Dear O'Abby,
I'm working with another writer on a dual POV novel. She's writing one POV, and I'm writing the other. We're just about through editing and starting to think about publishing and realized we have no idea how it works for teams of writers working together. Do we just query like usual? What about if one of us already has an agent?
Can you help?
Best,
Bemused
Dear Bemused,
If one of you is agented, I have to assume said agent doesn't rep the genre this particular novel falls into, or you'd be pitching it to her first.
If neither one of you is agented, I suggest you just query as you would on your own. Make it clear in the query that there are two authors for this book even if you plan to publish it under a single pen name. It will make things simpler later on and agents like to know this kind of thing, especially since two authors can make twice as much work for the agent.
The most important thing, before you do anything else, is to make sure the pair of you have a really good agreement drawn up regarding the partnership and how it works. The writing part might have been a dream, but once there's money involved, like all good things, there's potential for things to go south. To avoid destroying your working relationship, make sure both of you understand how the partnership works and are happy with it. A tiny detail like whose name goes first on the cover can end up being the thing that ends a fantastic creative partnership.
Don't sign any publishing or agency contracts until this partnership agreement is firmly in place and you are both happy with the terms.
Other than that, go forth and query. And good luck!
Yours,
O'Abby
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