How to help your favourite authors
There are lots of things you can do to help your favourite authors. Authors need your help. The reality is that there are thousands of new books published each day and it is becoming harder and harder to sell books. This is true of traditionally published and self-published authors.
"But authors are giving their books away free, they don't need my help," I hear you say.
When authors give away books free, it's because they are trying to find readers, readers who will read their books and tell others about them. Unfortunately, this is backfiring; with so many books being given away free these days, there are millions of unread books sitting on Kindles. Many will never be read.
"What can I do to help?" you ask.
Here are some ideas:
When you read a book you love, leave a review. The best places to leave reviews are Amazon, and Goodreads. There are lots of other websites out there as well. Leave your review everywhere you can.
Word of mouth is still the most effective method for selling any product. If you like a book, tell your friends.
Last week, I wrote a list of 50 books worth reading and nearly 2000 people have viewed it in under a week. This proves people love recommendations. They want to read a book that's been recommended by someone else. Why not make a list of your own if you have a blog?
The harsh reality is that most writers will never make a living from their books. Most are working day jobs. If they don't sell books, they will stop writing at some point out of necessity. Bills need to be paid, food must be bought, etc.
The best thing you can do for your favourite writers is buy their books. If, for example, you've read a book by that author without paying for it -- maybe a friend lent it to you, or you downloaded it free -- why not buy one of that author's other books?
Also, NEVER download a book free unless it's advertised on the author's official website or as part of a free promotion on Amazon or other booksellers, by the author. There are many pirate sites out there that will offer free downloads. They are not approved by the authors. Many of those sites also contain malware that might be downloaded when you download the book and could potentially harm your computer.
Request your favourite authors' books at your local library. Order them in your local bookshops. Getting the books on shelves helps with promotion. More people will find out about them.
Follow your favourite authors on Twitter. 'Like' their Facebook Pages. Share their books on Facebook and Twitter and your other social media sites.
Don't let your favourite author be the one who stops writing because she/he can't afford to carry on writing.
You might think that you can't make a difference, but you can. Read, review, recommend.
If anyone has other ideas about how readers can help, please feel free to add them to the comment section below.
Happy Reading!
"But authors are giving their books away free, they don't need my help," I hear you say.
When authors give away books free, it's because they are trying to find readers, readers who will read their books and tell others about them. Unfortunately, this is backfiring; with so many books being given away free these days, there are millions of unread books sitting on Kindles. Many will never be read.
"What can I do to help?" you ask.
Here are some ideas:
When you read a book you love, leave a review. The best places to leave reviews are Amazon, and Goodreads. There are lots of other websites out there as well. Leave your review everywhere you can.
Word of mouth is still the most effective method for selling any product. If you like a book, tell your friends.
Last week, I wrote a list of 50 books worth reading and nearly 2000 people have viewed it in under a week. This proves people love recommendations. They want to read a book that's been recommended by someone else. Why not make a list of your own if you have a blog?
The harsh reality is that most writers will never make a living from their books. Most are working day jobs. If they don't sell books, they will stop writing at some point out of necessity. Bills need to be paid, food must be bought, etc.
The best thing you can do for your favourite writers is buy their books. If, for example, you've read a book by that author without paying for it -- maybe a friend lent it to you, or you downloaded it free -- why not buy one of that author's other books?
Also, NEVER download a book free unless it's advertised on the author's official website or as part of a free promotion on Amazon or other booksellers, by the author. There are many pirate sites out there that will offer free downloads. They are not approved by the authors. Many of those sites also contain malware that might be downloaded when you download the book and could potentially harm your computer.
Request your favourite authors' books at your local library. Order them in your local bookshops. Getting the books on shelves helps with promotion. More people will find out about them.
Follow your favourite authors on Twitter. 'Like' their Facebook Pages. Share their books on Facebook and Twitter and your other social media sites.
Don't let your favourite author be the one who stops writing because she/he can't afford to carry on writing.
You might think that you can't make a difference, but you can. Read, review, recommend.
