Is More Authors Better Than One?

A Literal Literary Loser Joins the Crowd

Writing is a fundamentally solitary profession. You sit at your desk — mine is pressed up against the foot of my bed, making for a very brisk morning and evening commute. You stare at a screen. You type some words. You delete some words. You type more words. You ponder the fact that every draft is, by definition, a first draft, since when you erase something and replace it with something else that something is always new so what gives you the idea it’s better than the new thing you wrote before?

You eventually stop revising not because the work is finished but because you have now read it so many times it no longer makes sense. You send your work to total strangers to judge, and if enough total strangers judge it acceptable it gets offered to other total strangers to judge.

You hit refresh on your Amazon sales rankings, and you type some more words.

That’s why, when agent Anna Olswanger reached out to ask if she could pick my brain about promoting some of her current authors and titles, I said, “Sure!” Anything to get out of my head and experience a genuine human interaction, even if only over Zoom.

Well, OK, to be totally honest, that wasn’t my first reaction. My first reaction was: Why would Anna want to talk to me? She’s an agent with over 20 years of experience.

I’m a Literal Literary Loser with over 30 years of experience in getting dumped by agents, editors, and publishers. (Read all about my literary abandonment issues, here.)

But Anna insisted she thought I had something to offer. Apparently, my incessant self-promotion on social media and elsewhere had given her the impression I periodically had fun and creative ideas in that area.

So we had a lovely chat. I proposed we record a Zoom interview where I would moderate a panel of post-Soviet children’s and YA authors that I would post on my YouTube channel, which Anna could use to promote their book talks to schools and other organizations. Here is how that turned out:

I don’t know yet how our video will fare as a promotion tool, but I do know that it was a lot of fun to record, and that I really enjoyed meeting authors Eugene Yelchin, Leah Cypess and Anne Blankman. Post-Soviet authors of the world, unite! (We literally could. There aren’t that many of us. A mid-sized living room would do.)

The big question is: Will five authors promoting one video achieve better results than a single author promoting one video? I will keep you posted on those results as they come in!

In the meantime, in my newfound spirit of all for one and one for all writerly cooperation, I will be appearing on a panel entitled, “What’s New in Historical Fiction” alongside authors Kyra Davis Lurie, C.W. Towarnicki, and Marie Bostwick, on Tuesday, May 27 at 8 PM EST. Don’t we all look fascinating and engaging on our group flyer below?

Same question: Will the four of us appearing together attract a larger audience than when it was just the two of us, like when Kyra Davis Lurie and I had a one-on-one chat:

My gut says yes. The math is there to support it. (Daughter is taking her AP Calculus exam today. I have math on the brain.)

Which is why I’ve decided my solo artist era is over, and now begins the time of Alina learning to play well with others. (I’m 55 years old. Some would say it is well past time for that to happen. Though, as I noted above, writing isn’t exactly a profession that lends itself to group work or extroversion. Or to putting on pants.)

Even when it comes to my soap work, I’ve taken on a partner. Soap Hub, where I am a contributing writer, has launched a podcast. Where I will be a contributing talker.

Listen to me talk alongside Amber Sinclair. Because two heads are better than one. Teamwork makes the dream work. Unity is strength. The more the merrier, et. al….

What do you think? Does it benefit authors to travel in packs? How has your experience with group promotion been? Tell us in the Comments!