Paid PA’s vs FREE PA’s

Authors and PA’s – This one might sting.

I have seen an increasingly amount of posts over the last few days, directly involving the Author/PA pay rates and the choices that PA’s and Authors make when employing one. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, THIS HAS TO STOP!

• Does it matter? – This only matters to a paid PA if, and only if, they are being replaced by a PA willing to work for substantially less. If you are a PAID PA – Congratulations. This doesn’t give you the right to tell another PA that they should be making money.
• Authors – You should know better than to assume every author should pay a PA. Seriously? This is the worst monetary paying profession on the planet! Prostitutes and strippers make more than we do. How can you decide that a PA MUST be paid?
• PA’s – If you want to work for FREE, by all means, DO! If you want to be paid for your services, by all means, DO! Neither way is wrong and there is no-one telling you that you SHOULDN’T be getting paid, right?! So, where do some PA’s get off telling others that they are wrong.
• Let’s be honest – MOST PA’s WORK FOR FREE! This isn’t a secret. Stop making the industry impossible for people to find a PA, hire a PA and keep a PA based on the stigmas that ALL PA’s NEED TO BE PAID! Some want to see a author succeed, some want to do it for experience and some love their job. Don’t ruin it for those PA’s.

I am sure that you are all asking yourself one simple question – Why would this author care if PA’s are paid or not?

• I am a PA first. I work my ass off, doing everything that I can to ensure MY author has an easier life outside of writing. I set up events, schedule takeovers, manage blog posts, make teasers, pimp, manage street teams, giveaways, pages, groups… name it and I do it. I am available 24/7/365 days a year. Never a day off and always there. Is that my choice? You bet it is, but it is the job I signed up for. Do I get paid? Does it matter? How does my payment affect another PA or author? It doesn’t.
• I employ 2 PA’s. Neither of them give a shit if I pay them or not, AGAIN – Does it affect you? Nope. Not unless you want to employ my PA, then it affects me.
• I take my job VERY seriously. I watch as PA’s author-jump, take on too many authors and abandon their role for whatever reason. I sit back, watch and clean up the mess. Why? Because your author asked me to and it is the right thing to do.

All these posts are doing are creating an unrealistic view of what a PA should be making. Every PA starts out being paid in swag or books, it’s a learning curve that is not an easy one to overcome. Many can’t cut it as a PA. If you are paid, great! Just keep in mind, when you start bad mouthing PA payments and Authors that can’t afford them, you are creating a shit storm outside of your post that is negatively impacting the other peers and friends that you may have in the community.