Episode 261 - Navigating Collaborative Storytelling with Todd Fahnestock
October 21, 2024
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Todd Fahnestock discusses NAVIGATING COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING, including the intricacies and benefits of collaborative writing, the flexibility required for successful collaborations, the dynamics of sharing creative control, and the emotional impact when projects don't meet expectations. He details the guidelines his collaborators in the ELDROS LEGACY series established to maintain world consistency, and the importance of a “just say yes” approach to foster creativity.
Todd Fahnestock is an award-winning, #1 bestselling author of fantasy for all ages and winner of the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age Award. Threadweavers and The Whisper Prince Trilogy are two of his bestselling epic fantasy series. He is a founder of Eldros Legacy—a multi-author, shared-world mega-epic fantasy series—three-time winner of the Colorado Authors League Award for Writing Excellence, and two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award for Tower of the Four: The Champions Academy (2021) and Khyven the Unkillable (2022). His passions are great stories and his quirky, fun-loving family. When he’s not writing, he travels the country meeting fans, gets inundated with befuddling TikTok videos by his son, plays board games with his wife, plots future stories with his daughter, and plays vigorously with Galahad the Weimaraner.
Links
Todd's Links:
https://toddfahnestock.com/
https://www.facebook.com/todd.fahnestock
https://www.youtube.com/@toddfahnestock7108?app=desktop
Episode 224 - Secrets of Maximizing In-person Sales with Todd Fahnestock
Matty's Links:
Affiliate links
Events
https://toddfahnestock.com/
https://www.facebook.com/todd.fahnestock
https://www.youtube.com/@toddfahnestock7108?app=desktop
Episode 224 - Secrets of Maximizing In-person Sales with Todd Fahnestock
Matty's Links:
Affiliate links
Events
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Todd! What's the most rewarding or challenging collaboration you've ever been a part of?
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Are you getting value from the podcast? Consider supporting me on Patreon or through Buy Me a Coffee!
Summary
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, Matty Dalrymple talks with Todd Fahnestock about various aspects of collaboration within the literary world. Todd, an award-winning, bestselling author of fantasy, shares insights from his experiences with both successful and challenging collaborations throughout his career.
Todd describes his early experiences of collaboration beginning in high school while role-playing with friends, which inspired his initial writing projects. He recounts an incomplete early project that was purely for fun and stopped due to their commitment-free approach. This transitions into discussing his first significant collaboration on "The Hearthstone Trilogy" with Giles Carwin, which was picked up by HarperCollins. Todd explains how the duo initially thrived on shared creativity, likening it to playing Dungeons and Dragons with a best friend. However, as they moved into subsequent drafts, conflicts emerged over creative decisions leading to stressful discussions. Despite their effort, the trilogy did not meet sales expectations and was dropped by the publisher, a pivotal moment Todd refers to as "falling to fly."
Matty then inquires about Todd’s reflections on whether the outcome would have been different if the work had been a commercial success. Todd speculates that success might not have alleviated the underlying tensions but rather exacerbated them. He philosophizes that success often magnifies existing problems rather than solving them and considers it possibly a blessing that their project did not lock them into a strained professional relationship.
The discussion moves onto Todd’s subsequent collaboration, "Eldros Legacy," a multi-author shared-world project. The collaboration includes authors working semi-independently on their respective continents but following a unified world’s rulebook. Todd emphasizes the benefits of collaboration, such as creating richer, more detailed worlds and contributing unique perspectives, while also acknowledging the challenges, such as coordinating visions and resolving disputes.
Matty explores the logistics behind managing such a large-scale collaboration. Todd elaborates on the multi-faceted roles of leading authors, who maintain creative autonomy over their continents while contributing to a synchronized world-building effort. Todd talks about the detailed world bible that outlines rules for magic and historical timelines, ensuring consistency across all authors' works. He describes the flexible structure allowing authors to either deeply integrate or minimally involve their stories with the overarching plot.
Addressing promotional strategies, Todd states that while they conducted joint activities initially, the group has become more individualized, although ready to collaborate on promotional efforts when needed again. Matty then discusses the flexibility inherent in handling the workload and creativity, which Todd agrees is crucial. They reflect on how rigid plans didn’t work, leading to a structure where authors are in charge of their continents, providing a balance between coordination and creative freedom.
