by Jenny Bravo, @JennyBravoBooks
We are in the age of the author. With the rise of self-publishing and hybrid publishing, authors are pumping out books more than ever. We live in a content-based world with readers who are always wanting more, more, more. Not only do authors need to write more, but now, they need to maintain author platforms, keep updated on social media, and dive into advertising.
How can one person possibly manage all of this work? The answer is that they shouldn’t.
What is an Author Assistant?
You may have heard of a virtual assistant within the online business world. These are people that business owners can hire by the hour or on a retainer that can accomplish the time-consuming tasks that are necessary but draining.
An Author Assistant is essentially a specialized virtual assistant. With an Author Assistant by your side, you can concentrate on your writing, while your assistant can tackle your other tasks.
What can an Author Assistant do for you?
While it varies depending on the assistant, here are a few tasks that are commonly available to authors:
- Email management and outreach
- Advanced Reader Copy management
- Social Media assistance
- Book tour assistance
- Beta Reader coordination
- Blog writing and management
There are two types of assistant work. If you are an author who has a strategy and simply needs a point person to make these tasks happen, you will most likely find a more inexpensive rate. If you are an author in need of a more hands-on approach, you will need an Author Assistant who is a strategist and can be a more integral member of your team.
Do you need an Author Assistant?
Imagine what your week would look like if you could spend three more hours writing. Think of the author-related tasks that eat into your writing time. Do you feel bogged down with research? Do you lose time to book launches and still feel like you could have accomplished more?
Whether you are a beginning author or a seasoned author, an Author Assistant will be an asset for you. Often, Author Assistant services are flexible. If you only need a few hours a week, that is available to you. As you grow to trust your assistant and want to work more with them, you will be able to increase your hours or move to a retainer rate.
How do Author Assistants charge for their services?
Again, this depends on the assistant. However, there are a few structures that are fairly standard.
An hourly rate is typically what you will see when researching assistants. This is a clear cut way for you to determine how your money will be spent and for the assistant to provide you with a clear report of how they spent those hours.
A package rate is for specific services. For instance, you may see a blog tour management package, which breaks down specifically what you will receive for that service and eliminates the time tracking component.
A retainer rate is for assistants and authors who have typically worked together for a few months. This is a set monthly price that allows the assistant to be more available to the author for a larger sum.
You may wonder if there is a more preferable rate structure. I believe an author and an Author Assistant should start with an hourly rate to determine exactly how much work needs to be done and how much time it will take. I see the first month as a trial, getting-to-know-you month that allows the relationship to form. Package rates are much easier to project going forward.
Where can you find an Author Assistant?
There are a number of places to find assistants! Join a Facebook group with other authors and find who they utilize. You can also search in job boards and freelance sites such as Fiverr. Even posting your own search on social media will allow others to suggest assistants for you.
The important thing to remember is that you do not have to do everything alone. For an affordable price, you can work with an assistant who will save you time and allow you to focus on what you really care about… writing!
Jenny Bravo writes books about strong women who don’t have it all together. She shares self-publishing and writing advice on her website, Jenny Bravo Books. Jenny serves other authors as an Author Assistant and is passionate about book marketing and social media techniques. Find out more about her Author Assistant services here.
What kinds of writing-related business would you rather outsource to someone else? Have any questions for Jenny? And…I’m visiting Ellen Jacobson’s blog today. :) Feel free to pop by to say hi!
What Author Assistants Do and How to Find One by @JennyBravoBooks : Share on XPhoto on Visualhunt
Thanks for posting today, Jenny!
Can I hire one to write books for me? That would be perfect.
Wouldn’t that be awesome? :D
This is definitely something to think about. It’s never occurred to me to consider an assistant for those tasks, but I can see how it would save a lot of time and effort.
I’d think it would, especially for something either really tedious, or a recurring task that isn’t fun to do.
When I can afford one, I’ll need an assistant for research. That eats up most of my time.
I bet it does! That would be a great thing to outsource.
Weeks like this, I think I could definitely use an assistant. But less because I don’t have the time than because I would rather someone else was doing all these marketing posts. It’s drudgery. Ugh.
Great post, though. Thanks!
Some days there just aren’t enough hours!
A very needful person to have … if you can afford it! I have the content … if only I could get attention for it, so an author assistant would be wonderful. Great idea.
Sounds like something to check out, Roland!
One day. I stay constantly behind, but I don’t yet feel as if I can afford one. Doesn’t stop me from dreaming about it, though :)
Hope you can catch back up again soon, Carol!
I don’t need one all the time yet, but I’ve found the services of a woman who specializes in helping authors invaluable on some projects that would have taken me far too much time to do when I should have been writing. She works on a per job/project basis, but she also has rates for more daily or consistent needs. There are multiple places you can find such help including Fiverr and other freelance sites. She actually participates, offering valuable insight, in a private author marketing group I’m a part of on Facebook, so that’s how I found her.
That’s really cool, Anne! I know what you mean about projects being a time suck. Especially the more tedious projects. And everything is more time consuming when you have a lot of books.
Great post! I didn’t know much about this topic. Not something I need at this point, but I can sure see the advantages!
Thanks for coming by, Jemi!
I need a Living Assistant. She would manage all activities unrelated to actual creative output. She would most definitely handle all paperwork and financial tasks. She would let me know the times to come out of my cave and mingle with other folk so the townspeople would not gather with burning torches to rid themselves of my peculiar influence. She would also be very strict with me on various projects, rather like a Mary Poppins, telling me when certain projects must be jettisoned. Perhaps I need a wife such as bards of the forties and fifties had. But I fear my fella would not like that. Where would she sleep? Thank you for putting these thoughts of anarchy in my bosom.
That sounds *awesome*, Jan! I would like a Mary Poppins, too. :) Where can we find someone like this!?
My dream is to become successful enough in my writing to need an assistant. Thanks for the suggestions.
Hope you have a good weekend, Ken! Thanks for coming by.
Yes. I need one of those. I’ve needed one for a couple of years now, but–and this sounds so strange–I’ve never become organized enough to actually hire one. I’m book marking this post to help me do just that.
Thank you.
Hope you find some help! Thanks for visiting, Lee.