How to hire an author

How to hire an author, step by step

Here's a step-by-step author hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an author job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new author
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an author do?

Post an author job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the author you need to hire. Certain author roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect author also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents author salaries for various positions.

   Type of Author	Description	Hourly rate
   Author	Writers and authors develop written content for advertisements, books, magazines, movie and television scripts, songs, blogs, and other online publications.	$24-56
   Writer	A writer can have different responsibilities depending on which industry or line of work they are involved. There are writers assigned in a corporate setting, some in journalism, while there are also writers in the entertainment Industry... Show more	$19-51

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Veterans
   • JAN
   • DOD
   • HTML
   • Twitter
   • Fiction
   • R
   • PowerPoint
   • Public Speaking
   • XML
   • Instagram
   • Literature
   • Poetry
   • CMS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and integrate web content for an international client using proprietary CMS software.
   • Manage the proposal lifecycle, including RFP analysis, regular communications, proposal development and production consistent with branding strategies.
   • Work on DNA mutagenesis, DNA construction (insertion, deletion), PCR.
   • Create online marketing materials including a website that employs HTML, JavaScript, PHP, AJAX, and MySQL.
   • Authenticate identity and verify that requests for PKI digital certificates meet all requirements of DOD and internal procedures.
   • Authore several books on JavaScript, HTML/CSS

   More author duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your author job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An author salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an author in Florida may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level author usually earns less than a senior-level author. Additionally, an author with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average author salary

   $78,368yearly

   $37.68 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level author salary

   $51,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average author salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$114,747	$55
   2	California	$111,845	$54
   3	Washington	$93,767	$45
   4	New Jersey	$93,710	$45
   5	Connecticut	$88,584	$43
   6	New York	$84,561	$41
   7	Pennsylvania	$84,385	$41
   8	Illinois	$84,083	$40
   9	North Carolina	$80,373	$39
   10	Minnesota	$79,213	$38
   11	Texas	$78,709	$38
   12	Virginia	$77,890	$37
   13	Kansas	$77,401	$37
   14	Arizona	$73,912	$36
   15	Georgia	$72,746	$35
   16	Indiana	$72,294	$35
   17	Missouri	$59,449	$29
   18	Utah	$58,361	$28
   19	Michigan	$55,426	$27

   Average author salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	John Wiley & Sons	$103,091	$49.56
   2	Pluralsight	$103,017	$49.53
   3	Caterpillar	$98,003	$47.12
   4	CAI	$97,192	$46.73
   5	Erp Analysts	$95,953	$46.13
   6	Abbott	$95,436	$45.88
   7	Populus Group	$93,150	$44.78
   8	Alere	$90,991	$43.75
   9	ICONMA	$88,919	$42.75
   10	Edward Jones	$88,464	$42.53
   11	R1 RCM	$87,597	$42.11
   12	Technicolor	$86,220	$41.45
   13	Regal Beloit	$83,908	$40.34
   14	DISH Network	$82,497	$39.66
   15	G-TECH	$80,803	$38.85
   16	PACCAR	$79,962	$38.44
   17	AGCO	$79,093	$38.03
   18	Woods Services	$78,052	$37.52
   19	TA Digital	$77,289	$37.16
   20	RELX	$76,925	$36.98

4. Writing an author job description

   A good author job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an author job description:

   Author job description example

   Dataquest is an interactive online learning platform for data science. We're passionate about helping students go from zero to job ready. We help students deeply learn concepts, build projects, work together, and gain the confidence they need to start new careers. Read more about our philosophy here, and read what students think here.
   
   We want to help tens of millions of students worldwide change their lives through data science education, and you'll play a key role in helping us get there. We're looking for collaborative and passionate team members, to help us continue to build out our 30+ person remote, global team.
   
   This is a fully remote company and we are open to applications worldwide. You don't have to match all of the listed requirements to apply, we're truly looking for people who can grow along with our diverse and global team.
   
   We are looking for a course author to work with our internal team of content developers to develop a course or set of courses on data science and analytics in the cloud. The courses will focus on helping learners develop the skills necessary to design, build, and deploy data engineering solutions using Amazon Web Services (AWS). You will be responsible for outlining and writing a number of lessons, exercises, and projects to provide learners with a hands-on, interactive learning experience. This is a great opportunity to share your hard-earned expertise with the broader data community and help shape the future of data skills education!
   Here are a few important points about our content development process:
   
   - Dataquest has a team of experienced course creators who will help you scope, design, and create the course from start to finish. We'll assist you in every step of the process.
   - Dataquest courses focus on learning through text, images, gifs, and hands-on exercises. No need to record and edit hours of video.
   - Dataquest courses are relatively short, requiring between 5 and 10 hours for learners to complete, the majority of which is spent on hands-on learning.
   - Courses are comprised of between 4 and 6 lessons with a guided project at the end to allow learners to apply their skills to a real-world problem.
   
   The authoring process
   
   1. Application process - After submitting an application, we'll reach out to request a writing and/or code sample and set up a phone interview.
   2. Course outline - We'll pair you with a content developer to create a course and project outline, including the target skills to be taught and datasets that will be used. For these courses, this step is already done.
   3. Course development - Your content developer will work with you each step of the way, providing feedback on your content and exercises. We'll also provide design resources for visual content.
   4. Course launch - We'll QA and test the course, and work with you on a go-to-market plan to maximize the reach of the course.
   
   The time required to complete a course depends both on the length of the course and the author's experience. We suggest you set aside 10 hrs a week for 8-10 weeks.
   What we're looking for Experience3+ years of professional experience building data solutions using AWSSome experience teaching or creating content (blog, conference talks, etc.) SkillsWorks collaboratively with others Manages time well to deliver work on schedule Strong writing skills - attention to detail and ability to follow defined authoring standards Ability to break down complex topics and problems into easy-to-follow explanations Bias towards application and project-based learning
   Nice to have experience Understanding of best practices for adult learning (curriculum design, instructional design, etc) Experience with GitHub, ability to troubleshoot technical issues
   Compensation
   
   Compensation will depend on the course topic. We offer either fixed, per course compensation paid out upon completion of the course, or a revenue share based on course completions.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right author for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your author job on Zippia to find and attract quality author candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting authors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new author

   Once you have selected a candidate for the author position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new author. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire an author?