Tips for Hiring a Professional Book Writer for Your Story

Get your story out there in the world. Look for experienced book writers to help you turn your life into a book. 

A lot of people want to write. But not everyone has what it takes to get that story out. If you’ve had a lot of time on your hands lately, and it’s made you think about finally sitting down and writing that story—maybe it’s a detective story that you’ve always wanted to try or even start working on your memoir—then there’s no better time than now to give that a try. There’s just one tiny problem: you don’t know how to write. And you want that book to come out awesome and beautiful. What do you do? 

Start looking for book writers, of course. There are a ton of ways that a professional writer can add value to your project. Here are top tips on how to find and hire the right one for your project.

Look for Hiring Sites 

Explore your hiring options. There are more hiring platforms where you can find writing experts like Guru.com. By looking beyond the usual sites like LinkedIn, you can expand the talent pool you’re fishing in. With more choices, you have a much better chance of finding the right writer to help you flesh out your story and turn it into a book. 

Consider Experience 

There are different types of writing. Some are skilled at writing news while others excel in academic writing. There’s also business writing. And when it comes to creative writing, there’s poetry and prose. Prose is further divided into the personal or academic essay. There’s novel writing and writing for children and adults. You also have different genres: romance, science fiction, horror, and more. Whatever kind of writer you look for, consider the kind of style that you want to employ in your story. Pick someone who already has experience in that writing style. 

Check for Compatibility 

You and the writer will be working closely. Are you both on the same page? Do you think the writer listens to you, understands the heart of the story that you want to tell, and captures exactly that in the word choice or language? If you find it frustrating to work with the writer, that’s a red flag. Keep in mind that you’ll be sharing information about your private life to this stranger. While not all of those details will make it into the book, you’ll need to tell the writer, so they can get a good grasp of the motivation behind certain scenes. That requires complete and utter trust and confidence from you in the writer. If that isn’t the case, if you can’t see yourself working comfortably with the person, then look elsewhere. 

Do Your Homework 

Before you hire anyone, make sure you go over their background thoroughly. Research the person completely. Beyond the credentials and qualifications of the writer, take the time to find out more about who they are. What kind of attitude do they have towards work? How do they treat clients? If you’re lucky enough, when you look for options online, you’ll also find feedback about their performance. That will help you filter through your options and get insights as to how the writer deals with clients. If there are a lot of negative reviews, take the time to go over all those comments. Are they justified? Are there a lot of customers sharing the same observations? Then that could indicate long-standing problems. Spare yourself the time and trouble by looking elsewhere for a writer. 

Talk About Deadlines 

Do you have a deadline in mind? It doesn’t need to be a strict timeline. You can adjust it all you want. However, having a tentative one that you can follow can help you monitor progress on the project. Just make sure the timeline is realistic. Are you rushing through whole chapters? Writing isn’t just plucking words out of thin air. You need to make sure you give your writer more than enough time to work with the material. Once you both agree on a deadline, you can also use the same timeline to motivate yourself. If you and the writer work daily through chapters, meaning you recall an anecdote and the writer turns that into part of the story or novel, then that same timeline can also work in encouraging you to keep going.

Know Your Reasons 

Why are you doing this? Why do you want to write down this particular story? Do you have something to say? And do you believe in the value of your story? That it’s something that you need to get out there, that the world will find something of value in the book? What do you want to share with the rest of the world? What part of yourself or your history? Being clear about that can also help you pick the right details and provide the best material to your writer.