HI EVERYBODY! Or at least hi, Paula! <3 I hope you have some questions for us so we don't just have to devolve into telling embarrassing stories about each other.
This is such a good question, because it’s definitely different when more than one author is involved. It depends on whether you are selling a debut as a co-author team, or if you’re both already agented/published. Selling as a debut is pretty straightforward–you’d query agents the same way as a single author, but with some extra support surviving the query trenches. Paula and I were both already agented/published when we wrote Starworld, so we had TWO agents involved! This may sometimes involve signing a contract before you go on submission agreeing to split any advance or royalty money 50/50, especially if the authors are agented with different agencies (as we were). Some agents prefer to have one agent do submissions, and others will agree to split the submission list and proceed accordingly.
How did you set up the exchange of the story? (I’ve used Google Docs in the past, which seemed to work well, and I know some authors prefer to meet in-person and just pass a physical laptop back and forth.)
We mostly took turns writing chapters and then discussed them, and we sometimes revised parts of the other’s work, etc. For scenes where both characters were on the page having dialogue, we sometimes tried Google Docs, but it generally devolved into a lot of silliness and laugh/crying as we wrote ridiculous things and typed over each other’s words. Because mature. 😉
We emailed a Word document back and forth, and for the scenes in which our characters were exchanging text messages, we did those live in a Google Doc. But as Paula said, it usually devolved into silliness! 🙂
If you’re querying a first book, it’s essentially the same with the added benefit of having someone else to help research agents and to split the duties of submitting to agents. Plus, there’s someone there to offer virtual (or real, if you’re geographically convenient) hugs and support when coping with rejections.
My husband is a newspaper editor, and always gets my novels before anyone else. He has written all of the newspaper articles,
police reports, and the like in the novel I’m currently querying. He doesn’t want his name to appear on the cover. Is there a way to give him the credit he deserves without a co-author credit?
Aw, that’s fantastic that your husband is such a huge help! I think it depends on what he’s comfortable with. A great way to thank people is in the acknowledgments of your book, and if he was a major contributor it would be lovely to spend a paragraph lauding him for all he’s done and giving credit where credit is due. It might even be humorous to acknowledge that he didn’t want his name on the cover even though you feel he served as a co-author thanks to all his help with the epistolary content. 🙂
We also provided feedback and critique on each other’s chapters as we wrote. Basically the process would go as follows:
1) Audrey drafts a chapter
2) Paula critiques Audrey’s chapter
3) Paula drafts a chapter
4) Audrey critiques Paula’s chapter
We only deviated from that if one of us had written a chapter that ended up needing to be scrapped/overhauled, and then it would bounce back to that author to be fixed. This process might not work for every book or every co-author pair, but it worked great for us! And we ended up with a pretty strong first draft, which does not tend to be the case with either of our solo books.
This is probably an annoying answer, and maybe hard to believe, but we virtually never disagreed–we were on page from the start on almost everything (if not at first, then always after some discussion). I can’t think of any points of disagreement! Audrey, can you?
Paula and I were lucky in that we very rarely disagreed. BUT, sometimes we’d have planned out the next chapter of the story and either a) I’d write something Paula had to tell me was crap, or b) Paula jetted off in a wildly different direction than what we’d planned. She and I came into the project with a deep level of trust, so I trusted her opinion if she said what I’d written didn’t resonate. And usually her wild digressions from our plot just made me laugh, or I was able to rein her back in a little when providing critique on the chapter. The key to working out disagreements is always to talk things through and be willing to consider the other person’s view objectively. Trusting your co-author is KEY. Neither one of you will be right 100% of the time! (Although Paula often was…) 🙂
What’s a good way to set up expectations between co-authors? (For instance, how fast a piece of writing will be turned around.) How do you find a balance between keeping it fun and keeping it at least a little structured?
We were both working on other books at the same time, so we really tried to work around each other’s schedules and most boggy times. We tried to make sure we were on page with regard to timeline goals, and it generally worked out well. One aspect of this was that because we were in this together, and we were so committed, and we loved it so much, and it was such fun, it wasn’t hard to stay motivated and productive. That is not always the case in solo work. 😉
100% agreed. Starworld actually started as a fun side project the year before our debuts came out. We really had no business drafting another book during that time, but it was SO MUCH FUN that it barely even felt like work. We had the whole thing drafted in about 9 months, which is wildly faster than either of us have completed solo projects. Debut year can be stressful…it was the perfect escape.
