5 thoughts on co-writing a book series Liz Hedgecock
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Co-writing or collaborating on a book series is something that lots of writers consider. I co-wrote the Caster & Fleet Victorian mystery series with Paula Harmon, and we’ve now embarked on another series together, four and a half years after our first book together was published. This time it’s a contemporary cozy mystery series, the Booker & Fitch Mysteries, and we’ve just published the first book in the series, Murder for Beginners.
While I wouldn’t claim to have all the answers, here are some things which have served us well:
1) Compatibility
One of the things that drew us together as writers was that we wrote in similar genres: we both had a historical mystery series on the go. But it wasn’t just that. Our styles aren’t wildly different. Perhaps most importantly, we both write fairly quickly. I can’t imagine co-writing with someone who would take a week to send the next chapter!
2) Agree your terms…
While we didn’t have any particular expectations for the project beyond having a go, we both wanted to have a publishable book at the end. And if you’re publishing a book, you need to agree who’s going to be responsible for what. Is there a deadline? When will you aim to deliver chapters (if that’s how you’re planning to split the work)? Who will source the cover? Who will publish the book and do the marketing? How will you divide any profits? Before a word was written, Paula and I had a phone conversation (this was in the days before Zoom!) and agreed terms, which we later put in a signed agreement.
3) …But be flexible
While our agreement largely stands, we found early on that the book was running away with us. We’d initially agreed to write chapters in turn (our series has two first-person narrators, so that approach works for us), and for a chapter to be delivered every week, meaning that the first draft should be finished in around 6 months. However, we soon got to the point of each sending a chapter a day – and sometimes more. And once we’d finished the draft of the first book, another plot reared its head – so we decided to carry on. In the end, we drafted 3 books in 3 months. In retrospect, I have no idea how we did that.
4) Be prepared to give up some control
Sometimes your co-writer may have a different idea of where the narrative is going. Both Paula and I have put each other’s character into a sticky situation more than once, and Paula has a tendency to murder characters I had other plans for. However, so long as the book works, it can be fun and even liberating to go with the flow.
5) Take the opportunity to learn and develop
For both of us, co-writing was a chance to take more risks and step out of our respective comfort zones. We learnt from each other, and in the process wrote what was then our most successful series. Writing in partnership also means that you can share at least some of the work of promoting your series.
After we had completed the Caster & Fleet series, Paula and I both embarked on a solo spinoff series, where we took a secondary character from the Caster & Fleet books and gave them their own series. Paula’s is the Dr Margaret Demeray series, set in the run-up to World War One, mine is the Maisie Frobisher Mysteries. Both are now successful series in their own right.
And finally, don’t forget to have fun! Collaborating can be a wonderful experience, and I’d recommend that any writer considers it, whether for a small project or a whole series – or more than one!
Bio and links
Liz Hedgecock travels between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries, murdering people. To be fair, she does usually clean up after herself.
Liz lives in Cheshire with her husband and two sons, and when she’s not writing or child-wrangling you can usually find her reading, messing about on Twitter, or cooing over stuff in museums and art galleries. That’s her story, anyway, and she’s sticking to it.
Website/blog: http://lizhedgecock.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lizhedgecockwrites
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lizhedgecock
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lizhedgecock
Amazon author page (global store link): http://author.to/LizH
Paula Harmon is an author of (chiefly) historical mystery fiction, based in Dorset, UK, who has several writing projects underway and wonders where the housework fairies are, because the house is a mess and she can’t think why. Her novel ‘Death in the Last Reel’ was shortlisted for the Selfies 2022.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/paulaharmonwrites
