The Benefits of Virtual Assistants for Authors

In today’s remote-first world, busy entrepreneurs and authors juggle writing with countless administrative and marketing tasks. As Paul Østergaard, co-founder of MySigrid (a leading remote staffing firm), often notes, your time as an author is priceless. When you’re managing emails, scheduling interviews, and updating your website, you’re acting as your own assistant. A skilled virtual assistant (VA) can handle these routine tasks so you can focus on writing and strategy. In fact, studies show founders spend roughly 36% of their week on “busywork” like invoicing, scheduling, and data entry – time that could instead go to writing or growth. By delegating low-value tasks, you free up hours each week; one MySigrid article notes that entrepreneurs who delegate effectively tend to see higher revenue and profit growth.

Virtual assistants let authors focus on writing. Instead of spending hours on emails or formatting, imagine having a dedicated VA managing your inbox, appointments, and research so you can write.

Virtual assistants bring remote staffing solutions to your writing business, tapping into a global talent pool. The VA market is booming – valued at ~$4.2 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $11.9 billion by 2030 (a 34% CAGR) – as more professionals want remote options (99% of remote workers say they prefer some remote work). In this environment, MySigrid’s human‑premium VAs combine advanced tools (like AI) with personal initiative to boost your productivity. Rather than reacting passively, these assistants proactively handle details, anticipate needs, and become a true partner in your author business.

Why Authors Need Virtual Assistants

Authors wear many hats: beyond writing, they often manage book marketing, social media, interviews, and even their personal brand. According to one leadership coach, “If you don’t have an assistant, you are one!”. In practice, this means every hour spent on emails or scheduling is an hour not spent on writing or strategic planning. Virtual assistants solve this by taking on time‑consuming tasks:

• Save Time for Writing: VAs can handle email triage, calendar management, and research. In fact, business owners spend about 36% of their time on admin busywork. Delegating even part of this can give you days back in a year.
  
  
• Increase Productivity: Delegation isn’t just about saving time – it drives growth. Entrepreneurs who outsource routine work consistently see more revenue and profit growth than those who do everything themselves.
  
  
• Access Specialized Skills: Today’s VAs often have niche expertise. MySigrid notes that many virtual assistants are highly skilled in areas like content marketing, social media, or bookkeeping, so authors can offload tasks ranging from graphics design to financial tracking.
  
  
• Cut Costs: Hiring a VA is far cheaper than a full-time employee. You pay only for the hours you need, with no overhead for office space or benefits. Businesses report saving up to 30–78% on operating costs by using VAs instead of in‑house staff.
  
  
• Flexible, Scalable Support: Need more help during a book launch, or less when you’re in editing mode? VAs offer the flexibility to scale up or down. As MySigrid explains, contracting VAs lets startups “remain lean and agile,” accessing talent exactly when needed.
  
  
• Improved Work-Life Balance: With a VA handling routine tasks, authors avoid burnout. You can spend more evenings and weekends on writing or personal time, rather than locked to your inbox.
  
  

Most importantly, virtual assistants allow authors to focus on their core strength: writing and creativity. As one MySigrid study highlights, delegating low-value tasks “isn’t just a cost – it’s an investment in your business’s growth”. For an author-entrepreneur, that means more time to craft your next chapter or lead-generation piece.

Top Virtual Assistant Tasks for Authors

Virtual assistants can handle a wide range of tasks for authors of every genre – from CEOs writing business books to novelists seeking wider audiences. Common tasks include:

• Administrative Tasks: Email and calendar management, travel booking (for book tours or speaking gigs), formatting manuscripts (to PDF/eBook), data entry (sales figures, mailing lists), and client/customer support. VAs set up organized filing systems (Google Drive, Dropbox) and even transcribe notes or interviews.
  
  
• Content and Research Support: Gathering research for a chapter, fact-checking, creating or updating “story bibles” for fiction, keyword research for SEO-friendly titles, and repurposing content into blog posts or newsletters. 35% of companies hire VAs to help with content marketing, which includes drafting articles, blog posts, and email campaigns.
  
  
• Marketing & Promotion: Managing social media accounts (scheduling posts, engaging followers), sending email newsletters to subscribers, coordinating book launch events, reaching out to journalists and influencers, and organizing virtual book tours. A skilled VA can even run targeted ad campaigns or update your Amazon author page.
  
