COLLABORATION: TIPS FOR WRITING WITH SOMEONE ELSE—PUBLISHING AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, PART 2

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

There are many wonderful reasons and methods for co-authoring a book. Here are just a few of them.

1. You have someone to share the work with. Even though it may not end up being exactly a 50/50 split, you have someone to bounce ideas off of, discuss important points, and plan not only the book but also the book launch and marketing method. In most of these cases two heads are better than one! My latest co-authored series is the LINKED Personality Series written with Linda Goldfarb. We quickly learned that because we are both very busy people, deadlines could sneak up on us and if we weren’t careful, we’d end up behind our self-imposed schedule. When that happened, one of us listened to what all the other had going on and always replied, “Let me handle that. I think I can make that work.” Flexibility is very important when trying to combine two different schedules.

2. It is important to have a co-authoring agreement that works for both parties. For instance, some co-authored teams divide up the number of chapters and each person writes half. Others take a look at the subject of each chapter and the person most knowledgeable on that subject writes that chapter. If you are writing devotions or short pieces, you may want to divide them more randomly so that your writing styles are interspersed.

Interestingly, one of my first co-authored books was Mommy Pick-Me-Ups. Edna Ellison and I shared the writing of this devotion book for young moms. The first several interviews we did on this book, the host of the interview looked at me and said something like, “The story on page 66 about the monkey was really interesting to me. Tell us about that one.” Well, it just so happened that Edna had written that one. I knew there was a monkey story in the book but as far as being able to recall it in detail, it just wasn’t going to happen.

So instead of looking at the host with a blank stare, I said, “You are right. That is a great story. But my favorite story in the book is the story about my son’s hands. May I share that one and tell you why I love it so much!”

3. You will be so blessed to work that closely with someone else who shares your passion for the subject of your book. When that occurs, you will become each other’s biggest cheerleaders in the project, and let’s face it, we all need a good cheerleader. You can encourager each other when you are struggling to find the right word and rejoice together when you find it!

4. When it comes to marketing you have someone to share the work with. That is extremely beneficial when you and your co-author live in different parts of the country.

5. Working so closely with someone allows you to deepen your friendship and become close friends for life!

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Collaboration: Tips for Writing with Someone Else—Publishing as a Second Language from @LindaGilden on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Don't miss the other posts in this series!

Collaboration: Tips for Writing with Someone Else - Part 1

Collaboration: Tips for Writing with Someone Else - Part 2

Collaboration: Tips for Writing with Someone Else - Part 3

Linda Gilden has coauthored 11 books with 5 different coauthors and has #12 and #13 coming out in 2022, adding a new co-author to the list. She loves every one of her coauthors and enjoys collaborating on interesting projects with them. She also has written many books on her own and realizes what a treasure and blessing a good co-author is.