What does an author do?
An author is an individual individual responsible for developing creative stories published in formats such as books, movies, or television scripts. Authors conduct research of information that may be included in their works, whether they are fictional or non-fictional. Before publicly making their work available, authors must present a draft to editors for feedback and approval. Authors may work as self-employed or freelance and sell their written content to book publishers or advertising agencies.
Author responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real author resumes:
- 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
- Train other employees on procedures to clean houses and windows.
- Input content into CMS and publish to the various marketing websites.
- Prepare manuscript from dictation and notes for an independent non-fiction author.
- Utilize Mathematica and MATLAB to build simulation models and run different regressions.
- Moderate the Facebook webpage to answer community member questions and provide support.
- Experience in copywriting, blogs, book writing, content writing, self-publishing.
- Ensure successful transition of project deliverables to support / maintenance / operations within PKI.
- Publish a few books on SEO, performance e-marketing and a web traffic course.
- Proofread new project proposals to ensure correct grammar as well as accuracy and consistency.
Author skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Authors are proficient in Veterans, JAN, and DOD. They’re also known for soft skills such as Social perceptiveness, Writing skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Authors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Veterans, 17%
Request correspondence and clinical requests from providers and veterans.
- JAN, 15%
Institute for Defense Analyses, PID:2012-09337 Jan. 2013
- DOD, 10%
Maintain and execute a standard operating procedure IAW DoD and USMC Policies and Certificate Practice Statements (CPS).
- HTML, 9%
Created online marketing materials including a website that employs HTML, JavaScript, PHP, AJAX, and MySQL.
- Twitter, 5%
Constructed marketing campaign utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and Email marketing to develop brand awareness and promote various book-signings and readings.
- Fiction, 4%
Published several genre fiction novels and industry magazine articles.
Common skills that an author uses to do their job include "veterans," "jan," and "dod." You can find details on the most important author responsibilities below.
Social perceptiveness. One of the key soft skills for an author to have is social perceptiveness. You can see how this relates to what authors do because "writers and authors must understand how readers react to ideas to connect with their audience." Additionally, an author resume shows how authors use social perceptiveness: "work with external parties to market literary works through radio, book signings, social media, and word of mouth. "
Writing skills. Another essential skill to perform author duties is writing skills. Authors responsibilities require that "writers and authors must be able to write clearly and effectively to convey feeling and emotion and to communicate with readers." Authors also use writing skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "published five novels and one non-fiction text on the elements of writing a better book. "
Creativity. This is an important skill for authors to perform their duties. For an example of how author responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "writers and authors must be able to develop interesting plots, characters, or ideas for new stories." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an author: "award winning published author of the creative non-fiction book, wine, sex and suicide - my near death divorce. ".
The three companies that hire the most authors are:
- EPAM Systems10 authors jobs
- R1 RCM10 authors jobs
- Dataquest
4 authors jobs
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Compare different authors
Author vs. Information 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. Although they focus on varying types of writing, they all function to inform. Among the typical duties of writers involve producing content within allotted time or deadline, gather information and verify to ensure accuracy, proofread, and undergo review and revisions.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, author responsibilities require skills like "veterans," "jan," "dod," and "html." Meanwhile a typical information writer has skills in areas such as "biomedical," "website content," "content management system," and "facebook." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that information writers earn slightly differ from authors. In particular, information writers are 8.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an author. Additionally, they're 4.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Author vs. Television writer
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, author responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "veterans," "jan," "dod," and "html." Meanwhile, a television writer has duties that require skills in areas such as "creative content," "pbs," "creative direction," and "guild." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Television writers tend to reach similar levels of education than authors. In fact, they're 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Author vs. Program writer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an author is likely to be skilled in "veterans," "jan," "dod," and "twitter," while a typical program writer is skilled in "technical documentation," "code samples," "api," and "c #."
Program writers typically earn similar educational levels compared to authors. Specifically, they're 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Author vs. Writer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between authors and writers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an author might have more use for skills like "veterans," "jan," "dod," and "r." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of writers require skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "basic math," and "customer service. "
In general, writers hold similar degree levels compared to authors. Writers are 5.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of author
Updated January 8, 2025