  
• Project Coordination: Overseeing deadlines and to-do lists, tracking the progress of editing or design tasks, and ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. For example, MySigrid’s Executive Assistants can take on project management duties – from updating task trackers to sending reminders – allowing authors to keep projects on schedule.
  
  
• Personal Tasks: Some authors also use VAs for personal assistance – like managing personal appointments, online shopping, or follow-ups – so they can concentrate fully on their writing and business.
  
  

Table: Comparing Assistant Roles

This breakdown shows that a VA is ideal for flexible, task-based support (great for writers on a budget), while an Executive Assistant is a higher-cost hire for deep, ongoing partnership. For most authors and entrepreneurs, starting with a VA allows you to “hire only for the hours you need” without fixed salaries.

Outsourcing vs. In-House: Building Your Remote Team

Outsourcing work to virtual assistants (often offshore) offers distinct advantages over hiring an in-house employee. You avoid office expenses, equipment costs, and benefits packages. For example, one study found a remote executive assistant in the Philippines can be over 50% cheaper than a Western hire. In the Philippines (home to MySigrid’s VAs), the high English proficiency and strong service culture mean you get top talent at a fraction of U.S. rates.

To manage a remote team efficiently, use collaboration tools like Slack (for chat), Zoom (for video calls), Asana or Trello (for project tracking), and cloud docs (Google Workspace). These best remote work tools that keep communication seamless. Integrate your VA into your workflow: give them access to calendars, shared drives, and communication channels. As remote work statistics show, virtual collaboration is now mainstream, and VAs can be the linchpin that holds your distributed team together.

MySigrid’s model exemplifies this: every client has a dedicated Customer Success Manager plus a 24/7 backup team, ensuring continuity and support. In practice, that means even if your primary VA takes time off, a trained assistant can step in using MySigrid’s “Client Fact Book” system without missing a beat. For authors, this reliability means you can confidently scale your operations – hiring additional VAs (or even a virtual project manager), knowing there’s always coverage.

Remote Team Tip: Start small. Hire one VA for general support and evaluate the tasks you delegate. As your needs grow (e.g. managing multiple book projects or a larger content schedule), you can onboard more VAs or specialized contractors. This “right-sizing” is far more efficient than hiring a full-time team at once.

AI-Powered Assistants and Human Touch

The rise of AI tools (like ChatGPT) has also influenced virtual assistance. AI-powered virtual assistants – whether chatbots or automation tools – can handle simple tasks (like generating draft text or summarizing articles) instantly. But authors often need nuance and creativity that only a human can provide. MySigrid advocates a hybrid approach: VAs use AI to automate routine tasks, while humans handle judgment-intensive work. As a MySigrid blog notes, “combining AI-powered tools with skilled human assistants can elevate your project outcomes”.

For example, your VA might use AI to quickly generate an email draft or keyword ideas, then review and personalize the results. Or they could run AI-based scheduling assistants, freeing them to focus on building relationships and handling unforeseen issues. This “AI + human” strategy maximizes efficiency and preserves the empathy and creativity readers appreciate. After all, virtual assistants excel in customer service by blending technology with a personal touch, so clients still feel heard and valued. If you’re wary of losing “human touch,” know that VAs like those at MySigrid are vetted for communication skills and initiative – they won’t just wait for instructions but will proactively suggest improvements and anticipate your needs.

Cost Savings and ROI of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Many author-entrepreneurs worry about costs, but virtual assistants often pay for themselves through savings and increased productivity. Consider:

• Lower Overhead: You save on office rent, utilities, equipment, and employee perks. One analysis shows businesses cut about 78% of operating costs by using VAs instead of full-time staff. You pay for results, not idle time.
  
  
• Flexible Payment: VAs can work part-time or full-time as needed, on an hourly or fixed-rate contract. There’s no paid vacation or health insurance to cover. A typical VA rate is $10–$20/hr, whereas even a modest US salary is far higher.
  
  
• High ROI: Every minute you reclaim from admin adds value. If a VA frees just 5 hours a week for you, that’s 250 hours a year back in your calendar – hours you can spend writing high-impact content or engaging with readers. Studies consistently show that founders who offload routine tasks see significant growth; in one survey, 42% of executives used VAs to handle daily tasks so they could concentrate on core strategy.
  
