(If you are looking for instructions on how to remove a co-author, please read this article.)
One of Leanpub's relatively unique features is that we make it easy to add co-authors to books, and to automatically split royalties with them!
(However, please note that you can't add a co-author if you're using our Browser writing mode, which is meant for authors who are writing books by themselves.)
Here are the steps for adding a co-author to a Leanpub book:
1. Ask each co-author to sign up for a Leanpub account, if they do not already have one. It is free to sign up.
Here is a link to the sign up page:
On the sign up page, your co-author can enter their new account information, and choose a Leanpub username:
(If you have trouble signing up there, for example if there's an issue with reCAPTCHA, you can also create an account by purchasing a free book on Leanpub, such as the Markua manual.)
2. After they have created their Leanpub account, ask each co-author to provide you with their Leanpub username.
If they've forgotten their Leanpub username, they can find it on their Leanpub profile page here:
3. Once you have their Leanpub username, you can add each co-author on the "Authors" page for your book, by going here:
https://leanpub.com/YOUR_BOOK/authors
...making sure to replace YOUR_BOOK with your book's unique web address.
You can also find a link to the "Authors" page on your book's "Overview" page:
To add a new co-author, click the blue "Add an Author" button:
This will take you to the "New Author" page:
On this page, enter the co-author's username, and assign them a royalty percentage (this is the share of royalties from the book that the co-author will receive). You can also optionally add a message to the invitation the co-author will receive:
Once you've entered this information, click the blue "Add a Co-Author" button at the bottom of the page:
On the "Authors" page, you will no see that your co-author invitation has been sent, and its status is "Pending":
4. Next, each co-author you add needs to accept your co-author invitation.
They can accept on their Leanpub "Notifications" page here:
Here is an example of what the "Notifications" page looks like, with a pending co-author invitation:
To accept the invitation, your co-author will need to click the "View" link:
The invitation page will display the book title, and their royalty percentage:
To accept the invitation, they need to click the "Accept" button:
5. If this is the co-author's first Leanpub book, they will need to verify their email address.
If your co-author needs to verify their email address, they will now see a "Verify Account" page:
To verify their email address, they will need to to enter the verification code Leanpub has sent to them in an email.
If they check their email account, they will find an email from no-reply@leanpub.com with the subject "[Leanpub] Thanks for trying Leanpub! Here's an email verification code...".
The email with the verification code will look something like this:
Next, they will need to copy the verification code:
After they have copied the verification code from the email, they can then paste it into the "Verify Account" page on Leanpub:
Finally, they will need to click the "Verify Account and Accept Invitation" button at the bottom of the page:
After they click the button, your new co-author will be taken to the "Overview" page for your book:
If you go back to the "Authors" page for your book, you will now see that the co-author's invitation has been accepted:
6. Next, your co-author will want to set up their Leanpub profile.
If you go to the landing page for your book, you will now see that the co-author has been added:
Your co-author can add an image and some biographical information on their Leanpub "Edit Profile" page here:
Here is what that page looks like:
After they have added their avatar image and their information on the "Edit Profile" page, they need to click the "Save Settings" button at the bottom of the page:
If you go back to the Leanpub landing page for your book, you will now see that the co-author's information has been updated:
7. Finally, you will want to create a new preview of your book, or publish a new version of your book, if it is already published.
The next time you generate a version of your book, you will now see that the co-author is included:
For some information about the rules regarding primary authors and co-authors, please see our Terms of Service.
OK, that's it!
Interested in creating your first Leanpub book? Here are some quick tutorials for our most popular writing modes: http://help.leanpub.com/en/articles/3088382-quick-walkthroughs-for-getting-started-on-a-leanpub-book
If you have any questions or thoughts on writing and self-publishing with Leanpub, please join our global community of authors in our Authors Forum here!
Are you looking for great deals on Leanpub ebooks, ebook bundles, and courses? Sign up for our Weekly and Monthly newsletter sales here!