Help Out Your Favorite Author(s)

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Thanks to technology, more people read today than at any point in history, and from a wider selection of materials. But while it’s become vastly easier to produce and distribute the written word, the challenge of writing well has hardly eased at all. The result is that it’s harder than ever for talented voices to be heard, with fewer returns for the years-long investments in skill and craft any author must make in order to create a worthy product.

So what can be done? How can you help your favorite authors be heard? The answer is actually quite simple, and modest efforts can have a real impact, especially for new authors just taking the stage.

Here’s how you can help your favorite authors:

  • Buy their books—in any form—whether through the affiliate link on their web page or through your local bookstore after asking them to stock the books. That’s not the important thing. The important thing is that you…
  • Read their books. Read them and sing their praises to everyone you know who might be interested.
    Review their books. You don’t have to be a journalist to review books these days. Visit online outlets for your fav (mine are listed on my site under “find My Work”). Leave good reviews–but honest ones with credible ratings. Stay upbeat and polite and write simply and from the heart.
  • Give their books as gifts – to friends who will love them and tell more friends about them.
  • Find your fav on the Internet, and subscribe by email, RSS feed, or Twitter to his or her blog or news feed (You can find me at http://cStuartHardwick.com (Just sayin’). Help publicize events, appearances, and news to your friends and contacts.
  • Visit your fav’s author pages, “Like” them, and share with others who might be interested (My Amazon page is http://amazon.com/author/cstuarthardwick).
  • Get their books on your book club’s reading list; start a book club if you don’t have one.
  • Ask your local library to carry their latest books–or donate yours when you’re done with it. The best advertisement for any writers work is his book sitting on a shelf waiting to be read.
  • Spread the word on social media. Maybe you’re not a “big name” in the bloggosphere. Doesn’t matter. This is grass roots, and every potential ready matters. Go on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest and similar social media sites, and post links to your fav’s books. Share links posted by others.
  • Do you Pinterest? From a page with your author’s book cover or other interesting content, “Pin it” and include a comment about why you love it. The power of the Pin. Do you Stumbleupon? Again, from a page with something awesome about your fav, stumble it. Use any other social media you like in the same way.
  • Are you a blogger? Invite your fav to guest post! They can whip up a custom confection for your site, or you can interview them. Do a cover reveal for them. Excerpt a chapter. Anything to stir interest–even a little.

These all my seem like little things, but to an author just building a platform, they really can add up. Then again, this may seem like work. Well, don’t let it be. Just do what you are comfortable with and happy to do. And remember, every time you help your fav get the word out, you are helping raise a voice you admire above the cacophony that is the modern marketplace of ideas–even if just a little.

What am I leaving out? Share your experiences and ideas–I’d love to hear them!