How Readers Can Help Writers

When I visited a local book club this month, a question I hadn't heard before came up: "How can we help writers whose books we like?"

I was impressed that readers are becoming aware that writers need help. With more titles competing in a declining overall market, books--especially fiction--no longer sell themselves on their own merit. Many fiction writers fade out of sight after their debut novel. Advances, smaller than ever, no longer allow new writers the reward of quitting their day job...