Writing a book is rarely a task performed by one person. Smart authors know that writing teams are the ticket for success. Some of your team will be paid for their efforts, and others will volunteer to help for no charge. Sometimes you can offer something in exchange for their help, such as a signed copy of your book, an acknowledgement within the book, or public recognition.
It’s always wise to seek out help from others.
The act of writing can be solitary. Proofreading and editing, beta reading, book covers, illustrations, research, interviews, and many other tasks can and should be done by members of your writing team. Every book should be proofread by someone else, preferably a skilled proofreader. Book covers are best done by professionals since author-created covers often hurt sales.
Authors who create their own book covers are asking for lower book sales.
Should You Outsource Your Book Writing?
Nobody is good at every job a book needs, and I include myself in that. I write books, and I leave the other trades to people who practice them for a living. Authors who try to handle every stage alone end up with a book that looks homemade, and readers judge that in seconds.
Outsourcing means hiring a person outside your business to do work for you.
These are also referred to as contractors or consultants. While in theory you can do everything yourself, you’ll get more done and have higher quality using outsourced services. Be discerning on your choices: outsource individual tasks, not the creative process. Find people to proofread, create book covers, and so on. To keep costs under control, you can find excellent professionals on sites such as Fiverr.com and Upwork.com at reasonable rates.
Proofreading and Editing
Editing is the one job I’d never let an author skip. A draft that goes straight to print carries its typos and tangled sentences into every copy, and every reader who trips over them wonders what else the author didn’t bother to check. I refer my clients to editors I trust, and I offer a publishing package for the ones who want the next stage handled.
Your own read comes first, then a proofreader, then beta readers, and only the final copy goes to reviewers.
Proofreading means careful reading and rereading of a document before final printing to detect errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. It may also involve checking layout elements like headlines, paragraphs, and illustrations for correct dimensions and placement. Despite the spell-checking abilities of modern word processors, a human proofreader is indispensable. You should always proofread your books yourself at least twice to find basic errors:
- Is the book organized in the best possible manner?
- Does it flow well?
- Is the message delivered correctly?
- Does the introduction grab the attention of the reader and entice them to get into the book?
- Does the conclusion wrap things up well?
- Is everything properly cited?
After you validate that your book is as good as you can make it, send it to at least one other person, or a proofreading service, to be proofread. Skipping a professional proofread is asking for trouble. Grammar and spelling errors will be in there, and they cost you reputation and sales.
In April 2010, Penguin Group Australia had to reprint 7,000 copies of its Pasta Bible cookbook because of one word. A recipe for spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto told cooks to add “salt and freshly ground black people” where it meant pepper. The error sat on a single page, and the reprint cost A$20,000, according to CBS News.
Penguin’s head of publishing, Bob Sessions, called it a “silly mistake” and said of the proofreader, “of course they should have picked it up, but proofreading a cookbook is an extremely difficult task.” I find that story funny and painful in equal measure. A major publisher with professional staff let one wrong word through, and a spellchecker was never going to flag it, because “people” is spelled correctly. Only a careful human reader catches that kind of mistake.
Creating a Book Index
Authors who hate promotion and force themselves through it anyway produce posts that read like hostage statements, and readers can tell.
At first glance, a book index is just a list of words and phrases along with all of the page numbers where they appear in the text. A professional indexer should build the index. Readers don’t need a list of every single occurrence of a word or phrase. That would be useless. What they need is a list of the important references within the text. In a book about training dogs, you wouldn’t index every page containing the word “dog.” You index the important points. The definition, a list of the breeds, and so on. Professional indexers have developed the skills necessary to find a text’s core concepts quickly, including those the author may not mention by name. An indexing professional has the training to understand the meaning of your manuscript and create an index that gets readers to the right pages to answer their questions.
Book Cover Designers
I don’t do covers. Cover design is its own trade, and an author who throws one together in an afternoon has told every browsing reader the rest of the book was made the same way. Designing a book cover and creating the art for a book cover are two separate skills. An artist creates the image or images used on the cover.
You can use images from stock photo sites for your book cover, but you must make sure you have the legal right to use those images. You can’t just find a picture on the internet and create a cover from it. Pixabay.com is a great place to find good quality free graphics.
A designer takes that image and combines it with fonts, text, colors, shading, and shadows. The result tells readers, consciously and unconsciously, what to expect from the book. They understand, because they’ve been trained, what works and what doesn’t work on a cover.
