5 (More) Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors

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NOTE: Sometimes, when you write nearly 1,000 blog posts, you forget you already (re-)covered a topic. Realized this morning this is actually the second time this year I've re-covered this topic, but there are still a couple new suggestions in this one. Consider the rest a reminder. ;) 

So way back in 2013, I wrote a 5 Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors post. Since then, I've learned lots more about ways to support authors whose books you enjoy, so today I thought I'd share more. In no particular order:

1. Pre-order their books. Confession: I did not realize just how important pre-orders were until after I got my book deal and saw other authors talking about it. As it turns out, pre-orders are really important—they help determine print runs, how much bookstores will order, best seller lists, and so much more. Lisa Schroeder wrote a really great post, "The power of the pre-order," which I recommend if you're curious about the details.
   
   Long story short, if you plan to buy a book and are able to pre-order, it helps authors a ton. :)


2. Cross-post your reviews. I see this all the time: a book will have hundreds of reviews on Goodreads, then only a handful on Amazon and even less on B&N. But reviews on consumer websites help a lot, especially on Amazon where books are ranked differently after they hit the 50 review milestone, largely most consumers aren't on Goodreads and many still like to see reviews before they purchase a book.
   
   Related to this, reviews don't have to be long: even a sentence can be useful and bump those review numbers. So consider this your friendly reminder to cross-post your reviews on retailer sites—which reminds me, it's been a while since I've done a cross-post check on my reviews...


3. Suggest their books to your local library. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this at my local library, but this is a thing that helps a lot! Library check outs are totally helpful for authors, both because publishers see library purchases and because it can be great exposure for a book. So if your local library doesn't have some of your favorites—suggest them! Bonus: this is free. :)


4. Don't wait until the series is over to buy. I get why this happens—binge reading is a fun thing and waiting for a sequel when you're in the middle of a series can be painful. But unfortunately, this buying habit has been known to get series cancelled mid-series. Remember that a dip in sales in the middle of a series, even if it's just because many readers are waiting for the last book to release, can spell doom for a series—so make sure you buy books in your favorites series as it publishes.


5. Tweet/Instagram/Snap/Tumbl their books. Word of mouth works wonders for books, and social media can especially boost visibility. Whether it's an Instagram pic, a post on tumblr or just a tweet about books you're enjoying, even the little things can be very helpful. I can't tell you how many books I've discovered solely thanks to social media—which is pretty darn awesome.

So those are five (more) quick ways to help your favorite authors! What tips would you add to the list? 

Twitter-sized bite:

Want to effectively support your favorite authors? @Ava_Jae shares 5 (more) ways to do so. (Click to tweet)

5 (More) Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors

Photo credit: Carlos Porto on Flickr

So back in July 2013 I wrote a post about five ways to support your favorite authors. And now that time has passed and I’ve learned a lot more about publishing and things involved in authoring, I thought it might be a good time to expand the list.

So without further ado! Five (more) ways you can support your favorite authors.

1. Cross-post your reviews. Goodreads is a great place to post reviews where bookish people will see them—but not all readers are Goodreads-savvy people. It is super helpful to cross-post your reviews to major retailer sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, because that’s where regular people shopping for books will look. As a bonus, it’s super super easy and takes maybe five minutes to copy/paste your reviews to other sites. :) 


2. Pre-order books. Lisa Schroeder broke down why pre-orders are so important better than I can, so I will refer you to her post. But the short version is pre-orders make publishers and bookstores more confident about the book, which ultimately means more book deals, support, and sales for the author. 


3. Request their books at your local library. I totally understand that buying books isn’t always possible at all times—but this is a way you can support authors without spending money. Requesting books at libraries encourages the library to purchase said book, especially if they get enough requests. And more requests or checking out of a book means more orders for the book, which is good news for authors. 


4. Read their book in public. Visibility s a great thing for books, because the more people who see a book, the more people are likely to get curious enough to check a book out. Which can lead to sales. Which are yay. 


5. Attend their events (when possible). Again, I completely get this is not always possible, but if you hear one of your faves is going to be near you, it can be very awesome to go to events. Both for you (because fun and signed books!) and for the author so the event is not lonely and awkward. 

Have you done any of these to help support your favorite authors? What other suggestions would you add to the list?

Twitter-sized bite:

Want to show some author love to your faves? @Ava_Jae breaks down five (more) ways to support them. (Click to tweet)

Celebrating 100 Posts

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I published my very first blog post on the sixth of May of this year. At the time I’d just reached 100 Twitter followers (which is what prompted the launch of the blog) and the design was all tan and red with a huge picture of books in the background and no pretty banner.

Yes, Writability was a completely different animal then.

I had two comments on my first post—one of them was my response to my only commenter. But none of that mattered, because I was in awe that anyone would want to read my posts to begin with. Every page view was someone giving me a chance and I battled a serious case of nerves every time I hit the “Publish” button.

Fast forward seven months and 99 blog posts and really nothing has changed—well, except for the nerves part. I still smile every time I see a comment and get rather excited every time I gain a lovely new reader.

Because if there’s anything I’ve learned as a blogger, it’s just how important every single of you guys are. It doesn’t matter if you follow this blog regularly or just happened to have clicked a link to get here, I’m thankful for you.

Because out of everything I talked about in my last post, you guys make the biggest impact. You’re what keeps me going, what keeps me clicking “publish” three times a week. Without you, my lovely readers, Writability would not still be here.

So rather than posting my top ten posts thus far, I’m going to share my most popular post with you guys and I hope you’ll do the same.

That’s right, I want to know your best post in the history of your blog.

Now I’m aware that not everyone here is a blogger, but I want you guys to have a chance to interact, too.

For those of you who don’t have a blog, share your favorite post from someone else’s blog. I promise to take a look at it as long as it doesn't have anything inappropriate (so keep them PG please, or they won’t be published in the comments).

So here we go! My most popular post thus far is Why Writers Must Read.

What about you?