  
• Example: Suppose you pay a VA $15/hr for 20 hours a week ($1,200/month). You might have otherwise spent those hours (or hired help) at 3–4 times the cost, plus overhead. The cost savings — plus the revenue from your extra writing output or business deals — means the VA generates a positive ROI quickly.
  
  

Overall, virtual assistant services are a cost-effective remote staffing solution for authors. MySigrid’s data suggests that companies save 30–50% on costs with VAs, and other analyses report savings up to 78%. When you factor in the freedom to focus on revenue-generating activities, hiring a VA often increases profits. In short: VAs not only save money, they help you make more of it by enabling you to write more, publish more, or launch more offerings.

Scaling Your Writing Business with Remote Teams

As your audience and aspirations grow, so can your remote team. Whether you’re self-publishing multiple books, running a coaching/consulting practice alongside writing, or publishing a newsletter, VAs help you scale without hiring a large in-house staff. For example, a business author might start with one VA for admin, then add a marketing VA to expand email campaigns, or a podcast manager to handle interview scheduling.

Virtual assistants for business growth: Entrepreneurs know that the fastest way to scale is to delegate. VAs let you onboard skilled help in hours, not months. You can also mix and match talents — for instance, hiring a freelance virtual assistant for graphic design and a VA for email management. This is much cheaper than hiring multiple full-time employees. MySigrid’s platform even offers specialized roles (e.g., Virtual Project Manager or Digital Marketing Assistant) so you can build the exact team you need.

To manage a growing remote workforce, use project management tools (Asana, Monday.com) and hold regular video check-ins. Clear delegation is key. As one entrepreneur put it, “Hiring a VA was life changing” because it allowed focus on high-level tasks. You can also implement an organizational “Client Fact Book” (as MySigrid does) that documents your style and preferences, so new team members can come up to speed instantly.

Outsourcing vs. in-house is a constant for startups: VAs offer unparalleled agility. You can quickly pilot new projects (like a book launch campaign or ad strategy) by delegating to your remote team, then ramp up if it succeeds. This way, your business scales efficiently and responsively, leveraging the best remote staffing solutions and best VA platforms (like MySigrid, Upwork, etc.) tailored for startups and authors alike.

Getting Started with a Virtual Assistant

If you’re ready to delegate, here are steps to hire and work with a VA effectively:

1. Identify tasks to delegate: List everything that’s not directly writing. This might include email follow-ups, social media, bookkeeping, formatting, research, scheduling, or editing. Start with tasks that take a lot of time but little creative input.
   
   
2. Choose the right model: You can hire a freelance VA, go through an agency, or use a remote staffing service. Freelance sites (Upwork, OnlineJobs.ph) offer many candidates, but services like MySigrid handle vetting, training, and continuity for you.
   
   
3. Set clear expectations: Document your workflows (checklists, templates, login info). Provide initial guidance and gradually allow the VA to take initiative. Effective delegation means trusting your assistant to own the task once trained.
   
   
4. Communicate and manage: Use daily or weekly updates. Tools like Slack and Google Drive keep you in sync. As your VA tackles tasks, you can focus on core work. Regular check-ins ensure everything is on track.
   
   

Remember, hiring a VA is not just a cost-saving tactic – it’s a growth strategy. With the right VA, your writing business operates like a well-oiled machine. Tasks get done reliably; deadlines are met; reader engagement grows — all without adding office overhead.

Embrace the Virtual Assistant Advantage

Virtual assistants are more than just help – they’re a strategic resource. For authors, the benefits are profound: more time to write, more productive marketing, and a path to scale your business. As remote and hybrid work becomes the norm (about 40% of U.S. small businesses now use VAs), authors too are tapping into this trend. Think of a VA as your partner in productivity — a trained professional who will not only “sweat the small stuff” but proactively improve your workflows.

Whether you’re a novelist building your platform or a thought leader writing a business bestseller, the right support can make all the difference. MySigrid specializes in virtual assistant services for entrepreneurs and authors across genres. Our dedicated VAs handle everything from manuscript formatting to campaign management, always maintaining the high-touch executive support demanded by C-level clients.

Now is the time to delegate and accelerate. To learn more about how a professional VA can transform your author journey, book a consultation with MySigrid or connect with our founder Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn. Visit MySigrid.com to explore our services, book a consultation now, or reach out to Paul Østergaard on LinkedIn for personalized advice.

Sources: Industry reports and expert resources on virtual assistants and remote work. These include insights on cost savings, productivity gains, and VA usage in modern businesses.