diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,3 +24,8 @@
 
 * First version.
 * Removed requirement for avoiding input with the '$' character in both the toBWT and fromBWT functions (both toBWT and fromBWT functions are now polymorphic).
+
+## 0.1.0.6 -- 2022-11-05
+
+* First version.
+* Added helper functions to ease conversion of ByteStrings and Text to and from the BWT type.
diff --git a/src/Data/BWT.hs b/src/Data/BWT.hs
--- a/src/Data/BWT.hs
+++ b/src/Data/BWT.hs
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 -- The two functions that most users will utilize are 'toBWT' and 'fromBWT'.
 -- There are auxilary function(s) inside of @"Data.BWT.Internal"@.
 --
+-- The helper functions for ByteString, 'bytestringToBWT' and 'bytestringFromBWT' and Text, 'textToBWT' and 'textFromBWT' should help for common use cases.
+--
 -- @"Data.BWT.Internal"@ also has the function 'createBWTMatrix', which can be useful as well, although not used by either 'toBWT' or 'fromBWT'.
 
 
@@ -25,12 +27,16 @@
 import Control.Monad()
 import Control.Monad.ST as CMST
 import Control.Monad.State.Strict()
+import Data.ByteString as BS (ByteString,pack,unpack)
 import Data.Foldable as DFold (toList)
 import Data.Sequence as DS
 import Data.STRef()
+import Data.Text (Text)
+import Data.Text.Encoding as DTE (decodeUtf8,encodeUtf8)
+import Data.Word (Word8)
 
 
-{-toBWT function(s).-}
+{-toBWT Function(s)-}
 
 -- | Takes a String and returns the Burrows-Wheeler Transform (BWT).
 -- Implemented via a 'SuffixArray'.
@@ -45,11 +51,27 @@
     where
       xss = DS.fromList xs
 
-{--------------------}
+-- | Helper function for converting a 'ByteString'
+-- to a 'BWT' 'Word8'.
+bytestringToBWT :: ByteString ->
+                   BWT Word8
+bytestringToBWT = toBWT . BS.unpack
 
+-- newtype to ensure you only uncompress a BWT created
+-- from textToBWT, since [Word8] -> Text is partial
+newtype TextBWT = TextBWT (BWT Word8)
 
-{-fromBWT function(s).-}
+-- | Helper function for converting 'Text'
+-- to a 'TextBWT'.
+textToBWT :: Text ->
+             TextBWT
+textToBWT = TextBWT . bytestringToBWT . DTE.encodeUtf8
 
+{-------------------}
+
+
+{-fromBWT function(s)-}
+
 -- | Takes a BWT data type (please see @"Data.BWT.Internal"@) and inverts it back to the original string.
 -- 
 -- This function utilizes the state monad (strict) in order
@@ -67,4 +89,16 @@
       zipped  = DS.zip bwt
                        (DS.iterateN (DS.length bwt) (+1) 0)
 
-{----------------------}
+-- | Helper function for converting a 'BWT' 'Word8'
+-- to a 'ByteString'.
+bytestringFromBWT :: BWT Word8 ->
+                     ByteString
+bytestringFromBWT = BS.pack . fromBWT
+
+-- | Helper function for converting 'TextBWT'
+-- to a 'Text'
+textFromBWT :: TextBWT -> Text
+textFromBWT (TextBWT x) = DTE.decodeUtf8 $
+                          bytestringFromBWT x
+
+{---------------------}
diff --git a/src/Data/BWT/Internal.hs b/src/Data/BWT/Internal.hs
--- a/src/Data/BWT/Internal.hs
+++ b/src/Data/BWT/Internal.hs
@@ -132,7 +132,10 @@
 -- | Hierarchical sorting scheme that compares fst first then snd.
 -- Necessary for the setting up the BWT in order to correctly
 -- invert it using the [Magic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSsppKrCj4) algorithm.
-sortTB :: (Ord a1, Ord a2) => (a1, a2) -> (a1, a2) -> Ordering
+sortTB :: (Ord a1, Ord a2) =>
+          (a1, a2)         ->
+          (a1, a2)         ->
+          Ordering
 sortTB (c1,i1) (c2,i2) = compare c1 c2 <>
                          compare i1 i2
 
diff --git a/text-compression.cabal b/text-compression.cabal
--- a/text-compression.cabal
+++ b/text-compression.cabal
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 -- PVP summary:     +-+------- breaking API changes
 --                  | | +----- non-breaking API additions
 --                  | | | +--- code changes with no API change
-version:            0.1.0.5
+version:            0.1.0.6
 
 -- A short (one-line) description of the package.
 synopsis:           A text compression library.
@@ -74,10 +74,12 @@
     -- other-extensions:
 
     -- Other library packages from which modules are imported.
-    build-depends:    base       ^>=4.16.3.0, 
+    build-depends:    base       ^>=4.16.3.0,
+                      bytestring >= 0.11.3 && < 0.12,
                       containers >= 0.6.5 && < 0.7,
                       massiv     >= 1.0.2 && < 1.1,
-                      mtl        >= 2.2.2 && < 2.3 
+                      mtl        >= 2.2.2 && < 2.3,
+                      text       >= 1.2.5 && < 1.3
 
     -- Directories containing source files.
     hs-source-dirs:   src