publishing team, the process becomes more than efficient. It becomes personal. We don’t just meet deadlines. We build trust. And that trust allows us to make decisions that serve the long-term value of your book.

You don’t need to manage ten moving parts. You just need a team who sees the whole picture and is committed to helping you realize your vision. It’s that simple — and that powerful.

If that sounds like the kind of experience you’re looking for, we’d love to hear from you. You can learn more about our editing services, cover design, and formatting and typesetting packages on our site. We also have a few helpful articles on how to publish a book, why good typesetting matters, and our ultimate guide to self-publishing in Canada.

Whether you’re just beginning or you’re ready to hit publish, we’re here to help — from the first word to the final print file.