Welcome back to Help From My Friends Friday. My wonderful entrepreneurial friend Catherine Dilts joins me today to talk about a venture she’s been participating in. Take it away, Catherine!
~ Donnell
by Catherine Dilts
Author Catherine Dilts
As a cozy Mystery fan, I love reading novels featuring familiar characters and locations. The wait for the next installment in a favorite series can be frustrating.
In this attention-span-limited world, keeping readers waiting months for the next book in a series puts authors and publishers at a disadvantage. That’s why some publishers develop series with several authors releasing novels in rapid-fire order.
This is nothing new. The Nancy Drew mystery series was the product of multiple authors. All Nancy Drew authors, male or female, wrote under the pseudonym “Carolyn Keene.”
So how does this write-for-hire business work? I can only describe my situation. Other authors may have entirely different experiences.
Question – How did I discover the Write-for-Hire world?
Answer – In the spring of 2017, I was approached by an editor who thought my writing style (cozy, clean) fit well with a publisher who was seeking an additional author for their successful series. I had a track record as a published fiction author. At first, I didn’t think this sounded interesting. How could writing a story using someone else’s characters and setting be creative? Then I read the first book in the series, and decided this could be a fun venture. Not to mention the guaranteed paycheck.
Question – How did I land the job?
Answer – Even though I was recommended for the job, I still had to audition. My agent guided me through the process of pitching idea proposals and writing a sample chapter for the series editor. I took this as seriously as any day job interview. The result was not guaranteed. Happily, they gave me a contract. Almost all authors selected have been traditionally published, and thus have experience following editor requirements and meeting deadlines.
Question – How do multiple authors write a coherent series?
Answer – Each series has an editor. The editor ensures the individual books maintain the same tone. A hefty author guide gives detailed bios of the main characters, descriptions of secondary characters, the setting with a map and photos, the overall theme of the series, and important story arcs. The editor keeps a tight rein on the series so that things don’t happen out of order (such as the development of a romance) or conflict with other books. I was assigned book number 14, which stipulated the time of year. My contract had strict deadlines for submitting an outline, a first draft, and a final draft. At each step, the editor required rewrites and revisions. Sometimes that process went smoothly, and sometimes it was rather brutal.
Question – With all those assigned parameters, where is the creativity?
Answer – For each book, the author comes up with the plot. After studying the author guide, and reading the
novels preceding mine, I invented what I hoped was a clever scenario and a gripping mystery. I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t love the books. Maybe because I also write short fiction and my own series novels, I found it fun to write a novel with so many details already spelled out.
Question – Are there any downsides to write-for-hire?
- Royalties – Writing for hire, in my case, doesn’t pay royalties. I am paid upon delivery of the completed manuscript. Even if the series is wildly successful, my one-time paycheck remains the same. In a 2015 article in the Atlantic, the practice of farming out books in series to various authors is described as economically disadvantageous for the author. This hasn’t been my experience. My contracts place me comfortably within the cozy mystery pay-scale.
- Time – I have a demanding day job. With the strict deadlines for my write-for-hire books, I often can’t spend as much time as I want on my own original projects.
- Public perception – Publication can feel a bit anonymous. While other series may be credited to a sole fictional author, such as Nancy Drew’s “Keene”, each of my series entries bear my name. Still, when I explain the multi-author scenario, I get confused looks. I am just as proud of my write-for-hire books as my other novels, but some folks can’t wrap their heads around the concept, thinking it’s somehow lesser on the grand scale of authorship.
Question – What are the benefits of write-for-hire?
- Guaranteed paycheck – My write-for-hire books have consistently earned me more money than my small press novels, where I have to hope and wait for small royalty checks.
- Marketing – I am under no pressure to seek publicity. The publisher is very successful at the business of selling books. Readers subscribe to a series much as one subscribes to a magazine. Annie’s Publishing releases a new book in a series once every four to six weeks, thus the need for multiple authors.
