depending on which publication a copyeditor is employed with, his or her goals may change; however, there are a few constituencies that must always be served – the author (the person who wrote or compiled the manuscript), the publisher (the person or company that is paying to produce the material), and the readers (the audience for whom the material is being produced). these parties (in conjunction with the copyeditor) work to achieve the same goal, which is to produce an error-free publication. the copyeditor strives to improve clarity, coherence, consistency, and correctness – otherwise known as the "4 c's". each of these components serves the copyeditor's "cardinal c", which is communication.