CO-AUTHORED BOOKS?

Lindzy1954 · May 31, 2010

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you all have BBQ's and sunshine in your future today

I hope someone on these boards has had some experience with co-authoring a book. Specifically, is the querying process any different and is it any harder to get a book represented when there are two authors vs. one? I know that this makes things more complicated contractually if the book is accepted by a publisher but I'm hoping there is no stigma attached to co-authoring in general that I'm not aware of. I am over halfway done with my first co-authored book in a YA series right now (www.songbirdseries.webs.com) and the process has been amazing, but we are starting to think about the future and would appreciate any insight for what the rest of this journey might be like.

Thanks!

Marzipan · May 31, 2010

Hush, Hush was co-authored and it still ended up a best sellar.

deltay · May 31, 2010

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick? Pretty sure she wrote that one solo.

Beautiful Creatures on the other hand, was co-authored by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (so's the sequel Beautiful Darkness, for that matter).

Sage · May 31, 2010

deltay said:
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick? Pretty sure she wrote that one solo.

Oh, good, that's what I thought

jscribbles · May 31, 2010

I don't think there's any stigma.

A new book by John Green and David Levithan--WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON--was co-authored by two phenomenal authors.

I also know two sisters who write together. They have a book coming out next year. You should check out their blog: http://lisa-laura.blogspot.com/

eyeblink · May 31, 2010

Another obvious duo is P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast, with the House of Night series.

Authors who always write as a team are "one author" as far as publishers and agents go, so everything is split 50/50 between them.

The adult SF novel Hunter's Run was published as a three-way collaboration - George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham.

shaldna · Jun 1, 2010

If she doesn't see this thread you should PM Cathy (Cathy C) she's the mod on the romance board, she co authors alot of her stuff so she would be the one I would ask.

Lindzy1954 · Jun 1, 2010

Great suggestion Shaldna, I appreciate it and will get in touch with her. I haven't heard anything negative about co-authoring and my writing partner is fantastic but as with everything new, there's a lot of questions rumbling about in my head. thanks everyone who responded - I appreciate it!

Cathy C · Jun 1, 2010

There SHOULD be a lot of questions running through your head. Lots of things to consider.

Here are a couple of other threads where I've discussed some of the things to keep in the back of your mind:

Respect for your co-author
Collaborative writing
Issues to consider in a book collaboration agreement

Yell if you have any other questions.

Lindzy1954 · Jun 1, 2010

Oh, Cathy thanks a ton for the links! I'll look over your contents and potentially send you a pm. Thanks again!

Marzipan · Jun 2, 2010

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick? Pretty sure she wrote that one solo.

Beautiful Creatures on the other hand, was co-authored by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (so's the sequel Beautiful Darkness, for that matter).

Crap. Got them switched around in my head. Thanks Delty.

CO-AUTHORED BOOKS?

Lindzy1954

Chi-Town Scribbler

Marzipan

deltay

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

jscribbles

Who killed my sea monkeys?

eyeblink

Barbara says hi

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Lindzy1954

Chi-Town Scribbler

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Lindzy1954

Chi-Town Scribbler

Marzipan