Indie Author Basics: Collaborating with other Authors

Collaborating with other authors helps to increase your marketing opportunities and exposure to new a wider reader audience.

There are several popular options for authors collaborations.

Box Sets

Collaborative box sets are often themed, with each author contributing a novella or full novel that fits the theme. The books are then published together as one product.

Holiday themes are popular around holidays, but trope themes (bad boy, billionaire, sweet romance, paranormal, etc.) are also popular year-round.

Box sets can be list-making runs (selling a high number of books at a low price in an effort to make the USA Today Bestseller list), reader magnets that are usually low cost or free, or profit-centered sets focused on collaborative marketing with the box set at full price.

Joining a box set may be free or require a buy-in. Free-to-join sets usually require authors to invest their own time and money into marketing. Box sets with a buy-in usually have one person assigned to handle the finances and schedule promos, with individual authors promoting through their social media and newsletters.

“Worlds”

Collaborative “worlds” feature multiple books in same world, each one written by a different author. The world rules are set by the organizer or agreed upon by the authors involved. Instead of publishing the books together as a set, each book is published separately by the individual authors with the “world” or series name tying them all together.

The same general rules for free-to-join and buy-ins apply to “worlds” sets.

Group promos

Teaming up with other authors to promote multiple books at once is a great way to expand your reach and attract new readers.

Many group promos are themed or holiday related. Authors often volunteer for certain tasks such as submitting to promotion sights, contacting bloggers, creating graphics, etc. Each authors then also promotes on their websites, social media, newsletters, and anywhere else they can reach authors.

Promoting the books in a group introduces readers to new authors, and because the recommendation is coming from an author they trust, they are more likely to branch out and try a new book. This works best when their are several authors with big followings involved in the group.

My Book Cave is a great place to get involved with newsletter-building group promos using their reader magnet system. Make sure to sign up for their author newsletter to get updates on what magnet groups and accepting members.

Newsletter swaps

Participating in newsletter swaps help you share fans and find new readers. These are most beneficial when authors have a large amount of subscribers, but any extra eyes on your books is always helpful.

Newsletter swaps tend to work best when the books involved are similar genres and styles. Good times to participate in swaps include sales, new releases, holidays, etc.

The writing community is generally very supportive and helpful. Don’t take everything on yourself if you don’t have to!