What's It Like to Co-Write a Book?
Brandon Elliott & Dale Trumbore in Conversation
Dale Trumbore and Brandon Elliott at Choral Arts Initiative's
Premiere Project Festival in June 2025.
Dale Trumbore: When I talk about Composing a Living, I think the question I’ve gotten most is “How do you co-write a book?”
Brandon Elliott: I think for us, what really set up the co-writing process to be successful is that we agreed upon and established a system that we were going to use to track the quotes, and we agreed upon the outline. Every bit of the system of writing a book was agreed upon very clearly, so that when we got to writing, it's like we just knew what to do.
DT: We also tried to anticipate questions or problems that might arise. Before we even started writing, we were like, “What could possibly go wrong?” It ended up feeling very organic in the process, but it helped to have all those conversations before we started.
BE: It was almost like we had a contract with each other. If one of us feels like we're starting to carry all the weight, what are the systems and structures to remedy that? What happens if as we get to the finish line, you bow out? Even though it wasn't formalized, we basically created a contract, which is reinforcing everything we talk about in the book.
DT: Yes. Even if you're working with a friend, someone you've collaborated with before, no matter what the situation is, get it in writing. In post-production, I feel like there were two weeks of trying to get the draft off to our publisher where you had some personal and career things going on, and I was like: “I have these two weeks completely free. I have no composing to do. I will do this.” And multiple times that’s flipped, like: “Now I’m really going through it over here, and if you could just handle these emails, that would be great.” It balances out, and I think it's because we have that framework in place.
BE: And because we've worked together for so long. If we had just met and were like, “Let's write a book together,” I can't say that it would have been as successful. Fundamentally what we have is the trust that it's going to be fair. If I need you to pick up more of the work, I know that I'm going to make a concerted effort to make up for that at some other time. I know you're thinking the same thing. I don't know if that would work with brand new writers or people that are just now paired together.
Heart Butte, Montana, Choral Arts Initiative's most recent collaboration with Dale, from the album Tapestry of Becoming.
DT: I don't think we ever had a moment where we were like, “Oh, maybe this book isn't going to happen.” Once we started it and we put all the things in place, it felt like it was going to go forward, because part of our planning was asking, “What if a publisher is interested? Great. What if no publishers are interested? We'll self publish. What if a publisher is interested and the terms are terrible? We'll walk away, and then we'll self publish.”
BE: I think what helped too is that we had a publication offer on the table pretty early on, so that also fortified the project. It gave us the resolve to ask, “What if there are other publishers out there?”
DT: I don't know if you feel the same way, but if someone asked me, “How do you get published by a mainstream, big-name academic publisher?” I feel like I have no advice to offer other than to do all of that prep work up front, have a really solid book proposal, and write a book that is filling a need that you've already seen demonstrated for years in your field.
BE: I’ve had quite a few people ask, “Did you have a connection at Oxford?” No, we literally looked up the editor and sent a cold email. I think at the time we were like, “Well, it wouldn't hurt. Let's just see.” I remember Michelle [Chen, the editor who acquired Composing a Living] said at the meeting that what also caught her eye was the almost qualitative research approach to our book.
DT: There's a version of this book that I could have written by myself, but it’s only half as strong. We have complimentary and similar Type A ways of working through things, but different fields of interest and experience.
I think I came to my personal process for editing because of composing: I get to a certain point and I have to trust my past self. Writing this book, I had to trust the past selves that put our systems in place, did the interviews, and asked twenty-four people to beta-read the book. I had to trust that we had already done everything we possibly could. And then if later, I’m reading the proofs and want to make one small sentence change, I have to let that go.
BE: That’s probably something you have as a practice that you've gained as a composer that I don't always have. Like, at some point, the double bar is the double bar, right? I don't have that regular practice. So I'm constantly like, “We’ve got to refine this.” And I remember there were times you were like, “Brandon, it's done. This is fine.” And I'd be like, “But what about that?”
DT: Is there anything you learned in writing the book that you didn't know before, either through the interview process or through sharing information?
BE: I did learn a lot about the composer’s approach to consortiums, and I still love the $5,000 question. [“Knowing what you know now, if you suddenly got a check for $5,000 and it had to be invested into you or your craft, how would you use that money?”] I learned so much from hearing everyone's response to that. I remember, too, in the initial planning of the book and the outline, we didn’t emphasize relationships. We talked about them, but we did not emphasize them nearly as much as we did after the interviews. After maybe five interviews, it was clear that this is a huge connective tissue for all of these composers in their careers: the relationship with others.
DT: Yes! People just want to talk about people.
Dale's view recording How to Go On in July 2016, with Brandon conducting Choral Arts Initiative.
DT: Do you anticipate writing another book on your own, or with me, or with another co-writer?
BE: I can see myself co-writing again, but it would have to be with you or someone I've worked with. I’ve always thought of writing my own book, but I've never blocked out the time to do it. I would want to bridge the gap between conductors and executive leaders: What are the commonalities? What can conductors learn from corporate leaders? What can corporate leaders learn from conductors? Most conductors know how to lead people, whereas CEOs tend to lead businesses in which people are just employees. I do think that there's something to be explored there, but haven't unpacked that yet.
DT: I love that. It would be a great excuse to go talk to the heads of various companies. I love that Composing a Living was an excuse to talk to some of our favorite composers and some composers we didn't know, too—an excuse to reach out and have really thoughtful and engaging conversations.
BE: You know, the only thing that I sit with actually pretty frequently, and I guess I've never shared it with you, is how different the book might have been if we interviewed an entirely different set of 28 people. Like, we clearly had an idea and a skeletal framework for the book, but how much of it was influenced by this particular set of people? And how would it have changed if there were others?
DT: I've grappled with that question too, and for me it comes down to what the book is about, which is connecting: using our relationships and interviewing the people that we already know are creating good work. And yes, it may have limited the book, in a way, but it's also beautiful that the book is embodying what the book is about. And the second edition could be expanded.
BE: I mean, just since handing off that book, look at all that's happened regarding copyright, legal things, business things… I keep a mental list of things that could easily be in the expanded version.
DT: Start another Google Doc!
