It seems counter-intuitive: you want to write a book so you hire a writer. Yet recruiting a co-author might be your best hope for getting your book finished—and to the standard of quality you know it deserves.
What do I mean when I say “co-author”? Well, if you check out my services, you’ll see that I’m a professional writer who provides ghostwriting and copywriting support to leaders and entrepreneurs. This “support” could mean writing a piece of content entirely on my own (e.g., an article that appears under my client’s name). But it could also mean partnering with my client on the writing, or simply editing what they have written.
So when I work as a co-author with a client, that means I am collaborating with that client to write a book. How the heck does that work? All sorts of different ways. It could mean:
For each client, I create a different arrangement to suit their personality, communication style (e.g., they prefer conversation over writing in solitude), schedule, and budget.
So why might hiring a co-author be your golden ticket to getting your book completed—and in great, publishable shape?
A co-author will help you with structure
Do you know what should happen in Chapter 1 of your book? Do you know what tense to write in? Do you know how often you should be telling stories? Do you know how this idea connects with that story? Do you know how to make everything flow together?
Guess what. You don’t need to know the answers to these questions. A professional book-writer (i.e., your trusty co-author) already knows. But as a bonus, when you work with a co-author, you’ll learn quite a bit about structuring a book.
A co-author will adopt—and enhance—your natural writing “voice”
When someone hires me as a co-author, my job is to amplify my client’s voice. Because I am an experienced ghostwriter, I know how to write in other voices—meaning I can sound like other people.
So even if I contribute large chunks of writing to your book, I will do it with a style that is all your own. I won’t sound like “me”. The book will have a consistent tone and style—and it will be yours.
The best part is that I will make you sound like the best possible version of yourself. That’s where the support of a co-author pays off big time. I’ll polish, perfect, enhance, and expand on your writing until it sings.
A co-author will pull the real good stuff out of you
Sometimes you have a message you want to share. Sometimes you have a story you want to tell. But the fact is that every message has stories that bring it to life. And every story contains messages within it.
Are you able, on your own, to identify which stories support your message, and which messages flow from your story?
Having a co-author on a project is oftentimes like having a coach or a counsellor assist you in drawing more meaning out of the things you want to share. You might not even be totally clear on why you want to communicate what you want to communicate. But you’ll gain this clarity from working with the right co-author.
An experienced co-author can direct you towards publication solutions
Writing and publishing a book is an unbelievable journey. Frankly, it’s not always fun, but it is always satisfying to the core. It can consume more time and money than you think it will. It can be more stressful than you think it will be.
But there’s nothing like bringing that project home and holding a physical book in your hands.
Publication (whether it’s through self, traditional, or hybrid options) is the stage at which you get to bring your book home. It’s that last lap, that final push. And finishing well means everything; how you publish your book will determine who is exposed to your work. So you’re going to want some good advice, and connections to the publication professionals who can help you to truly finish well.
Let’s face it…if you’ve already started your book, you might be thinking that finishing at all would be awesome. So is it time to call in a collaborator?
