Coauthoring: All for One And One for the Books

How-to books and courses for aspiring authors are generally directed towards the soloist — the writer who, like Kipling’s cat, walks by himself. Even the writing group whose members present their work for mutual constructive criticism is ultimately focused on helping the individual, and the same goes for the writer-editor collaboration (or, as sometimes happens, tug of war). There is not much out there for the aspiring team of writers who wish to avail themselves of the many benefits of co-authorship (while avoiding the equally numerous traps for the unwary).

The three of us recently coauthored a book called Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, & Other Forms of Minimalist Communication (Oxford University Press: 2010), and not only lived to tell the tale but are still good friends and happy with the finished product, in large part because we agreed on a few basic precepts. Here are the fundamental half dozen, which we recommend to those of you who might be contemplating such a collaboration.

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