What do you recommend if your co-author has personal books to write in addition to your co-written title? How do you keep the project moving forward if you’re both busy with other projects, too?
We were both working on solo projects at the same time, and the problem was really more the reverse: moving forward on our other work when this was the one that often was calling to us hardest. But I think it’s important to make sure that your goals and timelines (and, really, just about everything) are on page if you’re going to undertake a co-writing project.
In my case this actually involved a lot of bribery from Paula. I struggled with my solo books a fair amount, partly because I am an outstanding procrastigloomer and partly because I am slower to figure out the plots of my fantasy books. So in some cases Paula had to be like OH MY GOD WRITE A CHAPTER AND I’LL MAKE YOU SOME FREAKING GINGER COOKIES, LAZYPANTS and then I would dutifully write my chapter. Her ginger cookies are the actual best thing on earth, trust me.
How do you handle different experience levels in co-authoring? I have a partner who’s an excellent storyteller, but a much less-experienced writer. How would you go about approaching writing a novel in such a situation?
Hmm, I think this depends on what exactly the goal of the project is? I can see co-authoring as being a really great way for a newbie writer to gain some practice and confidence. As long as there is a deep level of trust and you both have the ability to critique each other with kindness, it can be really helpful to have a co-author whose strengths and weaknesses are different from yours. For example, Paula is FAR better than me at bringing emotion to the page. I’m basically a robot, but I’m also more plot-focused than Paula. So she was able to critique to give me guidance making sure my character’s emotions resonated and I was able to keep the plot of the book from meandering too much. We were a great team!
Janine
2 years ago
What if your writing voice differs by a lot? Especially if you’re doing a single PoV novel?
That’s a real challenge with a single POV novel, but not impossible. Paula and I found by the end of writing Starworld that we could both imitate each other’s character’s voices pretty well (though Paula has a much better knack for that than I do). I think it helps to agree on the character’s voice, and be comfortable with writing a few chapters to get that sorted out and nailed down before you continue on. It’s more about the voice of the character than the voice of each author…you may find that the combination of two authors creates a character voice neither one of you could have come up with alone.
Great comments, Aud. I was going to say that I think the single character/two authors thing sounds pretty challenging! My only experience in co-writing has been Starworld, with each of us bringing a character (and very different characters/voices at that). We have been thrilled to see reviewers refer to it as “seamless,” but I think a lot of that comes from our characters actually being quite different. I imagine if two writers were writing one character, there would be a lot of smoothing and negotiating involved!
Neither Paula nor I started our writing careers as plotters, so heading into a co-authored project probably seemed wildly ill-advised. However, the cool thing about working with a co-author is that you are sort of forced to agree about the overall direction of the story or next chapter before moving on. From the beginning we always knew the book was heading toward a pivotal scene (no spoilers!), so we had that to work toward. And then before each person wrote the next chapter, we’d discuss together where we thought the story should head. Those microplotting sessions were WILDLY helpful and kept us on track and excited about what was coming next. Plus, it is amazing to have someone to bounce ideas off of as you’re drafting–there are far fewer missteps when you’ve already discussed and discarded the most obvious ideas until you land on something brilliant together.
I think a lot of this depends on the co-authors involved in a project, though–there are some authors who MUST outline/plot first (sadly I have now turned into one of these), so if you and your co-author are those type of people you might benefit from doing a more substantial outline in advance.
Yes, as often as possible! We have a lot of country between us, unforutnately, but we have had lots of opportunities for IRL shenanigans, and they are the literal best. 🙂
And it’s best that NO ONE EVER FIND OUT about some of the embarrassment that has occurred at said meetings. We are excited to do some promotional events for Starworld together this year!
We did! Beta readers were crucial, as were sensitivity readers. We started out with a few of our usual critique partners reading and giving us feedback on the overall story. Those early comments helped us reshape the book to get it ready for our agents and ultimately for submission to publishers. Later in the process, just prior to publication, we had multiple sensitivity readers to read for some of the content we felt it was essential to get right, particularly surrounding mental illness and disability as its portrayed in the book.
Because we were each writing a different character, there’s plenty of Audrey parts and plenty of Paula parts, although we did also do work in each other’s chapters. Sometimes one of us would stick something in the other person’s chapter that was meant to be a joke or a placeholder, only to have the other person respond OMG I LOVE THAT I’M KEEPING IT. This is how you get besotted wharf rats and all sorts of other delightful surprises. 🙂
Oh my gosh, it was! Also, Audrey’s comments in the margins made me laugh so hard I cried. A common one was, “Shy, fix the het stuff!” (She calls me Shy.)
