One helps a writer issue a Mann novel (10)
I believe the answer is:
amanuensis
'one helps a writer' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'issue a mann novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates an anagram (letters in a new or novel order).
'issue'+'a'+'mann'='issueamann'
'issueamann' is an anagram of 'AMANUENSIS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amanuensis that I've seen before include "Literary assistant - scribe" , "Secretary" , "who may work with dictator?" , "secretarial post" , "stenographer" .)