Writing Cyberpower for Business in 1995 was a different kind of experience for me. For twenty years I had been writing books by myself. Jeff Senne and I wrote Cyberpower for Business together and it was a life-changing experience.
I got to do the “fingers on the keys” part of the writing, which I love. But working with a co-author, especially a great teammate like Jeff, made both the writing experience and the book better.
Here some reasons why authors find that having a partner makes for a better writing experience and for a better book.
Teams do better work than individuals.
Great teams get better results than the simple sum of team members’ work. It’s called synergy. If you’re part of an effective team, you get to use your strengths while other people make your weaknesses irrelevant.
You’ve never written a book and you know it’s a different process.
Writing a book is different from every other kind of writing. There’s a lot to get your head around. Someone who’s done it before can help you understand the process and avoid nasty surprises.
You don’t write well or don’t enjoy writing and you’d like someone else to do that part.
If you don’t write well or you don’t enjoy the process, you’re more likely to create a great book with another person’s fingers on the keys.
Writing the book is not the best use of your time.
I’ve been the fingers on the keys for some amazing people. They could write their own book. They chose to work with a writing partner so they can spend more time on their business and their relationships with loved ones.
The Bottom Line
You can write a better book and enjoy the process more if you work with a partner.