Publishing/Book packagers vs. sub-contracting

I am writing a book right now, for a book packager. The assignment comes from the publisher via the packager. I presume I will be paid less than if I had contacted the publisher directly, but I also presume the assignment would not have been available otherwise. One nice thing about this arrangement is that the packager handles the contracts, communication and editing. Also, this is for an educational publisher and it is my understanding that more and more educational publishers are turning to book packagers these days.

Hi ATP, I'm not sure I understand your question, but I'll give it a go.
If you are writing (or maybe completely producing?) a book for a publisher, then you are a defacto book packager, yourself. When you write a book for a book packager, you usually follow a pretty specific and well-established formula for both content and format, so the only thing you're really providing are the words. The form, content, and structure of the book have already been established.
does that make any sense, or help at all?

Oh, sorry, ATP--NOW I understand your question. I've worked as an author, and I've worked FOR a book packager, but haven't done the whole thing on my own. I have had some experience with book packaging, though, if I can answer anything for you.

I've worked for a non-fiction book packager as a work for hire writer and I've worked as the author for a royalty publisher. The biggest difference for me was that when I worked for book packagers, I was given an outline to follow with indications of word or page lengths for different sections. Sometimes I have also been given some of the research material. Once I wrote the text for the book packager, I e-mailed it in, I got a check, and they did what they wanted with it. They never came back to me with questions or requests for revisions or discussion about editing. They didn't want art or graphics suggestions either. When I have written books for a royalty publisher, there have been multiple revisions and discussions about editing decisions and possible art for the book, and I got to review the galleys. In some ways I have found writing for a book packager liberating. You do the work, it goes out the door, and you cash the check. In other ways, it is less satisfying because it isn't all yours from concept to final edit and often your name is only tangentially associated with it in a list of contributors. I don't have experience with fiction book packagers, although from talking to people who do that kind of work, I have the impression that the writer gets an outline and length specs. In series books like the Babysitters Club, the writer must agree to keep the characters consistent throughout the series.