Hi, I’m Mel — Baby Author PA in Progress

Threads is honestly my least opened social media app (like… once every two weeks, tops 😅) but for that one week (back in mid October) I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how open longtime author PAs and aspiring PAs have been. It’s been really nice to see people just talking about the work that I have been interested in for a while now.

I’ve been dreaming of becoming an author PA since I learned of it. I even started calling myself a baby author PA about a month ago just to get used to it. It’s my way of manifesting things for myself (or so I have been trying). Honestly if I don’t make a habit of trying to make this reality, my ADHD ass would just let time pass by and nothing gets done, so here I am! 😂

Hi, I’m Mel 👋 I’ve been a virtual assistant for creative entrepreneurs since around 2013, helping them get back their time so they can focus on what they actually love doing. I’ve always been part gofer, part marketing sidekick long before I realised what I was doing was called a “virtual assistant.”

By 2017, I started getting more serious about social media marketing (self-taught, of course) and spent way too much money on $7 eBooks about funnels and shit before I even knew how to use what I was learning. But it did open my eyes to so many cool things, like how every freebie I signed for put me into THEIR funnel. My baby marketing mind was blown lol

I’ve only really been in the bookish space for about a year, even though my first BookTok-popular read was Red, White & Royal Blue back in August 2023. But, as much as I love making content on TikTok (and occasionally reposting them to Instagram when I remember to) I still felt like something was missing. At this point in my life, I had been on a healing journey post mega burnout as a social media strategist circa end of 2022/early 2023.

While I love freelancing as a marketing strategist and live sound engineer (two of the most unrelated jobs ever lol), I have always dreamed of going back to being a VA. One of my favourite aspects of being a VA is the joy of being a brainstorming partner, a hype person, and being able to merge what I love doing into the work that I do.

And, the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a social media strategist, while on this healing journey where I reflected a lot on my life, is that when my work and my personal interests don’t align, burnout hits fast. And that... sucks.

Once upon a time when I was a busybee as a social media strategist working with beauty, fitness, and photography clients, I did pretty well, content wise. But only one of them really converted. The content I made for them easily clicked with their audience, with one of their videos even hit six-figure views! So when other clients’ content didn’t perform the same way, it was hard not to doubt myself and that was not a great feeling.

In my early days of self-teaching social media marketing, I see people talk about niching down and I thought I had it down pat. I started a freelance digital marketing business a month after I put in my resignation to the last full-time job I’ve ever had and worked my way up to 5-figure months within a few months of resigning. I thought I PEAKED. I was very wrong, because I burned out pretty quickly after that. One of the solutions could have been to hire extra help, but I knew deep down that if I did not get my business foundations in order, I’d be back to where I started.

So I packed it all up. Well, mostly. Right now I’m working part time as a marketing strategist for a small social media agency while picking up extra gigs as a live sound engineer. I also stream on Twitch but that’s besides the point lol

A few months ago, I came across a post from Naomi (frenchnbookish on Threads) about her work as an author PA and her relationships with her authors, and something in my brain just went, “Wait… you could totally do that too. It’s basically VA work, just bookish!”

Okay, calm down, brain 😂

Right now, I don’t have anything concrete… just a few experiences working with 4-5 authors for free in exchange for testimonials while I figure out my systems and build toward a real plan for 2026. With every author I work with, I get better at some things and realize what still needs work. And of course, impostor syndrome drops by for a visit every now and then. Can’t help that one 😮‍💨

So, hi again. I’m putting myself out there again. This time, I’m thinking of doing it more consistently. I want to speak this dream out loud and see if I can make it real before I turn 33 next year. 👀

I don’t know why my brain thinks I can do this… but honestly? Let’s give it a try. ✨

Still scared, though. Come join me on my journey? I promise I will keep you updated. My autistic side is organised enough to have an outline of what I want to post every other day. Now we’ll just wait and see if my ADHD side will remember to write them! Ha! 🤭

Until then, here’s me when I thought I peaked back in 2022 lol