Should Authors hire a Copywriter?

We’ve already covered

• What is Copywriting? Should Authors Care
• Why Copywriting is Very Important for Authors 

In this post we are going to look at cases where authors should hire a copywriter, and cases where they should not

Cases where an Author should definitely not Hire a Copywriter

1. If you cannot afford a copywriter unless you cut corners elsewhere. Do not compromise on the quality of your product – editing and proofreading and book covers come first
2. If it is your first book. Your product (your book) is most likely not good enough to benefit from top notch copywriting
3. If you think it is a silver bullet. Copywriting is not Magic
4. If your Product is not yet polished enough OR if there is no market for your Book. Copywriting can only sell products that satisfy a need – if your book/product doesn’t satisfy readers, having excellent copy writing will backfire
5. If you are not willing to listen to the copywriter. If you are going to pay someone a lot of money, then not use the copy they produce, because you think you’re the expert at everything
6. If you have just 1 or 2 books. Much like all other marketing and sales efforts, you have to have a decent number of books to benefit
7. If you think copy writing is not valuable, or are in two minds

Cases where an Author should think twice before Hiring a Copywriter

1. If your budget is tight. Very good copywriting is expensive. You are better off learning a bit of copywriting and keeping your tight budget for other areas
2. If your marketing is weak. The benefit of copywriting is fully felt if you are reaching a lot of readers. If you have weak or non existent marketing then no one sees the copy
3. If you don’t understand how copy writing works
4. If you are in a market where book sales are low and you are never going to make back the money you have to invest in Copywriting
5. If your writing is still evolving. No point focusing on marketing and copywriting if your writing is still not fully mature

Cases where an Author definitely should Hire a Copywriter

1. If you are already successful, or moderately successful, and want to reach the next level
2. If you already have good marketing channels in place and your main issue is low sales conversion
3. If you have a very polished product and good marketing and a real market exists. If all that is missing is the magic of great copywriting
4. If you are already selling at a good pace, and now it’s all about scaling up. Copywriting might be the last missing part of the puzzle
5. If you have found a very good market and want to maximize sales while the market is still young and uncompetitive
6. If you have a very large budget and can afford copywriting even before sales are good
7. If you have very little time
8. If you are trying for a Bestseller List such as the New York Times Bestseller List and every single sale would help (and you have the budget for copywriting)
9. If you fully understand what copywriting is, and understand the value of it, and your product (your books) are polished enough to benefit from it. Please Note: You also need decent to good marketing and decent to good product market fit