Why are Author PAs are a Big Deal in the Bookish Community
What Are Author PAs?
Author PAs services are a new thing that I have recently discovered in the bookish community. Being new to the author side of things, I am constantly learning something every day. As a blogger, I spend most of my time on Instagram creating connections with new people, and most of the time they are authors.
A lot of Indie authors use Instagram or social media, in general, to create hype for their books. But what is tricky for authors is making sure that they are managing their time and connecting to the right groups. This is where Author PAs come in – they help the authors with their time management, among other things.
What Are Author PAs?
Author PAs, or personal assistants, are exactly what it sounds like. They are the assistant to an author. PAs can be independent contractors, and they tend to work directly with indie authors. Most publishing houses also have employees who are specifically assigned to be the assistant to a new author.
Because so many indie authors are self-published, they tend to need more help with getting their work out there. Author PAs help these authors by running their social media accounts, creating newsletters, creating hype for their books, and more.
According to Google, there are about 158,470 personal assistants in the bookish community and that number keeps growing. It seems that every year there are more and more personal assistants on social media for the bookish community, mainly because there are new authors looking for help every year.
Top 3 Reasons Why an Author May Need A PA
- A lack of time to manage everything
- To handle all aspects of pre and post-launch, social media, book promotions, etc.
- To help with work/life balance for the author
A Lack of Time to Manage Everything
Authors tend to have a hard time managing everything with marketing, plus writing their books. PAs make it easier for the author to spend their time focusing on what they need to do. Time management is hard for just us readers, but it’s even more difficult for authors because of how much it really takes to get their books published.
Authors tend to get overwhelmed with everything it takes to get a book published or they don’t understand how much time it truly takes. Most authors have a regular 9-5 job, and a lot of their writing is done in their free time, after they have taken care of their families and normal day-to-day life stuff. That doesn’t leave much room for actual writing!
To Handle All Aspects of Pre/Post Launch, Social Media, Book Promotions, etc
It can be difficult for an author to post on their social media platforms during the day or even the week. Most of the time, authors have “day jobs” and write in their spare time.
…This may be a clue that you, as an author, should look into hiring a PA.
Pre-launch of an author’s book is before the book is published. Building hype, creating street, beta, and ARC teams, and creating marketing campaigns is a big part of the pre-launch process.
Post-launch is after the book is released. You should still be creating hype for it, but now you are focused on connecting to your readers, fans, and building up for a possible second book. Book promotions are one way to market for your pre and post-launch. That can include setting up giveaways with other authors or even small businesses to boost book sales.
To Help with Work/Life Balance for the Author
This will allow the author to stay on track – to manage the time spent on their writing. Most authors have families and so making time for them is important. This is where a PA can help the author with the work/life balance… by taking on all aspects of the author’s work that they don’t necessarily have to do by themselves.
PAs Can:
- get beta readers
- connect with editors
- build ARC teams
- post on social media
- help authors stay on track
3 Benefits of Having a PA
- Less Stress of Navigating the Challenges
- More Time to Write
- Partnering with an Author Assistant can Produce better Results
Less Stress of Navigating the Challenges
Stress tends to affect everyone differently, and with all the stress that authors deal with, having a PA to help relieve some of that makes allows the author to really focus on their own lives and writing.
Some authors may face challenges like social media. Many authors don’t understand the necessity of it, and so many of them do not have any accounts created, or if they do, they may be stressing about how they are going to grow their audience.
This also goes into time management; PAs help authors with scheduling, and making sure that they are not stressed with everything they must get done.
Heading More Time to Write
What could an author ask for except more time to write their book? PAs help with this exact thing. They take care of everything that the author doesn’t have time for, thus allowing the author more time to write, knowing that everything else is on track and taken care of.
Partnering with an Author Assistant can Produce better Results
Ever hear the saying “two heads are better than one”? Well in this, case it is true!
When partnering with a PA, authors can create goals, make sure they have the same vision, act, whether it’s together or separately, and give objectives.
For example: working to create better results would be having the author create specific content based on the goals such as blog posts or even newsletters.
Finding the Perfect PA
When looking for a PA, you want to put an ad out or join multiple author groups on Facebook. You can even put a post on Instagram saying you’re looking for a personal assistant to help. You want to make sure that when you hire a PA, you do research into who you are hiring or interview 3-4 candidates and find one that matches exactly what you’re looking for.
Order of the Bookish PA Services
In other bookish news, Order of the Bookish has started to offer PA services and, better yet, there are different plans that you can pick from. The plans vary depending on what exactly an author is needing at that time. Tia, who runs and operates the PA services, works with all authors from different genres to help build their profiles, help create hype for their books, and basically handle the day-to-day things that authors don’t have time for.
Tia has a whole team to help! Together, they strive to make the lives of new and indie authors easier, increase audience reach and book sales, and make the bookish community more inclusive and supportive.
CONCLUSION
As I mentioned before, this blog is all about what author PAs are, why author PAs are needed and what exactly they help authors with. An author’s personal assistant differs depending on what the author needs help with. Finding the perfect PA can take time, and most likely it will take you interviewing multiple PAs until you find your perfect match. So, make sure you do your research when looking for a personal assistant.
That being said, personal assistants are the new trend going around on social media, and more specifically, Instagram and Facebook. I personally can see myself as a PA for an indie author because I am so hyper-organized. Personal assistants are there to make it easier for authors to write and get through the process of publishing their books.
The bookish community has been growing and, the more I investigate what is trending, the more I learn. Being thrown into the bookish world has made it possible for me to take the time to write these blogs and learn new skills that I didn’t know I had.
Keep checking in every week to learn what new trends and bookish business decisions you should know about!