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As for collaboration - I have done a lot, 26 books, and found publishers increasingly resistive to them. It's not that the books are bad; editors won't even read them.

Authors can get an attitude of us-against-them when it comes to publishers, but learning how authors and editors can work together taught me to look at my work in a different way and to make that work as solid as possible before it ever goes to the publisher.

There are a lot of global decisions that you can make as a co-publisher, and only publishers can make those kind of decisions. At the same time, there are some things you can do only as a penciler or creator. I want to keep my hands in both pots, so to speak.

Years ago, when I was writing westerns, other writers who were friends of mine wanted me to collaborate with them. And it just didn't work.

We all need each other in publishing to make publishing work for authors in a variety of formats now and in the future. Anyone who thinks publishers don't bring anything to the table has a very narrow view and lack of knowledge about the industry as a whole.

I think it would be a shame for any writer to let their publishers in any way corral them into a single genre.

I'd love to collaborate with a writer, but I'm such a control freak, it might be difficult.

Some people are just so happy to get published to, they sign anything. Next thing you know, they've signed over the rights to their book.

If you want to publish two books a year under your own name and your publisher doesn't, maybe you need a different publisher.