by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
One thing I’m trying to be better at in 2020 (that I’m not great at overall) is delegating tasks. I’ve never been a great delegator, usually feeling as if it’s better if I just handle things myself.
But that’s not the case–it’s better when I do delegate. It’s better when I get help, at least at this stage of my writing career. Here are some of the ways I’ve been reaching out to get help from others with my writing business:
Cover design: Cover design is one area I’ve never tried to tackle myself. My design skills with the free Canva program are better-suited to making blog post headers and social media posts. I’ve been using Karri Klawiter for ages for my covers and it’s been a fantastic relationship. We’ve been working on covers for so long that I now send her just a few details about each book and she somehow instinctively seems to know exactly what I’m looking for. If you’re not good at design, I really recommend reaching out to a designer. It can make all the difference in terms of sales.
Editing: I have to have help editing my work. I do cut way back on the time it takes to edit my books (and the cost) by carefully reading the work over, passing the books by beta readers, and using software (ProWritingAid) before sending stories to my editors. I simply can’t catch all my typos, continuity errors, etc. Judy Beatty and Zoe Nightingale have been a fantastic help to me. Writers get too close to their work and it’s hard to see the mistakes staring them right in the face.
Formatting: I do a lot of my own formatting now, using free software on Draft2Digital. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t run into issues sometimes. Rik Hall has always been my go-to guy for getting me out of a formatting jam.
Facebook “Parties” for Releases: This falls under the category of “things I know I need to do that I don’t have the time to do or don’t want to do.” I ran across Marie McNary’s “A Cozy Experience” while listening to a YouTube video by Booktuber Courtagionist. Someone who will put in all the work, set up the party, and then I just have to show up? Sign me up! I had a Facebook party last Thursday evening for my latest release.
Tedious Tasks I Might Otherwise Procrastinate: Gosh, where do I start? One big thing that would have taken me a week or more was to change the signup link to my newsletter in every single one of my published books (I changed providers and it created a mess). Uploading audiobook links to Draft2Digital for international UBLs was another. Changing keywords on KDP was yet another. Changing keywords on translations. The list of tedious, time-consuming tasks goes on and on. Fortunately, I discovered my college-age daughter (always in need of pocket money and who follows directions well) was more than capable of doing all of these things for me. Now, whenever I’m faced with something onerous that I don’t really have time to tackle, I stick it on a list for my daughter to handle.
Web Design: Yeah, there’s no way I can handle web design by myself. You might have noticed my site is under construction right now. :) The site is being redesigned by The Author Site.
Website Issues: Do I have the ability to figure out and fix what’s wrong with my website. Maybe. Do I have the time to research it and fall down that rabbit hole? No. My choice for getting my website un-glitched is to contact one of the folks over at Fiverr. I read through reviews to find a good match.
Are you good at delegating your writing business work to others? What other ways do you have to save time?
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Unfortunately I don’t have kids to pass stuff off to. But at least I do have a team helping with the IWSG. Although I could probably ask for help more often…
Asking is the hardest part!
You know, I hadn’t thought much about delegating tasks, Elizabeth. But it really does make a lot of sense to do that. I already am in some ways (like cover design). I am lucky enough to know some really talented people who do a better job with that (and with my swag, etc..) than I could. But I can see how it would make sense in other things, too…
I’m just terrible at design…of any kind. I can create things, but they’re not pretty, ha! Outsourcing design has really helped.
I delegate most all of those things, but only because I’m just not good at any of them. Carrie Butler is my go-to gal for almost all the things you mentioned because I don’t think there is anything that gal can’t do!
I envy people like that!
I delegate too. Covers and formatting. Website. Some of the online promotion I do. I don’t know how to do these things. Even if I did, I wouldn’t have time to still write if I didn’t delegate. I’m hoping to delegate some more this year. Is your daughter for hire… I mean that in a good way :)
Haha! Well, probably not this semester because she’s taking Human Anatomy (nursing student) and it’s about killing her, but maybe in the future! :)
I’ve delegated research before, but I’ll have to look into Pro Writing Aid. Editing isn’t something I can spend stretches of time on, which means it takes forever.
I really like it. The only thing that kind of stinks is you have to upload just a few chapters at a time to Pro Writing Aid or else it gets bogged down.
I’m terrible at designating – but it’s definitely something I need to work on – along with controlling my control-freak nature :)
Fellow control freak here! Tough to delegate, but I like the results. :)
Hi Elizabeth – a really helpful post … I guess I just need to get in the position where I need these resources … but I enjoy the learning and being around. Cheers Hilary
Thanks so much for coming by, Hilary! Hope you have a great week. :)