Do you have a desire to share your story but get overwhelmed thinking about having to write an entire book? Have you considered being a co-author? If not, you may want to consider it, because you have something valuable to share!
Writing a book can be tedious and frustrating at times when you’re on your own and your time is limited. All the tasks fall on your shoulders, and some days you’ll hit a brick wall when you just don’t feel like writing anything at all.
Wouldn’t it be great to have other authors alongside you so you can collaborate together for help with some of the work, a fresh perspective, an informed critique or even some words of inspiration to keep you going?
While a coach or an assistant would fit the bill, you might also consider collaborating with another expert. Teaming up with others to write or publish your book has quite a few benefits.
1. You can play off each other’s subject matter specialties
Let’s say you’re an entrepreneur/speaker who specializes in empowering and equipping businesses to create a great work environment and you’d like to write a book about how to integrate personal happiness in business. Your strengths should be their weaknesses and vice versa!
You could easily team up with leaders with successful businesses to contribute information about the value of culture when passing the company from one generation to the next, or a motivational speaker who specializes in team morale.
But in doing a book together, you get to benefit from what others bring to the table. If one person is a better interviewer, let them handle interviews. If one person sets scenes better, they tackle that.
2. You can deliver more value to your readers
Now each one of you — the entrepreneurs, leaders and the motivational speakers — have a product that showcases your expertise, and the product is even more comprehensive than what you could have achieved individually.
You’ve created more value for your readers by delivering a wider range of material. It’s awesome to receive a different perspective on topics, but it’s even more perspectives that vary which will inform, educate and entertain those who purchase the book.
3. You can gain exposure to each other’s network
Every time a book is purchased or given away, your name is put in front of someone new and vice versa. Because your individual subject matter specialties complement each other, rather than compete, the exposure to each other’s family, friends and clients, benefits everyone. Each of you has multiplied your sales force and potential customer base.
4. You can pool your resources
Publishing a book requires a budget; however, splitting costs with other co-authors while still having the benefits of an author can be extremely beneficial.
It will decrease your investment, making the project more manageable for you. Or maybe you both put in a little extra that allows you to upgrade some production values or print more copies. You might also draw on pooled resources to launch a bigger, better marketing campaign than you might be able to pull off on your own.
5. Increased accountability (to someone who isn’t you)
It’s easy if you’re mid-chapter to find every excuse in the world to not write. Writing is hard work, and for many writers, they manage to find other “productive” ways to spend the time when they should be writing.
There are a few built-in advantages when you’re co-writing a book, and they help to address a lot of the hurdles that keep people from writing books on their own.
It’s one thing when you have created a deadline for yourself, but when other people are relying on you to finish a task, it is put a little higher on the priority list.
Hence, why it’s great to have a co-author. Think of it this way, you’re not just writing for you; you’re writing for someone else who is depending on you!
6. Less Work > Less Stress
Okay, so that’s not entirely true, but with more people, you will have less work which may not be as stressful. It also helps to have people pushing hard to get that all-important first draft done quickly.
Have a plan and implement it. It’s much easier to split up the chapters, write them, and then share the results with the other authors. It will make the whole thing go by much more quickly than if you had been working on it alone.
7. It’s much more fun
One of the greatest benefits of being a co-author is that it’s much more enjoyable and more fun when you aren’t doing the process alone. When you find your tribe of co-authors, you’ll have a lot of fun writing the book as a whole and learning from one another.
You give yourself the opportunity to build relationships with people that you may not have normally met! A friend that knows a friend that knows a friend, could introduce you and you atomically increase your network and tribe because you are all working together on a common goal!
You laugh at the same inside jokes; you celebrate the successes together. It’s all about collaborating, not competing!
All the nerdy, quirky things that make up a book process just become more bearable and interesting when you’re doing it with others.