Honestly, Audrey and I have marveled endlessly over what we refer to as “the magic”–the way our co-authoring went was kind of an anomaly, based on things we’ve heard about all the things that can go wrong, how relationships are ruined, etc. But we knew we were solid. We knew each other well, we knew the other’s style and issues and strengths and deficits, we knew when the other needed tenderness and encouragement and when they needed an ass-kicking lol, and we trusted each other. Plus, we just LIKED (like!) each other so damn much… Without that combination of complementary skill sets, trust, and love, I don’t think all the discipline, outlines, or plans in the world could have made this work. So for people thinking of co-authoring, I would just say that I think it’s something to be entered into carefully, with a lot of forethought and honest conversation.
I think it depends on what you and your co-author hope to get out of it. Honestly, Starworld started as a project that was purely for fun, and only as we got deeper into the story did we realize that the book really might have a future on shelves AND that we believed in it enough to put it out into the world. I still feel strongly that Starworld is the best book I’ve ever written, not only because of Paula’s chapters, but also what she brought to mine.
I would definitely encourage anyone thinking about co-authoring to already have a very solid and trusting critique partner relationship, a good sense of humor, and similar goals for the project. There are also other methods of collaborative writing that might be a better fit for some writers…things like play-by-post role playing games or writing fanfiction. There’s no wrong way to co-author…just finding the method and medium that works for you and your co-author!
It’s worth noting that navigating querying and publishing can be a real test of a partnership. I’d caution people about going that route unless they are 100% committed to putting their friendship above everything else.
HI EVERYBODY! Or at least hi, Paula! <3 I hope you have some questions for us so we don't just have to devolve into telling embarrassing stories about each other.
How does selling your agent or a publisher on a co-authored book differ from selling your own individual work? Are there extra complications?
This is such a good question, because it’s definitely different when more than one author is involved. It depends on whether you are selling a debut as a co-author team, or if you’re both already agented/published. Selling as a debut is pretty straightforward–you’d query agents the same way as a single author, but with some extra support surviving the query trenches. Paula and I were both already agented/published when we wrote Starworld, so we had TWO agents involved! This may sometimes involve signing a contract before you go on submission agreeing to split any advance or royalty money 50/50, especially if the authors are agented with different agencies (as we were). Some agents prefer to have one agent do submissions, and others will agree to split the submission list and proceed accordingly.
How did you set up the exchange of the story? (I’ve used Google Docs in the past, which seemed to work well, and I know some authors prefer to meet in-person and just pass a physical laptop back and forth.)
I’ve always been a Scrivener fan, but the ease of working with a partner on Google Docs is awesome.
We mostly took turns writing chapters and then discussed them, and we sometimes revised parts of the other’s work, etc. For scenes where both characters were on the page having dialogue, we sometimes tried Google Docs, but it generally devolved into a lot of silliness and laugh/crying as we wrote ridiculous things and typed over each other’s words. Because mature. 😉
We emailed a Word document back and forth, and for the scenes in which our characters were exchanging text messages, we did those live in a Google Doc. But as Paula said, it usually devolved into silliness! 🙂
How does the querying process change when you write with a partner?
If you’re querying a first book, it’s essentially the same with the added benefit of having someone else to help research agents and to split the duties of submitting to agents. Plus, there’s someone there to offer virtual (or real, if you’re geographically convenient) hugs and support when coping with rejections.
My husband is a newspaper editor, and always gets my novels before anyone else. He has written all of the newspaper articles,
police reports, and the like in the novel I’m currently querying. He doesn’t want his name to appear on the cover. Is there a way to give him the credit he deserves without a co-author credit?
Aw, that’s fantastic that your husband is such a huge help! I think it depends on what he’s comfortable with. A great way to thank people is in the acknowledgments of your book, and if he was a major contributor it would be lovely to spend a paragraph lauding him for all he’s done and giving credit where credit is due. It might even be humorous to acknowledge that he didn’t want his name on the cover even though you feel he served as a co-author thanks to all his help with the epistolary content. 🙂
How do you decide where to divide the work between two writers?
We had two characters and alternating chapters, so the basic framework was pretty clear and easy, in our case.
We also provided feedback and critique on each other’s chapters as we wrote. Basically the process would go as follows:
1) Audrey drafts a chapter
2) Paula critiques Audrey’s chapter
3) Paula drafts a chapter
4) Audrey critiques Paula’s chapter
We only deviated from that if one of us had written a chapter that ended up needing to be scrapped/overhauled, and then it would bounce back to that author to be fixed. This process might not work for every book or every co-author pair, but it worked great for us! And we ended up with a pretty strong first draft, which does not tend to be the case with either of our solo books.
