Reedsy Review [2023] – READ THIS Before You Use Them!

Have you ever heard of Reedsy? Here’s what you need to know about Reedsy before you use them.

What is Reedsy?

When you're getting started with self-publishing, there are a lot of different options that are available and Reedsy happens to be one of them. So, I'm going to take you on a Reedsy Review for 2023. You should listen to this before you use Reedsy.

Now, you may or may not have even heard about Reedsy. So, what is Reedsy? Well, the first thing is that Reedsy is a self-publishing platform that connects a lot of a huge network of vetted professionals from within the publishing industry.

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But they're vetted so these are high-quality professionals together with self-published authors who are looking to self-publish their books. The thing is authors have a lot of flexibility here, you can look through the marketplace at all of these different professionals.

From the different aspects of your book project that you would need help on to pull these together. To figure out what is going to work best for you. To help you get your book to stand out and to get you through the entire process. 

Who Can Use Reedsy?

So, who exactly can use Reedsy? Well, Reedsy is primarily designed for authors who are interested in getting their books self-published onto the market. But the fact is the professionals themselves also are going to be in that marketplace.

Professionals in the areas of editing, design, marketers, as well as publicists will also be able to get themselves enrolled at their work on Reedsy. So that the authors who are interested in using their services would easily be able to do it.

One of the things that's a little difference between this and Fiverr & Upwork is that Fiverr and Upwork have just people from all different walks of life. They're not particularly vetted other than looking at how many reviews they have. 

So, for a lot of authors, it makes it easier if you can go to one location to find all of these freelancers and these professionals with self-publishing. You're looking to get your book edited on Fiverr. You're going to have to go through a lot of different editors that have not been vetted.

That can be a bit of a disadvantage when compared to looking at Reedsy. You will also find authors of all different genres who are interested and just need some help to get their project together because there are all of these different phases.

Like we discussed seven phases of self-publishing and through each of those phases there's a series of work that needs to be done. As an author, you're not going to have those skill sets that are necessary. The other thing is that Reedsy itself also offers a huge pile of free resources, from courses to converters, formatting tools, and conversion tools. 

What Makes Reedsy Different

There are all sorts of things that you can get for free and lots of articles that they've also written to help you with your self-publishing journey. To make sure that it’s as easy as possible. But what makes Reedsy different?

There are a couple of things, one is the quality of the professionals here. You can see these professionals have been vetted as opposed to the other platforms. Where anyone who wants to call themselves an editor, they can just put that up and say, look I'm an editor, you can pay me to edit your book.

I can tell you I've tried some of the other platforms and I've been burned by hiring people who don't have the core skill set. The next is customizable packages. It gives us the ability for authors in general to figure out and post their project requirements.

Then get people to come up with bids to put it all together. To figure out what is going to work best for you. The other is we have collaboration tools, there's a whole bunch of built-in tools that make it easy for you to communicate and plan out the project with these different freelancers that are working on the site.

You also have marketing resources that should help you get the word out about your book being released. And exploring a lot of different options that might work best for you. Finally, you just have a very user-friendly interface that is super simple for you to use on the site.

As you're going through the whole process of trying to find somebody who's going to work for you, right? The different freelancers and professionals who are going to be able to help you with your book. 

How To Get Started With Reedsy

So how to get started with Reedsy? Here are the steps that you will be following when you decide to go with Reedsy.

Step 1: Signup

Step one, you should sign up. So, you just need to create an easy account on Reedsy. 

Step 2: Choose Your Job's Requirements

Step two, you should choose your job’s requirements. So, it's very clear, this step also will help you to clarify what exactly you're hoping to accomplish. What kind of work do you envision yourself needing when it comes to reading? 

Step 3: Select 1-5 Freelancers

Step three, you should select between 1-5 freelancers who are going to be able to do this job for you or you believe they're going to be able to do the job. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of back and forth to figure out exactly which freelancers you should be using or not. 

Step 4: Provide the Job Description

Step four, you should provide the job description because this isn't a one-way street. The other side-the professionals, have to decide if they wish in fact to work with you and your book. So, they can be very selective as well since they're professionals, not just people who started yesterday.

That's one of the problems you can find with places like Fiverr where you can have people who don't have the background to do the very things that you're hiring them to do like editing.

One of my clients in my 1-On-1 Program even commented that when handing the book to one of the editors they had used on Fiverr, the editor just wrote back and said everything was perfect. That was not exactly what this client of mine was looking for. 

They were looking for somebody who could tell them what they should change to increase sales and increase the quality and the experience the reader is going to have. That's one of the things you aren't going to have to worry about here on Reedsy. 

Step 5: Negotiate and Conquer!

Step five is to negotiate and conquer. So, once these offers start coming in, you can negotiate on the price and ensure that you're getting a fair reasonable price for the services that are being provided for your book.

But that's a good reason we want to look at before we begin the pros and cons of using Reedsy. Because it is not completely straightforward that this is going to be the right site for you. 

Pros and Cons of Using Reedsy

One of the pros is you're going to have quality professionals that have been vetted just that exact problem we were just discussing.

The second thing is the customizable packages. So, we're able to get the different things together, the different components of self-publishing your book. Pulling it all together into single customizable packages to ensure that you're going to get all of the work done with as little pain as possible.

The next thing is that you'll have collaborative tools. This ability to work together with the different team members that you're going to have. As you're putting that team together to ensure that your project is released successfully.

But if this sounds too good to be true, we should look at the cons. So, the first thing is it's very expensive, and there are a lot of high costs associated which is something I am having a little bit of a problem with as a self-publisher.

Because I like to first learn how to do things myself. Then as I'm making money with my books, we reinvest it. And we're able to pull in even building a team and increasing the speed at which we're able to produce books.

The next thing is you have limited control. The program with Reedsy is pretty straightforward. You're not going to be able to mix and match and do everything you want there. So, you're going to be limited to the constraints that they have set up around the entire thing.

The next is your limited marketing support, there's not that much marketing support. I prefer Amazon when it comes to the marketing side of things over almost any of these platforms. The other platforms have a lot of difficulties competing with Microsoft.

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The other is just the competition, there are a lot of different freelancers and professionals on there. Including authors as well that it makes it hard sometimes to find the right people you need. Because of the competition that you're going to be facing. 

Is Reedsy Right For You?

So, then the question is, is Reedsy right for you? Well, like all things, it depends. It depends, do you need that ultimate flexibility? Well then go with Upwork and Fiverr. But if you need plenty of professionals, Reedsy is the place to go when it comes to self-publishing your book.

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Do not think that by taking your book and just going to one of these other sites like Fiverr that you're only going to find professionals. You're going to find a lot of amateur people who don't know what they're doing and are going to waste a lot of your money.

So, Reedsy is going to save you time when it comes to that. The other is you can do it yourself. That's the thing, you really could do it yourself as opposed to paying anything on Reedsy. But I think that maybe it's worth giving a chance.

But the price is very high and that sometimes can be a bit of a bear especially when you're first getting started. Because some of your first books are not going to sell. The goal of the first book is not to make a million sales, it should be just to learn the process and the ropes of getting your book onto the market.

So, my final question closing up for you is have you tried Reedsy? If you have, let me know below in the comments how that experience of yours went. Check out my other blogs and videos for more answers to your self-publishing questions.