One thing that many authors forget is that, for the publisher, publishing a book is a commercial marketing exercise. They may love what you have written and want to publish it – but it’s got to work for them economically, and often that means moulding it into a more marketable shape.
A friend of mine always used to ask themselves 3 deceptively simple questions when evaluating a book proposal:
1) what’s it about?
2) who is it written for? And,
3) what will they get out of it?
Writing a book is a great thing to do and gives people a glow of satisfaction, having committed their thoughts to the record. Authors should rightly feel a great sense of achievement about this worthwhile endeavour. However, some writers are overtaken by the thought, “I’m writing a book!” and so get carried away and try to cram too much into their work, thereby clouding its focus.