TAB037: Is it Time to Add an Author Assistant to your Team?

Author’s Assistant Kate Tilton is the guest on this episode of The Author Biz

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Can you remember the last time you felt like you were caught up with the work surrounding your author business?

I know you’re busy.

You’re writing, revising and polishing one book while you’re planning the next.

You’re trying to carve out time to stay active on social media. Tracking deadlines for your cover designer, editors, and your formatter. And you’ve got to do something about getting your series into audio.

I know you don’t have time to sit down and listen to this, so you’ll listen while you’re walking, or running, or picking up the kids.

And you’ll be glad you did listen because today we’re talking about what can be the busy author’s best friend. The author assistant.

Kate Tilton has been an author assistant since she was 16. She tells you  what she, and others in her growing field can do to help you spend more time on your highest value work.

Writing.

She explains how authors utilize assistants and what those assistants can do to simplify your busy life.

In this 48 minute episode, we’ll discuss the role of the author’s assistant and how finding the right one can help to fuel your career.  

• Kate explains the role of the author assistant.
• Kate got into the business by responding to a query on Twitter from one of her favorite authors.
• Kate’s motivation as an author’s assistant is to give authors more time to write.
• The difference between a virtual assistant and an author assistant.
• Kate doesn’t like managing social media for authors. She prefers to train them so they can spend their time wisely, connecting directly with their readers.
• Kate shares her experience with creating successful author contests. She prefers contests where multiple authors band together to create a large pool of entrants.
• There are different platforms for holding contests, and each have their positives and negatives. As an example, Goodreads contests are great for getting people to add your book to a readers shelves. But, they can prove costly since they require physical books.
• Kate is a fan of Rafflecopter and uses it for her own business, as well as for her clients.
• Kate hosts a weekly Twitter chat #K8chat on Thursday evenings at 9:00 ET. The purpose of the chat is to provide a place where authors and readers can connect.
• Kate’s website has a resource tab that includes a great deal of valuable information, including a list of book bloggers.
• Author Assistants can also process author email, simplifying the email management process for an author.
• Kate also helps authors set up and manage street teams. She explains what a street team is and how they can help.
• She explains the value of cover releases and how they can help with visibility when done correctly.
• Kate believes that content and connection is far more valuable than paid advertising for most authors.
• Kate shares her thoughts on how to select the right author assistant for your business.

Links

Kate’s website www.katetilton.com

Kate’s weekly Twitter chat #K8chat

Follow Kate on Twitter

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