Sometimes I get asked how people can support me and help me in my author business. I am ever grateful to these people because, without readers, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. Here are some simple things that you can do for your favorite writer.
- Buy their books. I know this is the obvious one, but, rather than borrow them from the library, purchasing copies helps authors pay for things like editing, proofreading, covers, all the things that go into making a great book. Hey, how about buying a book and donating it to your local library?
- Leave reviews. Even if you just write “It was great”, authors need reviews in order to attract more readers. It boosts the visibility of the book and helps other people find the book more easily.
- Join their newsletters. This is a win-win. The author knows who the fans are and the readers get advance notice of sales and freebies. In many cases, it turns into friendship!
- Follow them on social media. This one goes back to visibility, too. The small author doesn’t have the backing of the big publishing houses to push their product, so following them and sharing their posts with your friends goes a long way to helping authors gain readers.
- Request their books at retailers. When patrons go into bookstores and request books, those retailers often will stock those books and again boost sales.
- Tell your friends. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising out there. If you enjoy an author’s books, chances are that your friends and relatives might, too.
- Gift their books. You can give them as presents to your loved ones, or even to libraries or senior citizen centers. If it is a children’s author, consider donating books to a school or a classroom.
- Write to the author. We live in a lonely world with just a computer and sometimes a cat. It is nice to hear from a real human being that what we do matters to someone out there.
I hope that this short list has given you some ideas of what you can do for an author you know. If you have other suggestions, I would love to hear them! Put them in the comments below.