WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP AN AUTHOR or Reading/Author Support vs. Voter Apathy

I know it’s important to vote, we all know this. But there’s a tangible feeling of helplessness.  What does your vote count?  With reading, with helping an author, the opposite is true.  And I’m not sure everyone realizes this. 

What you can you do to help an author you love?

First of all, to speak in generalities, most books don’t sell many copies.  And even successful books aren’t selling as many copies as you think they are.  The Publishing Industry has such sad margins it’s ridiculous.  On certain weeks, a book can be a NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER with 2,000, maybe even 1,500 copies sold in a week.  Of course, to be number 1, to be a Hunger Games or a Stephen King, you’d need to sell 50,000 or so in a week.  But 2,000 copies isn’t a crazy number.  In fact, PRE-ORDERS count for first week sales.  So if you read an early copy of a book, and convince people to pre-order it (remember, a physical copy is better than an ebook for helping authors, in terms or royalties and building buzz/career/instore support), you can make a real difference.  I mean, remember fundraisers in school where you donate cans of food and get, say, a free pizza party if you win?  And how you could rally your class and make something happen?  Well, 2,000 pre-orders isn’t a number that’s so absurd that you can’t make a significant dent.

So, assuming you read an early ARC of a book, and you really love it, here’s what you can do.

1) Pre-order it.  If you loved the book, support the author.  I know dropping 10-12 bucks is a hassle, but it’s the clearest way you can support.  1/2000 really matters.

2) Goodreads: did you know that even if you don’t preorder and you haven’t read, marking a book on your ‘to-read’ shelf matters?  Why?  Because after 1000 people do that, Goodreads starts advertising the book and recommending it.  If you read and review, that also matters. 

3) Contact the author.  Authors, debut ones at least, love contact from fans.  In fact, if you gather a group of people to read, I’m very sure a debut author would be happy to speak to you or a group.  Nowadays, Authors are way more accessible and willing.

4) If you really liked the book, convince 5 others to pre-order.  Or, preorder a few for gifts.  This might seem silly, but it’s just a chain-mail style of help.  You CAN make a difference. 

5) Bookstores - I know we’re all about Amazon nowadays, but if you really want to help, preorder from BN, or your local store, because that will cause these stores to order more copies, which make the publishers print more copies, which allows them to be more confident in the book’s publication and therefore advertise more, or print better stock or cover materials.  This is weird, perhaps, but true.  Imagine it like this: with numbers guaranteed, publishers feel the author is safer to invest in, and will push the book more.  So will bookstores. 

6) Tumblr - this one is a bit obvious, but if you’re a fan, do something for the book.  Fanart, anything, share spread, make something happen. 

In summary, if you can get just 5 people to pre order a book you love, and, maybe, get 10 people to put it on their to-read list, you’ll make a real difference.

My favorite thing about discovering a great book is helping others discover it too, helping authors find it.  So, I’ll end the note on pointing out a book you can support that hasn’t come out yet (that I don’t work with, so it’s unbiased): Pierce Brown’s RED RISING - Hunger Games meets Ender’s Game - SO good.  Goodluck helping a career begin!