Lesson #7 From Writing Our Book

Originally posted on Linked In April 2022

This is the seventh post in our series of lessons learned from writing our first book.

Lesson #7 - Find a great partner.

Javier and I were colleagues many years ago and reconnected in early 2021. We worked together on various projects at a former company so we knew a bit about each other's work styles and were confident that we would be able to work together on a project like this.

If you are thinking about writing with a co-author, these are a few of our learnings. When selecting a partner, work with someone who:

1) Is equally passionate about the topic so you can "geek out" on it together. For most people, writing a book will take a long time so it is important for all people involved to be highly engaged in the topic.

2) Brings different strengths, experiences and perspectives to the topic - initially, we divided the work into sections and designated one person as the primary author for that section and the primary author would write the initial drafts and the secondary author would do the initial edits and would add content to the section. Javier and I were viewing the content through a different lens so we could bring new life to each other's sections. By doing this, we ended up with a MUCH BETTER product.

3) Will provide honest critiques of your work - this goes for co-authors and editors and even anyone you want to have as pre-readers. Having honest feedback about what was working and not working was enormously helpful at all stages of development.

4) Will motivate you to do your best - we were able to keep each other motivated and weekly meetings ensured that we maintained momentum and remained accountable. Javier and I had times where we were busy, not feeling inspired to write or were stumbling over content. When this happened, the other person would bring new ideas and energy to the project and we would quickly get back on track.

Writing a book is hard work but it is a lot easier (and more fun) when you are working with a colleague and a friend.