Co-writing a novel

I’ve been asked by quite a few people or one in particular  *coughKarenAmandaHoopercough* about co-writing a novel.

As you can see, my newest novel has two authors on the title, me and my friend since grade school, Kelly Viel.

So how does this all work? Well, there are many ways I’ve heard how people do this. But here is how we did it.

It all started in 2010, you know I didn’t have a lot going on besides a wedding, but pshwah, right? Anywhoo, I wrote a novel the year before and was furiously querying with no luck. (Note: This was NOT How to Date an Alien, but another novel that is getting an overhaul and will be talked about later in the year). Kelly read the other novel, loved it, and we had been chatting about books and such for a long time.

I decided that I needed a fresh idea, something new. Kelly then said, “Why don’t you write about a girl whose dad gets laid off and they have to move to a small apartment?”

My response, “that’s stupid and it’s been done before.”

I could eat those words now. I started writing and it actually turned into a cute concept. I discussed it with Kelly and she agreed, helping me out with the main character’s names (Yes, she came up with Bentley and Kai) and helped me to get the story moving.

This continued for the three weeks I wrote the first draft of the novel. If I was stuck on something, I would call Kelly and she would help me out with a plot point or a name, or just something to spice it up. After writing it we decided to shelve it. A novel with co-writers was just something I didn’t want to seek publishing at that time.

Then I went Indie.

Inbetween working on How to Date an Alien, I decided to read over this old manuscript and it was actually REALLY good. So I called up Kelly and said, “Hey want to get this thing published?” And she said, “Why the hell not?”

So that is my story.

Any questions about co-writing a novel? Are you excited for some lemons?