How do you deal with disagreements during the process of writing together?
This is probably an annoying answer, and maybe hard to believe, but we virtually never disagreed–we were on page from the start on almost everything (if not at first, then always after some discussion). I can’t think of any points of disagreement! Audrey, can you?
Paula and I were lucky in that we very rarely disagreed. BUT, sometimes we’d have planned out the next chapter of the story and either a) I’d write something Paula had to tell me was crap, or b) Paula jetted off in a wildly different direction than what we’d planned. She and I came into the project with a deep level of trust, so I trusted her opinion if she said what I’d written didn’t resonate. And usually her wild digressions from our plot just made me laugh, or I was able to rein her back in a little when providing critique on the chapter. The key to working out disagreements is always to talk things through and be willing to consider the other person’s view objectively. Trusting your co-author is KEY. Neither one of you will be right 100% of the time! (Although Paula often was…) 🙂
Everything you said is true. 😉
What’s a good way to set up expectations between co-authors? (For instance, how fast a piece of writing will be turned around.) How do you find a balance between keeping it fun and keeping it at least a little structured?
We were both working on other books at the same time, so we really tried to work around each other’s schedules and most boggy times. We tried to make sure we were on page with regard to timeline goals, and it generally worked out well. One aspect of this was that because we were in this together, and we were so committed, and we loved it so much, and it was such fun, it wasn’t hard to stay motivated and productive. That is not always the case in solo work. 😉
100% agreed. Starworld actually started as a fun side project the year before our debuts came out. We really had no business drafting another book during that time, but it was SO MUCH FUN that it barely even felt like work. We had the whole thing drafted in about 9 months, which is wildly faster than either of us have completed solo projects. Debut year can be stressful…it was the perfect escape.
Exactly that. Starworld was an escape for all four of us! *smooshes*
What do you recommend if your co-author has personal books to write in addition to your co-written title? How do you keep the project moving forward if you’re both busy with other projects, too?
We were both working on solo projects at the same time, and the problem was really more the reverse: moving forward on our other work when this was the one that often was calling to us hardest. But I think it’s important to make sure that your goals and timelines (and, really, just about everything) are on page if you’re going to undertake a co-writing project.
In my case this actually involved a lot of bribery from Paula. I struggled with my solo books a fair amount, partly because I am an outstanding procrastigloomer and partly because I am slower to figure out the plots of my fantasy books. So in some cases Paula had to be like OH MY GOD WRITE A CHAPTER AND I’LL MAKE YOU SOME FREAKING GINGER COOKIES, LAZYPANTS and then I would dutifully write my chapter. Her ginger cookies are the actual best thing on earth, trust me.
How do you handle different experience levels in co-authoring? I have a partner who’s an excellent storyteller, but a much less-experienced writer. How would you go about approaching writing a novel in such a situation?
Hmm, I think this depends on what exactly the goal of the project is? I can see co-authoring as being a really great way for a newbie writer to gain some practice and confidence. As long as there is a deep level of trust and you both have the ability to critique each other with kindness, it can be really helpful to have a co-author whose strengths and weaknesses are different from yours. For example, Paula is FAR better than me at bringing emotion to the page. I’m basically a robot, but I’m also more plot-focused than Paula. So she was able to critique to give me guidance making sure my character’s emotions resonated and I was able to keep the plot of the book from meandering too much. We were a great team!
What if your writing voice differs by a lot? Especially if you’re doing a single PoV novel?
That’s a real challenge with a single POV novel, but not impossible. Paula and I found by the end of writing Starworld that we could both imitate each other’s character’s voices pretty well (though Paula has a much better knack for that than I do). I think it helps to agree on the character’s voice, and be comfortable with writing a few chapters to get that sorted out and nailed down before you continue on. It’s more about the voice of the character than the voice of each author…you may find that the combination of two authors creates a character voice neither one of you could have come up with alone.
Great comments, Aud. I was going to say that I think the single character/two authors thing sounds pretty challenging! My only experience in co-writing has been Starworld, with each of us bringing a character (and very different characters/voices at that). We have been thrilled to see reviewers refer to it as “seamless,” but I think a lot of that comes from our characters actually being quite different. I imagine if two writers were writing one character, there would be a lot of smoothing and negotiating involved!
How much plotting do you do before jumping into a co-authored book?
