Note from Elizabeth: Several years ago, when I took the self-publishing plunge, the scariest part of the process for me was making an investment in my writing without the promise of a payout. What’s more, at the time, it was a sort of wild west of providers. Connecting with a cover designer or a freelance editor or a solid formatter was a word-of-mouth process…and if someone had good word-of-mouth, they were totally booked.
Ricardo Fayet reached out to me last July about what he called a “curated self-publishing marketplace” and wanted to know if I’d chat with him on the phone about his start-up and a little on my thoughts of what self-publishing authors would find useful.
Reedsy is now available to authors as a tool to find professionals for our books. What’s more, it’s currently free for authors. (And, as a note, I’m not associated with Reedsy in any way aside from a beta view of the marketplace.)
Presenting Reedsy: where authors meet the best publishing professionals
by Ricardo Fayet, @RicardoFayet, @ReedsyHQ
“The fast-growing self-publishing environment is attracting all kinds of start-ups and companies that intend to serve authors. However, most of them seem to aim at the periphery of what authors really need, which in my opinion, is primarily editors and cover designers.” — Joanna Penn
Joanna absolutely hit the nail on the head, and I started Reedsy to properly and completely address this gap in today’s self-publishing marketplace.
The seismic shift in our industry toward indie book production means that some of the best editors and designers around are now working freelance. These professionals are approaching the business of books with sky-high standards and, in some cases, industry experience that first-time authors will find invaluable. The best editors and designers out there do not struggle to find work, and they certainly don’t dignify bargain-basement bidding marketplaces like Elance or Odesk with their presence.
In so many ways, these professionals are the unsung heroes of the self-publishing revolution. They’re the ones who transform “this thing you’ve kinda been working on” into a bona fide novel. And now that indies are “running with the big dogs”, this kind of work is practically invaluable.
So how is an indie author meant to find the kind of high-level freelancers she needs to make her book spectacular?
Enter Reedsy.
We’ve assembled a tightly curated marketplace of the best editors, proofreaders, illustrators and designers in the world. From over 3000 applications received since last year, we have hand-picked about 200 of them to create a Reedsy profile, where they list their genre specialisation, work experience, portfolio, etc. Authors can browse the marketplace according to their needs and genre, then select up to 5 freelancers to ask for a sample (for editing) and a quote.
We at Reedsy like to think of ourselves as much more than a marketplace or intermediary. We are a technology company at heart (take a look at our gorgeous interface, and you’ll see what I mean). We’re using our tech resources to make authors’ and freelancers’ lives easier. We’re adding value to collaborations through a built-in a set of cloud-based project management tools that range in purpose from the aforementioned quoting/sampling system to messaging, file-sharing and versioning, and multi-currency payment capacities. All of that in one place, designed with intuitive use in mind.
As vetted freelancers keep joining our network on a daily basis, we’re preparing some nice surprises for the next few months: we’ll be adding publicists, and vetting them incredibly carefully. We’ll also be releasing some exciting author profiles (aggregating Amazon, Goodreads and blogging platform information). Finally, we’re working on a brand new writing and editing tool that we’re confident will dramatically improve the way authors and editors work together.
So that’s Reedsy–quite simply, the best place for authors to meet freelance publishing professionals. Oh, and one last thing: for now, Reedsy is 100% free to authors.
Check us out here and let us know if you have any questions here.
Ricardo is an avid reader and startup enthusiast who has been studying the publishing industry with curious eyes for several years. He co-founded Reedsy with the ambition to make a difference in the publishing world.
I know about Reedsy! They contacted me and we mentioned the site at the IWSG website.
Alex: Cool! Yes, it’s a helpful site for self-pubbing writers, for sure.
Thanks a lot for that mention, Alex! I’ll get in touch with you soon as we want to post something about IWSG over at the Reedsy blog :)
Interesting! I’ll definitely check it out :)
Thanks to both of you for this really interesting information. I’d not heard of Reedsy before, but it certainly sounds worth exploring!
Only 200 out of 3000? They must be the best of the best then.
Speaking from extensive experience on other freelancer “marketplace” sites, I can say with confidence that Reedsy has broken the mold — like an essential piece of the self-pub puzzle you won’t realize was missing until you see the whole picture. Go Reedsy go!
Why, thank you, Rebecca!
I met Ricardo in Matera (Italy) at the Women’s Fiction Festival last September (if you’ve never been, you should go, best writers conference in continental Europe…and a good excuse to travel to Italy) and I wrote about Reedsy twice – for Publishing Perspectives and Impakter. Both articles were widely shared, I was pleased about that and it shows that this is truly a valid start-up with a solid business model (you, the author, get in one place a list of professionals with their profiles shown upfront – a great convenience and with an additional benefit: overtime, as that list is used and evaluated by clients, expect it to get better but no fear, I’ve checked, it’s already very good). Of all the interviews I’ve done so far as a journalist for publishing, it was one of the most pleasant and rewarding.
Hi Claude, thanks a lot for the kind words! It really means a lot to me in the early days of Reedsy (as does being able to tell authors about it on this blog). As I told you I’m still sharing myself the interviews we did on a weekly basis as they are certainly the most interesting and exhaustive ones I’ve done so far on the founder story and Reedsy’s purpose and vision!
Hi Elizabeth and Ricardo – sounds like this is an excellent project for so many authors – and very clever to find that niche and fill it … as Claude says – it sounds like it’s going to be so helpful to so many. Good luck to one and all .. and I see Alex and IWSG are on the mark too … cheers to you all – Hilary
Reedsy is a sound and solid initiative. I’m eagerly awaiting for the announced translation services (from foreign languages into English).
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the comment. These should take a couple of months still before coming into place, however we actually already do have a curated network of freelance literary translators (we just don’t display them yet as that part of the marketplace hasn’t been built). So if you want me to put you in touch with them I’d be more than happy to! Just drop me a line via the Reedsy site.
I will check this out! Love the concept.
Thanks, Elizabeth, for featuring Reedsy. Took a look and signed up. It makes sense, so why not!
Elizabeth, you share the best information! I’ve never heard of Reedsy. I’ll spread the word. I was so lucky to connect with my editor and cover designer, but it’s nice to know there’s a place to search for quality freelancers. Thanks!
Julie–Hope it helps! I think it’s a great service for writers.