- Education – Working at a fast pace with a demanding editor has honed my writing skills in ways I never imagined. I have learned how to outline a workable plot that prevents writing myself into a corner. I manage my writing time better to meet deadlines. I write more efficiently while adhering to high quality standards.
I nearly turned down this opportunity out of fear and doubt. Could I produce what the publisher needed? Was I selling my artistic soul for a quick buck? Then it occurred to me that the write-for-hire job was the proverbial opportunity knocking. I decided to take a chance, and now I’m loving every minute.
About the Author: Catherine Dilts made her first fiction sale by murdering an annoying coworker in the short story The Jolly Fat Man (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine April 2013). She found it such a satisfying experience, she went on to kill again. Catherine’s day job in a factory as an environmental compliance specialist provides inspiration to keep writing, with the hope of eventual escape.
Catherine Dilts wrote two novels for The Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library – Ink Or Swim, and A Thorny Plot. The novel Silent Knife is based on the Castleton Manor library, and appeared in a three book Christmas collection, Mistletoe Mysteries. Most recently, Catherine contributed to the Museum of Mysteries series with Doubloon Jeopardy and Rotten to the Encore.
Her Rock Shop Mysteries and the stand-alone Survive or Die are available here, and at Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Catherine, I wondered what you had been up to and now I know. Thanks for joining me today to talk about this interesting venture.
Thank you for having me on your blog. The write-for-hire gigs keep me busy! But it’s a fun busy.
What an interesting concept! And a great experience! Thanks for sharing Catherine and Donnell.
Hi Rhonda – write-for-hire doesn’t appeal to all authors, but I have found it to be a fun gig.
This is fascinating. Must be fun to be part of a team of storytellers.
With multiple creative people involved, the series editor has to hold the story together. It is fun! And hard work…
It sounds like a great way to hone your writing talents! I do hope you find time to fit in your original fiction.
I have a new cozy mystery series appearing May of 2023 with my publisher Encircle. The Rose Creek series is 100% my original work.
Catherine, I read a psychological suspense book from a best-selling author.Other books with this pen name were good, but not this one. It was filled with location errors easily tracked online or GPS, and distorted multiple police procedures. Does your editor give you notes about customs, procedures, or other things that would help you avoid the discrepancies that were in the novel I just read?
The Annie’s mysteries are cozy, so stories don’t delve into police procedure. We do receive a hefty author guide that includes a map. The editor corrects the novel draft for consistency errors. Hopefully these checks prevent the sort of errors that disrupt the reading experience.
I have two friends who write for Annie’s Fiction and they enjoy it for the same reasons you do. 🙂
I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with the Annie’s editors. It’s hard work, but also fun.
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for giving us an honest assessment of the pros and cons of writing for hire. Wishing you all with all of your work.
Thank you, Jacqueline. And the best to you and your many writing projects.
I’m currently working on a contract book, the second in a series. I’d been recruited by a colleague and wasn’t sure I could/wanted to do this but the pluses outweighed the negatives. My story is very similar to Catherine’s and I, too, find the time constraints the toughest part of this enterprise. Although the structure in which I work is somewhat different the overall concept is the same. I’ll keep doing this for a while as I seem to be paycheck-oriented versus royalty driven! Best of luck to Catherine in your projects!
Thonie, the deadlines are critical to the publisher. They can be stressful, but I agree, worth the paycheck.
Thank you for offering a glimpse into this world, Catherine! Years after learning that a stable of writers had produced the Nancy Drew books, I went back and re-read them to see if I could tell. While I found some of the stories to be more compelling than others, I think there was great consistency in the writing style. A few weird mistakes that an editor should have caught, such as the color of Nancy’s roadster… but maybe she had it painted and no one told the reader :). Anyway, all good luck to you in your endeavors!
Thank you, Debra. That is too funny about Nancy’s roadster changing colors!
Interesting to hear about this part of writing. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Sandy. Even my friends and family struggle to understand what I do, until they see the end result.