Welcome to How to Cowrite Nonfiction, with Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn!
Before I cowrote my first book with a friend, I assumed that writing half the book meant doing half the work.
Boy, was I wrong.
I had so many misconceptions about what it would actually look like to cowrite a book before my friend Wade Peterson asked me to tackle a sci-fi project together.
I’d never done it—and neither had he.
Fortunately, we were smart enough to call up a couple of friends who had, and pick their brains about the process.
We had so many questions about cowriting.
- How do you split the royalties?
- Who writes what?
- How does the editing pass work?
- How did you handle disagreements and creative differences?
- And—most importantly—how did you manage to remain friends?
Co-writing sounds simple in theory. You get two brains working on one book…should be pretty straightforward!
But it can turn into a minefield of logistics, ego, and gnarly Google Doc comment threads if you’re not careful.
I’ve seen cowriting destroy friendships, but I’ve also seen people become badass cowriting powerhouses who are able to do more with their partnership than they could on their own.
Which is why this Story Rebel Masterclass was so helpful!
Veteran co-authors Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how they cowrite nonfiction books. In the full replay, they’ll walk you through exactly how they collaborate, from first idea to finished book, including:
- The project management systems and tools that keep them on track
- How they divide the work (and what to do when the split isn’t even)
- The legal and contract basics every co-author should nail down up front
- Pitfalls to watch for before they derail your project
- How to protect the working relationship through deadlines, disagreements, and revisions
Whether you’re cowriting with a long-time collaborator or teaming up for the first time, you’ll leave with a practical roadmap for making the partnership work.
You can find the full replay in the content vault of the Story Rebel Club.
Or check out clips of the interview below.