How to collaborate with other creators without it getting weird

The fastest growth this newsletter ever had came from a single collaboration: a joint guide with another writer, sent to both of our lists on the same day. Two hundred new paying members in a week. It was also, for a few tense days, almost the end of a friendship.

This issue is everything I learned about collaborating with other creators, so that your collaborations get all of the good part and none of the weird part.

Why collaborate at all

Growing an audience alone is slow. Collaborating is the closest thing there is to a shortcut that does not feel sleazy. When two creators work together, each one gets introduced to the other's readers with a built-in recommendation. That is worth more than any advertisement.

Collaboration also makes the work better. Two people bring two sets of ideas, two sets of skills and, crucially, two sets of deadlines. It is much harder to procrastinate when someone else is waiting.

Pick the right partner

The best collaborations happen between people who have similar-sized audiences, overlapping but not identical topics and a similar standard of work. If one side is much bigger, the relationship tends to feel uneven, and someone ends up resentful.

Write it down, even with friends

This is where my almost-disaster came from. We agreed on everything in a lively voice call and wrote nothing down. A week later, we remembered the deal completely differently. Who owned the guide? Could we sell it later? Who got the email addresses of new sign-ups?

Now I always write a one-page agreement before we start. It is not a legal contract, just a shared document that answers the obvious questions.

• What are we making, and when is it due?
• Who does what? Be specific. "Design" is not a task. "Three illustrations by Friday" is.
• Who owns the result, and can either of us reuse or sell it?
• How is money split, if there is any?
• What happens to new subscribers? Usually: each creator keeps the people who joined through their own link.
• How do we end it, if it stops working?

Clear agreements make good friends. Vague ones make awkward dinners.

Priya Nair

Promote it like it matters

A common mistake is putting weeks into a collaboration and then mentioning it once. Promote it properly: both lists, both social accounts, on the same day, with the same message. Then mention it again a week later. Collaborations get much of their value from being seen as a big, shared moment.

Keep it generous

The creators who collaborate most successfully are the ones who are slightly more generous than they need to be. They promote their partner a little harder. They deliver their part a little early. They share the credit a little more.

That generosity comes back. Every good collaboration I have done has led to another one, usually through a friend of the person I worked with. The creative world is small, and a reputation for being great to work with is one of the most valuable things you can build in it.

When a collaboration goes wrong

Sometimes, despite everyone's best efforts, a collaboration does not work. Deadlines slip, styles clash, or one side simply loses interest. When that happens, the kindest thing to do is to say so early and end it cleanly, using the exit you agreed on at the start.

It is tempting to push through out of politeness. That almost always makes it worse. A project finished resentfully is worse for both audiences than a project stopped honestly, and the friendship is much more likely to survive a clean ending than a painful slow one.

Collaborations that worked well

The best ones I have done had three things in common. They were short, usually a single guide, event or series lasting no more than a month. They played to each person's strengths, rather than splitting every task down the middle. And both creators were genuinely excited about the idea, not just about the growth it might bring.

Small collaborations count

Not every collaboration has to be a big joint launch. A guest issue, a recommendation swap, a short interview, a shared live session: these small things build relationships that make the bigger projects possible later. Most of my favourite collaborations began as something tiny.

Your first step

Make a list of five creators whose work you admire and whose audience is about your size. Send one of them a short, specific idea this week: not "we should collaborate sometime", but "want to write a joint guide on X for both our lists in May?". Specific ideas get answers.