If you want a great cover, your best bet is to hire a good book cover designer. They’ll probably use a stock image, combine it with other elements such as fonts, text, shading, and color, and produce a cover that works. If your book isn’t selling, the very first place to look is the cover.
Artists
Many authors get into book publishing because they have artistic talent and see they can use that to create illustrated books:
- Coloring books
- Comic books
- Children’s books
- and so on.
In my case, I wanted to publish coloring books.
I thought they might sell well, but since I’m not an artist, I went to Fiverr.com and hired people to create the art for me. That turned out to be a good move. The prices were good and the quality ranged from good to very good.
Contributors
You may include people on your writing team who contribute to the book itself. These could be co-authors, book coaches, writing coaches, or people who write individual sections or chapters. Depending on their role, they may need to be compensated in advance or from royalties. Ghostwriters, for example, are usually paid in advance, while co-authors share in your royalties. 
Can volunteers help write and promote a book?
To create a book that’s as good as it can be, you’ll probably need the help of a few volunteers. These are people who are willing to do things to help you with your project without getting directly paid for their efforts. Volunteers are also part of your writing team. Some of the tasks you’ll need volunteers to help with are described below.
Writing Critique Groups
A critique group is how I got into this business. The owner of a ghostwriting company sponsored one I attended, liked my writing, and hired me for my first three books. Bring pages, take the criticism seriously, and keep showing up; the people in that room will catch problems you can’t see, and some of them may open doors you didn’t know were there.
Attending writer critique groups is among the best things you can do to improve your writing skills and make a better book. These consist of anywhere from 3 or 4 writers to as many as 50, all with the intent of receiving help for their writing and helping others get better. You can find critique groups on Meetup.com.
Once you find one, attend as a guest. Bring along a few pages to read. Other writers will provide a few minutes of critique on your work, and you’ll have the opportunity to help them with their work. Believe it or not, helping other writers can be just as valuable as getting help.
People to Write Book Reviews
To sell books, you need to get at least 20 book reviews on Amazon. The more reviews you can get, mostly positive ones of course, the better. Verified reviews, meaning the reviewer bought the book, are more important for Amazon rankings than unverified reviews.
Getting book reviews is one of the biggest difficulties for most writers.
As soon as you have a final copy of the manuscript, start passing it around to people to read, and let them know you’d appreciate a review on Amazon. According to Amazon’s terms and conditions, you can’t demand a review in exchange for a copy of your book, and you can’t influence the rating or quality of the review you receive in any way. 
Beta Readers
After you’ve written and checked over your book, and after you’ve had it proofread, send it to a few people to read. These are called beta readers, and the idea is for them to give you advice on the material that you’ve written. Except in special circumstances, avoid using family and close friends as beta readers. You want people who are going to ruthlessly, although nicely, tell you what needs to be corrected. Friends and family often withhold advice that you need to “spare your feelings.”
The point of acquiring beta readers is to garner information that will help you write a better book.
It’s far better to get critique from a few beta readers than to receive negative reviews on Amazon.
People to Help Spread the Word
Getting your book out there and known to the public, especially when you’re just starting out, is among the most labor intensive and confusing tasks. There are daily, even hourly, tasks that must be performed to keep your name in front of your audience. Note that I said “your name,” not “your book.”
That’s because one of the worst things you can post to social media or send to your email list is “buy my book.” People will just tune it out unless they see you as an expert or authority.
You need to craft messages to your audience that help or entertain them. Once you’ve become known, liked, and trusted in their minds, they’ll purchase your books.
To succeed, you need to find people who will help you spread the word. You can write an article for your blog, then ask your writing team to post that on all of their social media accounts along with a brief testimonial. Where do you find people to help you spread the word?
- Members of your writing critique group.
- People on your email list.
- Friends or connections on your social media.
- People you meet at networking events.
- Members of your church.
- Members of the local Chamber of Commerce.
How do you get people to help you promote your book?
- Give them free PDF copies of your manuscript.
- Create some special freebies, chapters, or stories which are only given to volunteers.
- Create a contest, giving a nice gift picked randomly from your volunteers.
