Many years ago here in Boulder, a local writer was working on a book about an infamous crime. It was his first book, and he’d quit his newspaper job to take on the project. He was collaborating with a well-known crime writer. It was his big break.
Only it wasn’t. When the book came out, the local writer’s name was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t on the cover next to the “big” writer. It wasn’t below it in smaller letters. It wasn’t anywhere on the cover. It was buried in the acknowledgments, with a line that said, in essence, “Thanks for the research help.”
Several members of our local writer’s group agreed: If the local guy had consulted with other professional writers, or if he’d talked to an agent, his outcome might have been very different. He might have had his own name on the cover, which could have led to bigger and better projects. Last I heard, he was once again covering school board meetings.
The moral of the story? If you want to collaborate on a book, you need to know exactly what you are getting involved in. You can’t make any assumptions about who will do what and whose name will go where. You need to protect yourself and do what you can up front to ensure a successful collaboration. (There’s nothing wrong with being a ghostwriter, of course, but you need to know that on day one…not when the book is published and you are shocked to discover your name is not on the cover.)
I recently did my first collaboration, writing The Recovery Book: Answers to All Your Questions About Addiction and Alcoholism and Finding Health and Happiness in Sobriety, with Al J. Mooney, M.D., an addiction expert, and Howard Eisenberg (ASJA). It was a dream project. We all worked together very well, and we produced a book that I am very proud of. My name is on the cover, just as we all agreed.
I was very fortunate to stumble into a great project with terrific co-authors. But I also did my homework. I researched legal aspects of collaborations before I signed anything. I talked extensively with my co-authors about who would do what. I wrote up a collaboration agreement based on my research, and had it vetted by my attorney. I did a lot of research on the systems we might use to work together.
I knew I could handle the writing. But on everything else, I was starting from scratch. I didn’t even know what I needed to know (and I didn’t find a whole lot of guidance).
Collaborating with a Non-Writing Expert is the panel I’ll be leading at next week’s ASJA conference in New York City. It is designed to help others avoid that steep learning curve.
An agent, a book editor, and two writers will discuss:
- How do you find an expert who could be a great collaborator?
- Do you need a collaboration agreement?
- What is a fair money split?
- How do you divide up research, interviews, writing, editing, social media?
- How can you capture an expert’s voice?
- How can you avoid version control nightmares? (Hint: avoid email.)
- What happens if something goes wrong?
Please join us May 1, at 9 a.m. We’ll do our best to answer all your questions. (If you’d like to read more about collaborations beforehand, check out Authorship: Dynamic duos.)