Writing services: what support is available?

Getting writing support can feel nerve-wracking. AI is certainly useful but not perfect, and human input can vastly improve a piece of writing.

Hiring support can mean you are not personally stretching yourself and creating sub-par content. But to hire any type of freelancer who will deliver quality support, you need to do a few things:

• create a specific brief
• trust your hired support
• deliver your part of the agreement, such as sending drafts on time and issuing payments according to the pre-agreed schedule.

Next, decide on the freelancer you want. Below, I’ve listed a variety of services you can tap into. Hopefully, this will help you to identify what you need. (If you want to know more about fiction book editors, you can read my previous blog here).

Content writer

This includes those who specialise in writing online content (blog posts and web pages), but it can also include people who write brochures and booklets. Some content writers will also do research and write for your business.

It’s advisable to hire someone who already knows your area of expertise/industry. They should know how to write for your audience and how to use relevant keywords and phrases for search engines. They should also be keeping themselves updated on changes to how SEO and AI searches is changing.

The skill of a content writer is to draw your ideal audience in and keep them on your platform with good content. Be wary – you don’t want someone simply copying and pasting content from other pages. You want someone who will produce original content in the style and tone of your brand.

Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter is someone who writes for someone else, i.e. they do not take the credit. Ghostwriters are used widely – celebrity books and ‘expert’ online content are written by others. (AI is not good with long-form content yet.) Ghostwriters can be used for books, white papers, speeches and presentations.

Ghostwriters are often freelancers. You can find them online and on freelance websites. Find someone who writes in your genre/field and has a style you like.

Copywriter

This person will be skilled at writing to sell or get a Call To Action (CTA). This person will have a strong grasp of language and should not make grammar and punctuation mistakes. They will be skilled in making every single word land in the right way.

A copywriter is really useful for blurbs of books, homepages, landing pages, product listings and catalogue pages, adverts, apps, packaging labels and social media. While AI writes copy well, we have become adept at knowing when something has been written by AI. Human copywriting is important if your product or message requires it. If you need copy for a regular hammer, AI might be fine. If you need copy for a perfume, a human copywriter may be better.

Highly skilled copywriters are expensive. Choose someone with a good portfolio and a history of working with clients in your field/subject area.

Proofreader

A proofreader checks for clarity by looking for grammar and punctuation issues. Proofreaders are not only used for manuscripts, but also to check website content, social media content as well as business documents, such as reports and training manuals. If proofreaders look at the text in its designed format, they will correct layout and formatting issues, too. (You can see my blog about working with a proofreader here.)

Proof-editor

A proof-editor will improve the writing at a structural and technical level, but apply a lighter hand than a copyeditor would, as it’s a service typically offered by proofreaders. Proof-editing is appropriate for online content. (More information is available here.)

Copyeditor (UK)/Line editor (US)

The meaning of these terms varies according to where you are on the globe and from editor to editor. In general, a copyeditor or line editor checks writing at the technical level and will look to improve the structure, messaging/narrative, as well as correct use of punctuation and grammar. They will ensure the branding (in terms of writing, layout and formatting) is consistent across all formatted pages, blog posts, articles, social media and websites.

Authenticity Reader (AR) (also called Sensitivity Reader)

This service is useful for texts written by people who do not have the experiences or background that they are writing about.

Despite good intentions, writing about people who are marginalised, maligned or often misunderstood and under-represented can mean you are inadvertently perpetuating tropes, stereotypes or ignorance, causing further harm and misunderstanding. You can also seriously undermine your own work.

An Authenticity Reader will give you feedback and explain where there are issues (if they see any). It is at the client’s discretion whether to make changes. To understand more, check out this podcast or blog post. Both are aimed at editors but writers can benefit too. Traditional publishers and celebrity writers still get it wrong, but you don’t have to – consider the controversy over Jamie Oliver’s children’s publication in Australia in 2024.

The cost of using an AR is usually low because the editor will provide a letter or a simple report of their thoughts and findings, which is less time-consuming than preparing proofreading and editorial comments. There are many ARs on LinkedIn.

Beta readers (useful for self-publishing a book)

Beta readers are volunteers who offer to read drafts of an author’s works. They usually offer to read in the genre that they enjoy and will offer feedback. There is no need to pay a beta reader! Avoid those who want payment!

You can approach people in your network to look at your work (a beta reader should not be a friend or family member) or groups set up on social media such as Facebook. Offer an early draft of your material and ask for general feedback as well as a few questions for them to consider. For example, is it engaging?  What doesn’t work? Give a reasonable deadline and be receptive to negative feedback.

The advantage of using beta readers is that you can have more confidence in what you are writing and know you are on the right track. This is better than writing the whole thing only to find you need to revise big tranches of it because it doesn’t land the way you presumed it would.

Writers worry about ideas being stolen. This is a risk, but early drafts tend to look nothing like final drafts. Also, you don’t need to give the entire book.

Fact-checker

Getting facts wrong can completely discredit you and your book. You might feel it’s worth getting certain things checked. This could be references to the past, the use of foreign words and phrases, maths and coding. Some editors include fact-checking in their services (you need an editor who knows your subject area). Assessing the risk and how much margin of error is tolerable is up to you.

Finding the right fit

Once you have identified what you need, allow yourself time to find the right person. It is important to feel your writer/editor understands you, your business or what you want to write about. Consider the following:

• Seek recommendations from people in your networks.
• Find a social media community where people advertise their services.
• Try a freelance website. Bear in mind that these websites charge the freelancer quite a lot (around 20% of the contracted amount) plus transaction fees, so fees may look high. Steer away from people charging very low amounts.
• Try an online directory. Remember that it costs the contractor to reply to adverts and job posts, so be as specific as possible to attract good and personalised offers.
• After posting a job, allow for a few days before you make a shortlist to allow people time to apply. Don’t expect a response on weekends.
• Good descriptions and project briefs attract strong, qualified freelancers as they will see you are a client worth their time.
• Inevitably, there are a lot of rogues out there. It should be easy to sift out the terrible ones. They tend to be too cheap, the response contains too many errors (allow for a small margin of error), and the response looks like a copy and paste with no tailoring to your brief.
• Check reviews and testimonials.
• You can request samples of their work
• Request a sample edit or a proofread (you provide a sample of your text and let them work on it).
• Read their Terms and Conditions.
• Ask to know about their working methods and payment methods. It’s typical to pay a deposit and then as milestones are reached (for long projects) or once the project is completed.

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