The conversation also touches on Todd's interaction with cohort authors, who are not founding members but write within the Eldros world. He describes how this arrangement provides opportunities for broader storytelling while maintaining quality and coherence through oversight from continent leaders. Todd illustrates how new authors must submit writing samples and adhere to established world rules. He also discusses cover design coordination to ensure brand consistency while allowing artistic diversity.
Matty wraps up by mentioning her upcoming conversation with Michael La Ronn about co-authoring nonfiction, noting the significant differences in collaboration between fiction and nonfiction projects. She considers the idea of co-authoring a fiction piece with Michael to write about co-authoring fiction next.
Todd concludes by directing listeners to his website, ToddFahnestock.com, for more information and mentions his frequent appearances at conventions.
This podcast episode offers an in-depth look at literary collaboration, highlighting the balance of creative freedom, structural coordination, and the influence of success and failure. Todd’s insights provide valuable lessons for authors considering or engaged in collaborative projects.
Todd describes his early experiences of collaboration beginning in high school while role-playing with friends, which inspired his initial writing projects. He recounts an incomplete early project that was purely for fun and stopped due to their commitment-free approach. This transitions into discussing his first significant collaboration on "The Hearthstone Trilogy" with Giles Carwin, which was picked up by HarperCollins. Todd explains how the duo initially thrived on shared creativity, likening it to playing Dungeons and Dragons with a best friend. However, as they moved into subsequent drafts, conflicts emerged over creative decisions leading to stressful discussions. Despite their effort, the trilogy did not meet sales expectations and was dropped by the publisher, a pivotal moment Todd refers to as "falling to fly."
Matty then inquires about Todd’s reflections on whether the outcome would have been different if the work had been a commercial success. Todd speculates that success might not have alleviated the underlying tensions but rather exacerbated them. He philosophizes that success often magnifies existing problems rather than solving them and considers it possibly a blessing that their project did not lock them into a strained professional relationship.
The discussion moves onto Todd’s subsequent collaboration, "Eldros Legacy," a multi-author shared-world project. The collaboration includes authors working semi-independently on their respective continents but following a unified world’s rulebook. Todd emphasizes the benefits of collaboration, such as creating richer, more detailed worlds and contributing unique perspectives, while also acknowledging the challenges, such as coordinating visions and resolving disputes.
Matty explores the logistics behind managing such a large-scale collaboration. Todd elaborates on the multi-faceted roles of leading authors, who maintain creative autonomy over their continents while contributing to a synchronized world-building effort. Todd talks about the detailed world bible that outlines rules for magic and historical timelines, ensuring consistency across all authors' works. He describes the flexible structure allowing authors to either deeply integrate or minimally involve their stories with the overarching plot.
Addressing promotional strategies, Todd states that while they conducted joint activities initially, the group has become more individualized, although ready to collaborate on promotional efforts when needed again. Matty then discusses the flexibility inherent in handling the workload and creativity, which Todd agrees is crucial. They reflect on how rigid plans didn’t work, leading to a structure where authors are in charge of their continents, providing a balance between coordination and creative freedom.
The conversation also touches on Todd's interaction with cohort authors, who are not founding members but write within the Eldros world. He describes how this arrangement provides opportunities for broader storytelling while maintaining quality and coherence through oversight from continent leaders. Todd illustrates how new authors must submit writing samples and adhere to established world rules. He also discusses cover design coordination to ensure brand consistency while allowing artistic diversity.
Matty wraps up by mentioning her upcoming conversation with Michael La Ronn about co-authoring nonfiction, noting the significant differences in collaboration between fiction and nonfiction projects. She considers the idea of co-authoring a fiction piece with Michael to write about co-authoring fiction next.
Todd concludes by directing listeners to his website, ToddFahnestock.com, for more information and mentions his frequent appearances at conventions.
This podcast episode offers an in-depth look at literary collaboration, highlighting the balance of creative freedom, structural coordination, and the influence of success and failure. Todd’s insights provide valuable lessons for authors considering or engaged in collaborative projects.