I am very close to choosing a niche training program to train as a VAA.

Can anyone offer any advice or recommendation for the above niche market?

I am new to the VA world and I think this is an area where I could thrive.




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Kevin
Virtual Assistant

I'm with you Kevin about choosing this niche. I'm already a marketing assistant for a bestseller author and I had a couple of other author ask me what my marketing services are. I really haven't thought about working with other author before. I'm learning so much about the book marketing that I'm thinking about offering my services to others.

Angela Samuels

I've worked with two published authors previously and it was a great experience. I also have one client in the publishing side of things.

There is certainly a lot to learn and when I was working with these clients there was no formalized 'VAA' niche. With that said, a lot of research went into making sure I could help my clients with everything they asked of me.

It's a lot of fun working in the publishing industry but it's also ever-changing now with ePub, self publishing, print-on-demand, digital rights, etc. so lots of keep track of. I would just make sure that whatever program you select you're getting relevant information that takes the current state of the publishing industry into account.

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Hi Tess,

So when you say make sure the learning opportunity is current are you referring to self-publishing and virtual book tour marketing and set-up. This course seems to offer that and more.

Would you have a look at it and give me your honest opinion since you have worked with authors before. Here is the site:

http://www.authorsassistanttraining.com/

Thanks so much for your thoughts. I really appreciate it.


Hey Monique,

I only wish I had a client already, but I am in the learning and researching stage. I have found this website to be very interesting for author training and I am thinking about it.

Best regards,

Kevin

Hi. I'm also new to the VA world. I am fortunate to have a client who has written a book and is editing a new one and would like help in marketing and distribution. As I am new to this, does anyone have some good advice on how to go about this?
I appreciate your help

I work for a few fiction authors. I haven't gone through any specialized training, so I can't speak to that. However, I learned a lot about the publishing industry when I was trying to become an author myself, and I've picked up a lot about marketing over the years, as well. Most authors are in serious need of help. How can they find time to market when they're spending their days writing? How can they find time to write when they're spending their days marketing? But on the flip side... most authors are not bestsellers and will have a hard time justifying the cost of a VA.

I did work for a short time for a self-published author, but I ended that relationship because I thought the book was terrible and I felt guilty for taking his money when I didn't believe he could be successful. There are many successful self-pubbed authors, of course. I simply didn't believe in this book and felt the poor man was throwing good money after bad, with visions of striking it rich. I couldn't continue to take his money in good conscience.

Monique, you asked for advice... the first thing I would say would be to set up a Facebook business page for the author and/or the book. Then try to help that author build name recognition in his or her field of expertise. You could organize a blog tour on blogs relevant to the topic, etc. A professional, polished website is a must. You might be able to help the author identify print publications which he or she could query with articles. If you're working for a self-published author, then he or she may need help formatting the books, etc.

I'm taking on a new challenge now which is exciting... one of the authors for whom I work has gotten the rights back to a few of her early books, and she wants to publish them as ebooks on Kindle, Nook, etc. So I'm going to handle that for her, everything from designing the covers to formatting the manuscript to uploading it onto the booksellers' sites.

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Jenel Looney
Specializing in marketing for fiction authors

I'm not personally familiar with the program you mentioned and have only heard a few mentions here and there so I'm afraid I can't offer any feedback on that in particular.

But yes, that is what I meant - you're going to want a program that isn't rooted in 'old' information that would ultimately leave you out of the loop on a lot of issues publishers and authors deal with today, as well as resources they have access to that didn't exist even a few years ago.

Best of luck pursuing this new direction! If you like writing and editing and enjoy all that goes into making a book happen, you should really enjoy being an author's assistant!

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Kevin, please let us know how your certification goes. I would love to know more it. I personally am thinking of gearing in that direction at some point because I know how much I would love it. I honestly, though, have no idea of what is involved and as such stick to what I do best and to my other "loves," such as transcription and publication designs.

Again, please post how it's going for you. I'm happy for you that you are focusing on what you want to do.

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Patty

Hi Kevin.

I in the midst of taking the VAA course offered by Ms Jan B. King. I am loving it so far. There are step by step instructions that you can use, you have access to many forms and checklists that you can use, and the slidecasts she presents are very informative. The focus for the course is for non-fiction writers.

I would (and have) recommended this course to some of my fellow VAs (we just graduated yesterday) and it will be my niche in September when I open my business. While I can only speak for myself, the course is great!

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Sandra Milligen
SJ Milligen VA

I am contemplating taking the Virtual Author's Assistant course. Would love to hear from others who have taken the course and/or are working as an Author's assistant. I am still in the initial research stages.

Well, I'm halfway through my VAA course right now and I think it is great. Many of the skills are common sense skills like organizing and researching. For me though, what it is doing is putting every service (there are 24 that are taught in the course), into a system. That is how I like to work, with a system that is repeatable and efficient. Every day I have more ideas for setting up my business and how I am going to reach my target audience.

It is really great!

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Sandra Milligen
SJ Milligen VA