I was asked about using a PA after last week’s post about
marketing options. So, let's take a closer look at what a PA is and can do for you and your books. PA’s are a wonderful
resource to use to take some of the pressure off of an indie author’s
writing/marketing workload.
This is a work for hire position with rates to be negotiated
by the author and the PA prior to work beginning. It is always suggested that
before any work partnership is started that some form of written contract be in
place. This protects the Author as well as the PA from possible legal issues
down the road.
The responsibilities of the PA are, but not limited to the
following:
1. Social Networking
assistance. Update Facebook page and Twitter account with teasers, sales, and
other promotional items related to the author’s work. (All teasers and other
promotional graphics will be provided by the author. Any other graphics must be
approved by the author before posting.)
2. Maintain calendar
for the author (blog takeovers, promotional events, and other miscellaneous
items).
3. Keep track of
giveaways, schedule and document winner addresses for the author to award
prizes.
4. Answer questions
from fans as reasonable, regarding future releases, promotional events,
signings, etc. or forward inquiry to the author for a response.
5. Assist author in
organizing tasks for her street team, including sharing posts made on the
author’s FB fan page with the street team for them to share on FB and Twitter.
6. Assist author in
writing monthly newsletter.
So. As you can see, a PA can pick up as much or as little of
the author’s workload as they both agree on, significantly reducing the time
spent away from writing. However, as it is a work-for-hire position, the cost
can become high if you rely on them too much. If you find that is the case, you
might consider a publicist.
More on that in our next post.