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Co-writing a book: Collaboration and Co-creation for Authors (Books for Writers Book 7) by [J. Thorn, Joanna Penn]

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J. Thorn

Joanna Penn

Co-writing a book: Collaboration and Co-creation for Authors (Books for Writers Book 7) Kindle Edition

by J. Thorn (Author), Joanna Penn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

28 ratings

Book 7 of 13: Books for Writers

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Co-writing can be an amazing experience when two minds come together to create something new in the world. Or it can be a painful process that ends in disaster!

In this short book, bestselling authors J. Thorn and Joanna Penn share tips on how to successfully co-write a book and avoid the pitfalls along the way. It includes excerpts from their private co-writing diary, honest notes written every day on a fiction project that will help you on your own journey.

Updated 2017 with a new chapter based on a four-author collaborative novel.

In this book, you will discover:

What is co-writing?
Benefits of co-writing
The difficulties of co-writing
Finding the right person to co-write with
Before you start: written legal agreement
Practicalities and process of co-writing and co-creation
Excerpts from Risen Gods co-writing diary
What happens if it goes wrong?
Other types of collaboration and co-creation
Tips for multi-author boxsets
Tips for managing a multi-author collaboration
Thoughts on a four author collaboration: Authors on a Train from Chicago to New Orleans

Appendix 1: Example agreement

If you want to improve your writing skills and your productivity, co-writing might be the right thing for you. Download a sample and try the book now.

Print length

90 pages
Language

English
Publication date

November 23, 2015
File size

909 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B018GF66JE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Curl Up Press; 2nd edition (November 23, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 23, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 909 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 90 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #902,703 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #132 in Genre Fiction Writing Reference
- #204 in Technical Writing Reference (Kindle Store)
- #208 in Nonfiction Writing Reference

Customer Reviews:
28 ratings

About the authors

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J. Thorn
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J. Thorn has published two million words and has sold more than 185,000 books worldwide. He is an official member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers.
J. hosts the Writers, Ink podcast with J.D. Barker and Zach Bohannon, and has interviewed some of today's most successful authors including Matthew McConaughey, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Seth Godin, Joyce Carol Oates, Hugh Howey, Andy Weir, Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, Lee Child, Stephen Pressfield, Chuck Palahniuk, and many more.
Thorn earned a B.A. in American History from the University of Pittsburgh and a M.A. from Duquesne University. He is a husband, father, full-time writer, part-time professor at John Carroll University, founder of The Author Life Community, podcaster, FM radio DJ, musician, and owner of the Three Story Method Editing Agency.
See more on the author's page
Joanna Penn
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Joanna Penn is a bestselling author, international speaker and award-winning entrepreneur based in Bath, England.
Her site, www.TheCreativePenn.com helps authors with creativity, writing, publishing, book marketing and creative entrepreneurship. It has been voted one of the top 100 sites for authors by Writers Digest. Joanna has a popular podcast, The Creative Penn, and a YouTube Channel.
You can get a free Author 2.0 Blueprint ebook and video series at www.TheCreativePenn.com/blueprint
You can also connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn
and on Facebook.com/TheCreativePenn
Joanna is a travel junkie, weaving her adventures into her Award-nominated, bestselling thrillers as J.F.Penn and podcasting at www.BooksAndTravel.page
She's a cat person and enjoys a nice G&T.
Joanna has a Masters in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College, and a post-graduate diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She spent 13 years in the corporate world before breaking out to become a full-time author-entrepreneur in 2011.
Her bestselling self-help books for writers and authors include:
Successful Self-Publishing: How to self-publish an ebook and print book
How to Market a Book
How to Make a Living with your Writing - listed as one of INC magazine top business books 2015
The Successful Author Mindset: A Handbook for Surviving the Writer's Journey
Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting and Voice Technologies
Productivity for Authors
Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur
Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts
Co-writing a Book: Collaboration and Co-Creation for Writers - co-written with J. Thorn
The Healthy Writer: Reduce your Pain, Improve your Health, and Build a Writing Career for the Long-term - co-written with Dr Euan Lawson
Career Change: Stop Hating your Job, Discover what you Really Want to Do with your Life, and Start Doing It!
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		51%
4 star		21%
3 star		17%
2 star		11%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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La libreria fiorita

Interesting!

