 |
| Photo credit: Mark J P on Flickr |
Today I'd like to take the opposite approach and talk about some real ways to support your favorite authors, and become the kind of fan that every author wants and appreciates.
So without further ado, here are five ways to support your favorite authors and be a great fan.
- Write honest reviews. This doesn’t necessarily mean good reviews, although it can. Honest reviews, the ones where you share the good and bad and what you really thought about the book (without rudeness, that is) are the best kind—readers believe them because you’re not just raving madly about their awesomeness (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and writers more times than not appreciate your honesty.
- Let them know you enjoyed their book. Twitter is perfect for this, because it allows you to directly contact authors and let them know that they’re appreciated with just a couple keystrokes. Naturally, this doesn’t mean you should spam them (please don’t spam anyone), but a quick note saying that you really enjoyed their book may be just what they needed to hear that day.
- Spread the word. Did you like the book? Then tell people about it! Word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools out there, and what’s fantastic is that it works exponentially—you may tell one person about it, who may then go on to tell two others, and each of them may go on to tell a few more. Before you know it, your favorite author has a dozen new fans just because you told one person how much you enjoyed their book.
- Buy their books. I know it’s not always possible to buy every book from every one of your favorite authors, and that’s ok (as long as you’re getting it from legal means, that is). But every book you buy, whether e-book or print, is a monetary vote of support for the author, and for traditionally published authors, sales play an important role in determining the future of their contracts.
- Give their books as gifts. Obviously this only works if the recipient of the gift is a cool person who loves books, but this is a great way to not only make a reader you care about happy, but to possibly give your favorite author a new fan. And that’s a win-win all around.
Have you done any of these to help support your favorite authors? What other suggestions would you add to the list?
Twitter-sized bites:
Do you support your favorite authors? Here are five easy ways to do so. (Click to tweet)
Do you want to show your favorite authors how much you appreciate them? Try some of these easy steps. (Click to tweet)
8 comments:
Yep, reviews are so so so important, but we hate asking for them. The smallest thing on Amazon or Goodreads is awesome though...:)
I haven't had to ask for reviews as I'm not yet published, but I can imagine it's not the most enjoyable part of the job. Which is why I try to encourage people reader to reader. :)
Do you find that star ratings are helpful? I don't review every single book I read, but I do make a point of doing star ratings on Goodreads. Not sure how helpful that is, though.
I would add Blog support' visit them, read them, comment often! Most writers have a blog for daily practice and I know as fact that if I don't get comments I completely lose motivation for it which affects all of my writing. Just one comment can keep me motivated for over a week. I could write two chapters of my next book in that time. Plus, the more comments I get the more enthusiastic I am for blogging and the better my posts are
I've accomplished #5. I fell in love with an MG series as a child, so I sent the first book to my nephew, who just turned the same age I was when I discovered the series. From what I hear, he reads so much, he gets in trouble at school ^.^ Sounds like me already.
That's a good addition. I don't really use comments as motivation, per say, but it's always nice to see people interact, so I can definitely see how blog comments could be a subtle way to show support. :)
That's wonderful! It always makes me irrationally happy to see young kids reading. :D
that is really a nice post, but i think a word of encouragement can do a very big magic
Thank you! I agree, I think encouragement can go a long way. :)
Post a Comment