Influencers
Find a few influencers who are willing to help you promote your work if you want to boost the sales of your book. The ultimate opportunity would be to be interviewed on national television or a major podcast. If you can pull that off, you’ve got it made. You can find influencers for your niche just about everywhere you look:
- Instructors
- Marketers
- Famous authors
- Public Speakers
- Keynote speakers
All you need to do is introduce yourself to people who appear to have influence. In person, walk up and shake their hand, talk to them, and get their contact information. Work to create a relationship. Once they know you, like you, and trust you, you’ll find they may be willing to help.
Promotion
Authors who hate promotion and force themselves through it anyway produce posts that read like hostage statements, and readers can tell. Find people who enjoy that work and already reach your readers, and treat them as part of the team from the start.
Your book needs to be promoted beyond social media, your blog, and your email list. To make your book hit the big time, you’ll need:
- Interviews on podcasts, radio shows, and television.
- Mention in major book reviews.
- Promotion in major email lists.
Finding the right person or company to help with promotion, marketing, and public relations can push your book into the big time or onto one of the bestseller lists.
Acknowledgements of your Book Writing Team and Writing Volunteers
Thank every one of them by name in the book. Beta readers, reviewers and the friends who shared your launch gave you hours they didn’t owe you, and an author who forgets them shouldn’t be surprised when nobody volunteers for the next book.
You need to acknowledge everyone who helps with your book. This is just plain good manners, and it helps build a stronger bond with your team. People like it when you thank them for their efforts. If possible, some kind of reward is also suitable. Where can you acknowledge them?
- In the acknowledgements section of your book. Thank each person individually. Don’t say “thanks to my writing team.” Instead, thank each person in a sentence or two for their contribution.
- On Facebook and other social media. Every once in a while, thank someone on your team publicly.
- In your email newsletter and blog.
You don’t need to acknowledge or thank people in your promotional materials.
My take
Build a team for your book and thank every person on it by name. Beta readers, reviewers and friends who shared the launch gave you hours they didn’t owe you. A line that says thanks to my writing team shortchanges them. Give each one a sentence or two in the acknowledgements, and thank them publicly now and then. An author who forgets the volunteers shouldn’t expect any next time.
Why do most authors need a book writing team?
Writing, editing, design, publishing and promotion each call for their own skills, and almost nobody is good at all five. Authors who try to do everything end up doing three of them badly.
A good manuscript that goes out with no editor and a cover made in an afternoon is a loss, because the writing deserved better and the corners the author cut will cost readers for the life of the book. Pay professionals for the jobs they do better than you can, and give your volunteers real credit.
| Role | What they do | Usually |
|---|---|---|
| Proofreader or editor | Catches spelling, grammar and errors a spellchecker misses. | Paid professional |
| Indexer | Builds an index of the important references, not every word. | Paid professional |
| Cover designer | Combines art, fonts and color into a cover that sells. | Paid professional |
| Artist | Creates cover or interior art for illustrated books. | Paid, often via Fiverr |
| Contributors | Co-authors, coaches or ghostwriters who write parts of the book. | Ghostwriters paid upfront; co-authors share royalties |
| Critique group | Gives feedback on your pages while you help others. | Volunteer |
| Beta readers | Read the finished draft and say honestly what needs fixing. | Volunteer, not family |
| Reviewers | Read the book and leave reviews on Amazon. | Volunteer |
| Promoters and influencers | Spread the word through their networks and audiences. | Volunteer or relationship |
As you can see, writing, publishing, and promoting a book requires many different talents.
Most authors get overwhelmed because they “are short of money” or “prefer to do it all themselves.” There are many people out there who will be delighted to help in one way or another. Just remember that you need to return the favor by acknowledging their contributions and helping them when they need things done. A book often requires the efforts of many people:
- Actual contributors or people who actively helped with some or all of a book
- Proofreaders who check for grammar and spelling errors
- Beta readers who read the book and provide feedback
- Friends who help with formatting, ideas, and so forth
- Critique groups used to help polish a work
- Artists who help with cover or interior art
- Marketing people who help promote the book
- Admired people or authority figures who were a strong influence and one of the reasons a book was written
There may be many people who help an author get a book to print. I’ve only named a few. The smart thing for a writer to do is build a book writing team made up of volunteers and well-chosen contractors to help you get your book completed.
If you don’t have a lot of money, you can still build a team by exchanging services, giving away free copies of your book, and so on. You can also tap sites such as Fiverr.com to find inexpensive help, and use volunteers from your network.
After the team is in place, Publish Your Book covers the rest. It’s my complete self-publishing guide, comparing five platforms and drawing on 100+ titles published since 2016.
