More times than not, however, the incentive is usually money. How? Well, it's all about crossover sales. The band or singer's fans are introduced to an entirely new group of listeners who hadn't know much about that band until that big duet together. Think Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty's "Stop Dragging my Heart Around." You think that didn't help those two artists reach over and capture the other artist's fans? You bet it did.
Now why would I bring up collaboration on a mostly writing/reading blog? Because writers have been collaborating for as long as musicians have. James Patterson publishes ten books a year. You think he's doing all that writing by himself? The reason I bring this up is because I've just been invited to participate in a collaboration myself. Indie superstar J.A. Konrath recently invited readers of his blog to send him stories using one of his characters in the lead role. After that he was going to decide whether it was good enough quality to develop a collaborating relationship with him. I'm here to tell you he really enjoyed a short story I wrote using his Jack Daniels character which will be published early next year. Yes, Joe will be rewriting the story with me by emailing the newest versions back and forth until we have a finished product, so it is a true collaboration. As a matter of fact my newest Nick Bracco thriller is destined to have one of Joe's characters in that as well.
So is this all about the money? Partially yes. Because let's face it, Joe will receive the benefit of gaining some new Nick Bracco readers and I'll certainly benefit from an introduction to part of his enormous fan base. At no point, however, would I ever publish something inferior just for a payday. This is all about the future and expanding my reach. If I can establish a large enough fan base of my own, it will make it so much easier to transition into a full time writing career. And after all, isn't that what we writers all dream about? The ability to write all day?
I'll keep everyone posted about the future of this collaboration and how it progresses. Right now I'm very excited about the possibilities and there will be more publishing news to come very soon.
