Writing is both a solitary and community activity.
On the one hand, as a Christian romance author, I spend countless hours inside my head and staring at a computer screen as me, myself, and I brainstorm plots, characters, and themes before pouring rough words onto a page and then rewriting them into some sort of logical order.
On the other hand, what good is a story if there’s no one to read it? But before sharing my words with the book-loving community of readers, I also work with my critique partner and editor, not to mention multiple other people-run businesses for graphics, cover design, marketing, advertising, and my amazing review team. What started as a solo project soon includes a much bigger group all connected through the power of the internet.
My introvert-perfect work process took on a unique element when I was invited to be a part of a multi-author boxed set releasing on Mother’s Day.
For those unfamiliar with boxed sets, they are essentially a collection of ebooks by various authors packaged together and sold as a single unit. Readers get multiple stories for one low price and can discover new-to-them authors in the process. While authors can multiply their marketing budget and social media reach by pooling their resources.
It’s a win-win situation for both authors and readers. But, working with other authors to create a boxed set is not without its challenges. So, if you’re considering working with someone else in a co-author or collection opportunity, here are a few logistical items to consider.
Like most things in life, communication is key. For us, we created a secret group in Facebook where we could hold discussions, document our decisions, add to shared files, and hold each other accountable. We also set up a shared Dropbox folder to collect the stories and graphics images. As we grew closer to the launch, weekly updates were posted with short lists of things to do.
Another thing we did very early was create a comprehensive list of tasks and internal deadlines for each step in the process. Then, team leadership naturally emerged as we discussed our prior experience and thankfully nobody had to learn a brand-new skill in order to pull this off. Some were familiar with blurb writing, formatting, and uploading to publishing platforms. Others were good at editing, regularly shared in multiple other Facebook groups, or had leads to marketing outlets. A few already had paid access to graphics programs and were able to create our cover, 3D image, and other promotional images. Every task on our list was given a “point” person.
Even with plenty of advance notice, as those internal deadlines approached, a few of the authors in the group had to bow out for various reasons leaving us with five that were ready to move forward. So, if you’re creating new stories for a set instead of recycling previous work, either have a flexible release date, build in time for “life” delays, or bring more authors onboard early to leave you with a solid group in the end.
Last—and this will make Karen’s lawyer brain squirm—were the legal and financial agreements. By bundling our stories, we were creating a single unique product and splitting the profits. The same person who uploaded the files for publication would also be the one responsible for receiving, splitting, and paying out our earnings with full transparency. In addition, by publishing “wide” to a variety of international retailers beyond Amazon, we all had to agree to restrictions about when and where we could publish our individual stories later. And while we didn’t draw up a formal contract, all of these decisions are documented within our group.
Our collection releases on Mother’s Day 2020 so while it’s too soon to know how effective our marketing efforts have been, early reviews have been very positive. And I’m sure there will be plenty of lessons to apply to the next time I participate in a collection.
Because collaborating with other authors has been an invaluable experience both personally and professionally.
(c) 2020 Candee Fick
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Love is in the Air: 5 Contemporary Christian Romances
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This collection of five brand new romances is sure to send your heart soaring. Journey from Canada to Georgia and Colorado to Paris by way of Michigan as these couples find love is in the air. All they had to do was look up.
Candee Fick is a multipublished, award-winning author. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy writing, editing, or coaching other authors, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.