Collaborations with non-writers (for example, with a celebrity) can be a gold mine for authors. In return for their services, the writer gains financial compensation, good experience, and, more often than not, an adventure.

But like any close working relationship, collaborations can be fraught with danger. If the best cure is prevention, then a solid collaboration agreement can help to resolve many problems before they have the chance to emerge.

Scope
The first thing you have to figure out is what each party to the agreement will be expected to do. Your time commitment (and, as a result, the price for your services) will be different for a light edit than it would be for a ghost-writing job complete with original research

This is as important from a creative perspective as it is from a legal one, so try to hammer this stuff out as early in the relationship as possible. If you’re working on a personality-driven project, does the principal have any original material? Will they be generating any (for instance, sending you rough chapters for editing)? How much original research are you going to have to do?

With an extremely overcommitted celebrity, you may want to specify the amount of time you’ll get to spend with them for the interviews. If you’re writing someone’s authorized autobiography, you may also wish to include a clause that says they will encourage their families and colleagues to cooperate fully with you. You might want to include a rough timeline, with dates for the exchange of completed material at various stages throughout the project.

If it’s possible, spend some time with your collaborator before you compose the agreement, and discuss how the process will work. If anything comes up that you feel might be a problem in the future, address it in the contract.

Compensation
One of the central issues in a collaboration is who gets paid what, and when. A good collaborator adds value to the project, and you should be compensated for your contribution. If you will need to work up a proposal to make the sale, are you comfortable doing that “on spec,” or do you need to be paid a fee which can later be applied against your portion of the advance? If you’re willing to do it on spec, you’d better be pretty sure it’s going to sell. On the back end, what percentage of the advance will each of the parties receive? What percentage of the royalties? Make sure that you feel that you’re being adequately compensated, or you’ll feel resentful later when the work has piled up and the money has run out.

There are lots of ways to split an advance and royalties, and you shouldn’t be afraid to engage in some creative payouts. Often, especially in cases where the principal is less in need of the up-front cash than the writer, the writer will take a bigger portion of the advance in exchange for a smaller part of the royalty.

Credit
Credit is another central issue in the collaboration negotiation. The issues are size, placement, prominence, and how the collaboration is referred to in the credits.

Credit is something you can use in your negotiation. You may need or want additional financial compensation more than you need or want to see your name in huge letters on the cover. And the principal and the publisher may want the public to believe that the book was written without help.

If your name will be on the book, you will have to negotiate whether or not it will appear on the cover, in a type the same size as the principal’s, and on the same line. You’ll also need to figure out in which order the names will appear. And you’ll need to figure out whether the credit will read “By Famous Celebrity with/and/as told to Author.”

If you’re going to work without credit, you should expect to be compensated for your anonymity. Even if you don’t get cover or inside credit, it’s customary for celebrities to “thank” their invisible co-writers in terms just short of flat-out adulation in the acknowledgments. Make sure that happens.

Expenses
Expenses add up, especially if the collaborating team is separated by distance. Long-distance telephone calls, office supplies, fax, postage, FedEx, and travel costs can take a sizable chunk out of an advance, and reimbursement should be provided for in the collaboration agreement.

Figure out the most cost-efficient way to work with your collaborator, and then how the reimbursements will work. If you’re splitting the costs, will the expenses come off the top of the advance, or be split according to a percentage?

You may wish to put a cap on the amount that either party can spend without the other person’s prior approval; in other words, you and your partner have to talk to each other before you spend anything over a certain dollar amount.

Liability
Because the copyright is shared, and that implies joint ownership of the material, you are liable for anything your partner contributes, even if you didn’t actually write or supply the libellous, defaming, privacy-violating, or inaccurate material you’re getting sued for. Ask your partner to indemnify you for anything they supply. You’ll be expected to indemnify them for any hot water you get them into, of course.

Make sure you’re protected against a financial loss as a result of negligence on your collaborator’s part. What if the publication payment never arrives because the celebrity has refused to do the publicity appearances he promised to the publisher? Or if the manuscript is rejected because your collaborator refuses to tell the salacious stories promised in the proposal? How will the two of you handle the return of the advance? You might ask for a clause saying that each party will be responsible for compensating the other party for any financial loss suffered because of a breach in their agreements with each other or with the publisher.

Termination
It is essential to have a termination clause, one that spells out what will happen if the arrangement falls apart.

If your partner is unhappy with your work, can you be replaced by another writer? If you can be replaced, there should be a provision that indicates how you will be compensated for the work you’ve already done on the project, and that determines who will control the material you’ve produced up to that point.

The same questions must be answered in the case of death or disability. (Your copyright will now be shared with the deceased principal’s heirs.)

Arbitration
Arbitration can be an inexpensive way to avoid litigation. You may want to appoint an arbiter, or at least agree that conflicts will be settled by one in the case of a dispute.

Sequels
As shared copyright holders, either of you will have the right to write a sequel, as long as the other person is compensated. If this is likely to be an issue in your collaboration, think about including a clause that prohibits the sale of sequels without the agreement of both parties. Collaborators can also grant non-exclusive licenses to third parties without the agreement of their collaborator. A clause requiring mutual agreement will prevent confusion.

These are some of the things you should be mindful of as you enter into an agreement with a collaborator. As long as both parties are adequately protected, writing a book with someone else can be a wonderful experience, rewarding in ways that go far beyond the financial compensation.