If anyone has other ideas about how readers can help, please feel free to add them to the comment section below.
Happy Reading!
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Ah, yes, that's true! Great suggestion, Susan :) Your Reading Recommendations blog is also a great way of spreading the word about authors. Thank you!
Great Blog! I hope readers take it to heart.
Helle wrote: "Great blog post!! xx"Thanks, Helle :) xx
Diane wrote: "Great Blog! I hope readers take it to heart."Thanks, Diane :) As a reader I have got into the habit of always reviewing and promoting authors I love, mainly because I know (as an author myself) how hard it is to even sell one book these days. I'm sure that if more readers knew about the reality they'd be more than willing to help their favourite authors succeed.
Thank you for posting this. I hope take this to heart.
Dana wrote: "Thank you for posting this. I hope take this to heart."Thanks, Dana :)
What a great idea! As an author as well as a reviewer I think it's vital to help others by posting reviews.
Julie wrote: "What a great idea! As an author as well as a reviewer I think it's vital to help others by posting reviews."I think maybe readers are put off because they think their review has to be long-winded or professional. All that's needed is a sentence or two to say what they liked about the book really. In fact, I prefer the shorter reviews as they don't give too much away about the story.
Very good post, Maria. I think you're so right about people not realising that a review doesn't have to compare with those on well known literary sites. The only thing I would add as a help to those who write them is that just a couple of lines to say what you liked or didn't like about the book is much more helpful than a long regurgitation of the plot, which can be read in the blurb, anyway!
Terry wrote: "Very good post, Maria. I think you're so right about people not realising that a review doesn't have to compare with those on well known literary sites. The only thing I would add as a help to th..."Thanks, Terry :) And, yes, I totally agree!
Excellent post, Maria. It is tough. Frankly, until I published, it had never occurred to me to write a review for a book I'd enjoyed. Now, I know how important reviews are, not only in creating credibility and awareness for the work, but in encouraging the author.
Nicely done, Maria. A one or two sentence review can make my day; certainly, it makes it easier to sit down and work on the next book.
Elise wrote: "Excellent post, Maria. It is tough. Frankly, until I published, it had never occurred to me to write a review for a book I'd enjoyed. Now, I know how important reviews are, not only in creating cre..."That was true for me too, Elise. I never used to write reviews before I started publishing my own books, basically because I didn't know how important they are.
C.L.R. wrote: "Nicely done, Maria. A one or two sentence review can make my day; certainly, it makes it easier to sit down and work on the next book."Very true, all of us need a bit of encouragement at times to keep motivated :)
This is a great post. I hope a lot of people take it into account. It's extremely hard being a writer in this day and age. Just getting through the clutter can take years itself.
S. wrote: "This is a great post. I hope a lot of people take it into account. It's extremely hard being a writer in this day and age. Just getting through the clutter can take years itself."Thank you, S., and I totally agree. Writing is hard and being a writer these days is harder :)
Maria wrote: "Julie wrote: "What a great idea! As an author as well as a reviewer I think it's vital to help others by posting reviews."I think maybe readers are put off because they think their review has to..."
Yes, I agree, because I don't give spoilers, I tend to stick to the writing style and flavour of the story.
Julie wrote: "Maria wrote: "Julie wrote: "What a great idea! As an author as well as a reviewer I think it's vital to help others by posting reviews."I think maybe readers are put off because they think their..."
I think most authors would agree that a one or two line review is better than no review at all :)
Yeah! Great post. Writing reviews is a wonderful way to help authors. I never would have known how important reviews were until becoming an author.
Jennifer wrote: "Yeah! Great post. Writing reviews is a wonderful way to help authors. I never would have known how important reviews were until becoming an author."Me neither, Jen :) I'm sure if readers knew, they'd be more than willing to help.
Thanks, Maria. I'm sharing with my readers and author friends. (And that's another way you can help - by sharing Maria's post!)
Susan M. Toy
Reading Recommendations blog
http://readingrecommendations.wordpre...