Tips for collaborating on a series

I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to write a series of books with a friend.

Our colleague Suzanne Williams and our former SCBWI-WWA pal Joan Holub were kind enough to answer questions about that on my blog (as part of the tour for the launch of their new book, Aphrodite the Beauty.

Here's what they had to say:

How are you handling the writing between the two of you? A lot of people have dreamed of teaming up, but aren't quite sure how to chart the course. Do you have any tips? 

Suzanne: Pick the right writing partner! Joan and I both have strong work habits, compatible writing styles, and enough experience to allow us to put our egos aside for the sake of the writing.

Joan: Well said, Suzanne. We weren’t sure how we were going to write together in the beginning. Some writing teams trade off chapters, but that seemed too unwieldy for us. Since we were initially contracted to write four books, we each did rough drafts for two, then traded the stories back and forth for several more drafts.

Read the rest (and enter for your chance to win a little swag).

Suzanne Williams interview

Check this out: Misa Ramirez with Books on the House interviewed Suzanne about her new GODDESS GIRLS book series, which she wrote with our former SCBWI-WWA friend Joan Holub. It's another SCBWI success story:

Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub launch series

Suzanne wrote to let us know that the first two books in the GODDESS GIRLS series she wrote with Joan Holub are out. 


They're celebrating the release with five days of interviews, guest blogs, and book giveaways, April 4 – April 8. Drop by to help them celebrate, join the fun, meet some of our favorite bloggers, and maybe win a book along the way.

About the books: Join the class at Mount Olympus Academy with Goddess Girls, a new series that puts a modern spin on classic Greek myths. They're published by Aladdin Paperbacks.

Here's the whole series:

ATHENA THE BRAIN (April 6) 
Finding out she’s a goddess and being sent to Mount Olympus brings Athena new friends, a weird dad, and the meanest girl in mythology—Medusa!
PERSEPHONE THE PHONY (April 6) 
Hiding her feelings works fine for Persephone until she meets a guy she can be herself with—Hades, the bad-boy of the Underworld.
APHRODITE THE BEAUTY (August 3) 
Sure Aphrodite is beautiful, but it’s not always easy being the goddessgirl of love.
ARTEMIS THE BRAVE (December 7)
She may be the goddess of the hunt, but that doesn’t mean Artemis always feels brave.

Here's the five-day Goddess Girls tour lineup:
April 4:  Bookmuncher (Interview and book giveaway)
April 5: Readertotz, Suzanne’s Place, Joan Holub Author of Books for Children (Expanded interview with the Goddess Girl team at Aladdin: editor Emily Lawrence, book designer Karin Paprocki, and cover artist Glen Hanson. Have you ever wondered why an editor decides to acquire a series? Here’s one editor’s take.)
April 6:  Cynsations  (Guest blog and book giveaway. Learn how they came to write the series,  challenges they faced, and how they solved them.)
April 7:  Little Willow (Interview and book giveaway. They reveal more about our collaboration and inspirations, and their favorite books of all time.)
April 8:  Zoe’s Book Reviews  (Q&A and book giveaway.)