How Do You Effectively Co-Author a Fiction Project?

Note: This article originally published in The Bottom Line on July 1, 2026. Please click here to read the full piece. (The text below is an excerpt.)

Judging from reported deals in Publishers Marketplace, co-written fiction seems to have surged in popularity of late, and several of these authors, such as self-published romantasy writers Bree Grenwich and Parker Lennox and a group of six bestselling YA authors and friends, have scored major deals. A mystery novel by Evelyn Clarke, the pen name of the first collaboration between V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke, sparked a nine-way auction and was praised by Stephen King, whose final installment in a series he originally co-wrote with Peter Straub will publish this fall.

Given the solitary nature of the writing profession, collaboration can be an appealing option for writers who trust one another and have a common goal. They can brainstorm ideas together, explore a new genre, and promote their books as one unit. Yet “collaborations are complex undertakings,” writes literary agent Richard Curtis, “the literary equivalent of three-dimensional chess.” Writers who understand these complexities can more easily strategize their next move.

Don’t assume higher earnings and increased productivity. “A dual-authored book will not necessarily receive a higher advance or sell more copies than a single-authored book,” says Patricia Nelson, senior agent at Looking Glass Literary & Media, “so the biggest reason not to do it is financial: You’ll be splitting the advance and royalties instead of keeping the full amount.” Although collaborative work can conceivably lead to higher sales, “there’s no way to know for sure if that will be the case.” For Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey, who publish as Ali Brady, “it can sometimes feel like half the pay for the same amount of work.”