Tonight on #K8Chat I asked you for some questions you’d like answered about author assistants. Here are the top three questions answered. If you have a question about or for an author assistant leave it in the comments below!
@K8Tilton @ericrasher How did you get started as an author's assistant?
— Jenna Marie (@readandrinse) January 30, 2015
Twitter! Yep it was all Twitter’s fault that I started on this amazing path. One of my favorite authors posted on Twitter that she was looking for an assistant. I was in the car on my way home for Christmas when I saw the tweet and asked for the job. That one tweet changed my life. Ever since then I have used Twitter and other social media channels to connect with authors and readers and grow as an assistant and business owner.
@K8Tilton How do you handle shipping for an author’s giveaways? Do they send you a decent amount of stock to keep on hand? #k8chat — Eric Asher (@ericrasher) January 30, 2015
This totally depends on the author! A few authors I work with a lot will send me a stock to keep on hand, others will send me a box of things when they have a promotion coming up that will need to be managed by someone else (aka me), and some do their own shipping with me keeping track. One of the beautiful things about working with an assistant is the flexibility you as an author get. I love being able to cater to the needs of each author as an individual. Your assistant is your partner in crime, we get to know you and will always have your back.
my question -> how does an author go about choosing an author assistant? #K8chat.
— Author Allyn Lesley (@AllynLesley) January 30, 2015
Consider price, personality, professionalism, skills, and experience. When you hire an author assistant you must be able to afford their services (price), you must be able to get along with and like your assistant (personality), check their website, social media, interviews (professionalism), and check their current and former clients, their published work, their references and book acknowledgments (experience). Remember the more experienced and skilled an assistant is the more you will (and should) pay them but the less time you will need to spend training them. When looking for an assistant I’d suggest checking out resources like the Author Assistants page here on Kate Tilton, Connecting Authors & Readers and Author’s Atlas.
This is great information for the future. I have no need for an author assistant now and probably not for quite some time, but I hope that eventually I will!
By the way, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award!
http://leetahbegallie.com/versatile-blogger-award-nominees
Thanks Leetah! Not every author needs an assistant and sometimes authors only need an assistant to get caught up or while they are taking on extra things (like a new baby in the family or going back to school). One thing I have learned in my years of working with authors is that this is a very flexible field and you have to work with it. Thank you for the nomination!
Hi Kate, I read about you in Joel Friedlander’s book: The Self Publisher’s Resource Guide. I assume you handle Twitter accounts for new authors? Can you tell me what that entails? Thanks!
Hi Susan!
I actually do NOT manage author Twitter accounts. I offer training for authors on how they can use social media in a way that doesn’t eat up all of their time. You can learn more about my services right here on the site: https://katetilton.com/author-services/. I hope this helps. 🙂
Thanks Kate. When the time is right, I may get in touch! Take good care.
My pleasure Susan! I look forward to hearing from you in the future and hopefully seeing you in the blog comments again in the not so distant future. 🙂
How can I determine if a candidate to be my assistant is really trustworthy?
That is something only you can determine, but if possible talk to authors the assistant has worked for in the past and get recommendations. Those can be super helpful in determining if an assistant is right for you.