Time For An Author's Assistant? Meet Gina B.



Need help with your blogs, social media sites, newsletters? Meet Gina B., Author's assistant. I initially met Gina online through an author friend who offered to host me and my books on her blogs. Snowed under with the joys of being an Indie Author, one of the first questions I asked was "where can I find an assistant?" We've been in touch ever since, so I invited her for an interview. I also included a contact link in case you'd like to talk to her about your business.



1.    Tell me about your journey to becoming a writers’ assistant. What were some of your first steps toward making this career choice a reality?  

     I kind of “fell” into this job. My background is in sales and marketing and
     music and film, so I figured I’d be able to learn quickly in the book/author
     arena.  It’s a HUGE world and I love learning the other side of the books. 
     I am a reader so that made it an easy transition.

2.    What 3 things would you like writers to know about you? 

     I am always looking for more authors to work with. 

I am honest.  I am trustworthy.  I can keep a secret.

3.    How many authors do you usually work with at any given time? How do you meet/contract with most of your authors?  

At present I am working for 3 authors in 3 different genres.  I know one of my authors personally - she got me into this!  I was lucky to get another author through her and then I met my next author at the RNC convention in Las Vegas.  All of my authors have given me weekly hours for which I am overwhelmingly grateful.

4.    What would you say are some of your strongest attributes as a writers’ assistant?

 I care about my work and how it affects my authors.  I like to think of these authors as friends so I take it hard when I make a mistake, I don’t like letting people down.

5.    In terms of social media platforms, I’ve come to prefer my blogs, Twitter, and Pinterest, so I use a number of tools to stay organized and active. What are some of the best social media, marketing, and publicity tips you’ve come across for authors

Use all the platforms differently.  They each have a specific audience and you need to market to each of those audiences in unique and different ways.

6.     Which social media platform do you generally spend the most time on, and which platforms do you prefer?

Probably Facebook but I can most certainly get sucked in to Pinterest and lose time!  I use Twitter but feel like sometimes the noise in the twitterverse is too loud most days.


7.    Along that same line, what are some of your favorite resources for writers’ assistants? Courses? Websites? Blogs?

I am currently enrolled in Social Media Marketing University, and feel like I am learning a lot from that.  I have been lucky to get great information from other author assistants and have made some great contacts through bloggers and blog hops.

8.    Obviously, you stay extremely busy. How do you handle your many roles in terms of time and resource management?


I am a list maker.  There are lists everywhere!  I still use pencil and paper, I rewrite my lists when tasks are completed and keep everything.  My list making OCD takes more of my time than the actual tasks sometimes!   I set a schedule for myself and really do the best I can to stay on track.  

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Gina. I wish you great success! 
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Comments

Dariel Raye said…
Again, thank you so much for visiting, Gina :-)