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

Lots of useful tips for starting a writing cooperation. This is something that has always piqued my interest and I've been wondering how it all works, so the book has come at the perfect timing. Some parts did get into detail about Joanna and J's project, and even though they were helpful in getting a better understanding of how the project came to life, I would have liked some more general information about how to make it work for everyone. But there's plenty of information if you already have an idea in your head and are wondering whether you should go ahead or give up. The book makes me want to start looking for some other authors to cooperate with - and to go on a writers' retreat too.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jenny Cakes

Disappointment

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

Skip it.

This slim volume of about 69 pages (plus appendices of the authors' collaborations) goes over the bare basics of cowriting a book. It's more like a lengthy pamphlet and doesn't cover anything in detail.

Joanna Penn does have some strong advice books when it comes to writing. This is not one of them. A big disappointment.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

bookfan878

Very informative

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

I liked that this book stayed focused on the advantages and disadvantages of collaboration and the challenges. As I go to start my own collaboration I'll bear these tips in mind. Especially helpful was the part about contracts and the importance of them given the length of copyright of the finished product.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Clare

Short and Sweet

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2016

Verified Purchase

Good tips, very easy to read and short enough to read in one sitting. I would have liked a longer book, but I appreciate that the authors didn't add filler to get the page count up. Worth the price and useful for people looking at collaborating with other creatives.

Helpful

Cindy Hiday

Good information.

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

Most helpful, with a good dose of reality and caution. Worth the time, if you're considering co-authorship.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lauren

Good summation, but not groundbreaking

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

The most interesting part of this book was the log of the two authors' feelings during the process of their writing. I thought there might be a bit more in here that I haven't encountered elsewhere, but it's all standard advice with personal examples, which can be helpful, but wasn't what i was hoping for.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

SDS

Great info.

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017

Verified Purchase

So many things I had not thought about for co authoring! Contracts, money, etc. great info again from Joanna! 4 stars because I wanted to keep reading- keep feeding great info!

Helpful

W.C. Hoffman

A great salad but I wanted steak.

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2015

I want to rate this 5 stars because the authors have done so much for the writer community, but honestly I just can't.
Is it worth the $, Yes.
Could it be so much better, YES!

Both authors have contacts in the publishing world with other authors who co-write. I am sure had they decided to reach out to the SPP guys valuable information could have made this book more detailed. It is thin on pages and information but the information is useful and clearly presented.

Can you co-write without reading this book, Yes.
Should you? Eh.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

James Drysdale

Short but sweet

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

I bought the kindle edition, which comes with 84 pages. Of those, you get about 76 pages of content. At least 10 pages covered the book's copyright and plugs for the authors' work. A further 14 pages (a full chapter) is dedicated to excerpts from their co-writing diary. Some may see that as padding, however it did act as an okay example of real communication between writers. I could have done without it, but I can see how some people might find it helpful or interesting.

This is a short book, and a quick read. It talks about the benefits and drawbacks of co-writing a book with others and what to look for when deciding who to work with. On the more practical side, it suggests methods of working with others, particularly when there might be great distance and/or time zone differences between contributors. It skims over a lot of topics but touches none of them in any great depth.

The most useful thing in there for me was the section about getting a written agreement and the sample provided. It gives you a few examples about different ways you might go about marketing and handling finances for a joint work etc, which was particularly helpful. I'd have liked to see a bit more detail in these areas as that was more a concern to me than being able to find and work with another author successfully, but it certainly helped.

Before I read this book I felt more hesitant about the idea of co-writing a book with another author. In reading it, the insight I've gained has made me feel more confident about giving it a try, so from that point of view it was worth the read.