Professional Editor – If you’re self-publishing your book, and most people are these days, nothing is more important than having your 
book professionally edited. It’s fine to have it reviewed by a friend or relative, or by teachers and people with English degrees (I hear this a lot), but you still need a professional editor to put the finishing touches on your work. And I can guarantee that even though your highly credentialed friend reviewed your manuscript, the editor will still find errors. Professional editors follow industry guidelines (style guides) to make sure your work is consistent and clean. They review every sentence carefully. Someone doing you a favor isn’t likely to look that closely. Professional editing is one of the best investments you can make in producing your book.
Graphic Designer – Homemade book covers, postcards, flyers and other marketing collateral always look homemade. If you want to be taken seriously as an author and business professional, find a good graphic designer for your professional design needs.
Website Designer – A template site is fine if that is all you can afford, but it will never compare to a site designed by a pro. More importantly, having access to a graphic designer you can call when you want to change something on your site, or when something goes wrong, can make a big difference.
Virtual Assistant – Very few authors have a lot of spare time to focus on marketing their books, because most of us also have jobs! That’s where a good virtual assistant comes in handy. You can hire someone to help with some of the workload, and manage tasks like research, contacting bloggers, mailing out your books, and other administrative tasks. You can find virtual assistants through AuthorsAssistants.com and the International Virtual Assistants Association.
Additional Hires to Consider:
Marketing Support – If you’re struggling with marketing your books, consider hiring the help you need. There are many types of marketing services available for authors to help you with marketing planning, online campaigns, social media, and more.
Publicist – Publicity services is one of the most expensive options for authors so you have to weigh this choice carefully. Publicists typically expect a monthly retainer fee of $2,500 or more. However, an experienced publicist already has relationships with many media professionals, and can help you get the exposure you need. If you want to go big with your book marketing campaigns, hiring a publicist can help you do that.
Bookkeeper – Depending on the volume of sales you manage, hiring a professional bookkeeper can help you not only stay sane, but to comply with tax laws that you may not even know about. I recommend hiring a bookkeeper who is also a certified tax planner.
Stephanie is on point based on my experience! Hire an editor and a graphic designer.
I used a bidding website to have my book cover designed (www.21for21.com/book) and was very pleased with the results. I hired a professional editor and was glad I did, especially because she also helped with the formatting and I was able to find even more errors after she went through it that I couldn’t see before.
Later, I hired Stephanie (no, she’s not paying for this and doesn’t even know I’m commenting
) to design a brochure (speakers one sheet). Much better than I could do on my own.
Time and headache saved, professional products produced. Good investments.
Thanks for your feedback, Brandon! Glad to know you’re doing well!
There’s a world of difference between the proofreading and line editing you’ll get from your buddy the English professor and the developmental editing you’ll get from a professional editor.
Most of my clients’ books need far more developmental help than line editing. They know how to put a sentence together, and even a paragraph. Where they struggle is how to gather the continents on the map so they make sense.