Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the number of tasks required to write, publish, and market your books? As you experience success in your writing career, more demands will be laid upon your schedule, and they will pull you away from writing.

As my dad says, “Only do what only you can do. Delegate the rest.” You are the only person who can write your books. Why spend most of your time doing tasks someone else can do?  

But how and where do you find someone who can help?

In this article, you’ll learn how to find a Virtual Assistant and how to delegate tasks. Hiring a Virtual Assistant may be exactly what you need to dramatically increase your output as a writer. 

Why Work With a Virtual Assistant?

Many successful authors have an assistant, and most of the assistants work remotely. Authors were ahead of the curve in hiring Virtual Assistants before the world was focused on flattening the curve by working from home during the pandemic.

Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) does not mean you are working with a robot. A VA is a real human who works for you remotely and only works as many hours as you need them to. Some VAs only work an hour or two per week.

Your weaknesses are someone else’s strengths. As you become more successful as an author, you will be earning more money. With some of that income, you can hire a trained person to skillfully complete the tasks where you lack skills or desire. 

When you spend less time working in your areas of weaknesses and more time in your areas of strength, you will be happier, more fulfilled, and more productive. In other words, you will earn more money overall by paying a VA than you would if you tried to do every task yourself.

Why spend the time and money trying to turn your weaknesses into strengths when you can just work with others?

When you hire someone to do work they are good at, you make the world a better place. 

When you delegate, you create a job for someone who can’t do what you can do. You are the only person who can write your books. When you don’t delegate a task you could afford to delegate, you withhold a job from a willing worker, and you spend less time writing your books.

Hoarding tasks you can afford to hire out makes the world a worse place.

You might hire a house cleaner, but you can also hire someone to help you with your writing work. 

7 Kinds of Virtual Assistants

Most authors only have one or two VAs, but there are seven main types of Virtual Assistants. Different people have different strength zones. You want to hire a VA whose strengths compensate for your weaknesses. 

Administrative Assistant

An Administrative Assistant’s primary job is to protect you from distractions so you can focus on your writing. 

You can delegate the following types of tasks to your Administrative VA.

* Reading and responding to emails * Scheduling meetings and Zoom calls* Booking travel arrangements* Responding to media requests* Bookkeeping * Administrative tasks

What to look for:

* Friendly and confident* Able to give a friendly “no” to people trying to waste your time* Organized * Tech-savvy * Quick learner 

The most important qualities to look for are organization and the ability to communicate in a friendly way. However, not every task listed above would require a person...