Neither Paula nor I started our writing careers as plotters, so heading into a co-authored project probably seemed wildly ill-advised. However, the cool thing about working with a co-author is that you are sort of forced to agree about the overall direction of the story or next chapter before moving on. From the beginning we always knew the book was heading toward a pivotal scene (no spoilers!), so we had that to work toward. And then before each person wrote the next chapter, we’d discuss together where we thought the story should head. Those microplotting sessions were WILDLY helpful and kept us on track and excited about what was coming next. Plus, it is amazing to have someone to bounce ideas off of as you’re drafting–there are far fewer missteps when you’ve already discussed and discarded the most obvious ideas until you land on something brilliant together.
I think a lot of this depends on the co-authors involved in a project, though–there are some authors who MUST outline/plot first (sadly I have now turned into one of these), so if you and your co-author are those type of people you might benefit from doing a more substantial outline in advance.
*does not understand the question and won’t respond to it* 😉 Plot = 4 letter word for me, so I leave this one to Audrey!
Ha! I feel you there, Paula.
Do you ever get to meet up in person?
Yes, as often as possible! We have a lot of country between us, unforutnately, but we have had lots of opportunities for IRL shenanigans, and they are the literal best. 🙂
And it’s best that NO ONE EVER FIND OUT about some of the embarrassment that has occurred at said meetings. We are excited to do some promotional events for Starworld together this year!
For someone who doesn’t want their embarassing things known in the world, Audrey, YOU SURE DO A LOT OF THEM. :-*
*huffs*
Did you work with beta readers after the manuscript was finished?
We did! Beta readers were crucial, as were sensitivity readers. We started out with a few of our usual critique partners reading and giving us feedback on the overall story. Those early comments helped us reshape the book to get it ready for our agents and ultimately for submission to publishers. Later in the process, just prior to publication, we had multiple sensitivity readers to read for some of the content we felt it was essential to get right, particularly surrounding mental illness and disability as its portrayed in the book.
Can you see your individual work in the finished book? Can you pick out any individuality at the end?
Because we were each writing a different character, there’s plenty of Audrey parts and plenty of Paula parts, although we did also do work in each other’s chapters. Sometimes one of us would stick something in the other person’s chapter that was meant to be a joke or a placeholder, only to have the other person respond OMG I LOVE THAT I’M KEEPING IT. This is how you get besotted wharf rats and all sorts of other delightful surprises. 🙂
Ah, that sounds like so much fun!
Oh my gosh, it was! Also, Audrey’s comments in the margins made me laugh so hard I cried. A common one was, “Shy, fix the het stuff!” (She calls me Shy.)
IT’S NOT MY FAULT I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT STRAIGHT PEOPLE
LOL! I can see why the co-authored project was more interesting than the personal projects, then.
Is jumping into a co-writing project something you recommend for anyone, or are there steps to reaching the decision that need to be addressed first?
Honestly, Audrey and I have marveled endlessly over what we refer to as “the magic”–the way our co-authoring went was kind of an anomaly, based on things we’ve heard about all the things that can go wrong, how relationships are ruined, etc. But we knew we were solid. We knew each other well, we knew the other’s style and issues and strengths and deficits, we knew when the other needed tenderness and encouragement and when they needed an ass-kicking lol, and we trusted each other. Plus, we just LIKED (like!) each other so damn much… Without that combination of complementary skill sets, trust, and love, I don’t think all the discipline, outlines, or plans in the world could have made this work. So for people thinking of co-authoring, I would just say that I think it’s something to be entered into carefully, with a lot of forethought and honest conversation.
I think it depends on what you and your co-author hope to get out of it. Honestly, Starworld started as a project that was purely for fun, and only as we got deeper into the story did we realize that the book really might have a future on shelves AND that we believed in it enough to put it out into the world. I still feel strongly that Starworld is the best book I’ve ever written, not only because of Paula’s chapters, but also what she brought to mine.
I would definitely encourage anyone thinking about co-authoring to already have a very solid and trusting critique partner relationship, a good sense of humor, and similar goals for the project. There are also other methods of collaborative writing that might be a better fit for some writers…things like play-by-post role playing games or writing fanfiction. There’s no wrong way to co-author…just finding the method and medium that works for you and your co-author!
It’s worth noting that navigating querying and publishing can be a real test of a partnership. I’d caution people about going that route unless they are 100% committed to putting their friendship above everything else.
Yes, that. Our friendship was always, ALWAYS the one non-negotiable. <3