What you can do…
Authors can spend years researching and writing a book. Once the book is published, the highest compliment any author can receive is to have their book read by as many readers as possible. If lucky to be published by a major publishing house, there is a publicity team behind the book, jostling bloggers, journalists and producers to feature the titles they’re promoting, and searching for an angle that puts them at an advantage over their competitors.
But as effective as the publicity team is in increasing the profile of the author and their book, authors still need the support of their readers if they wish to succeed in the long term.
How you can help…
- Don’t pirate. You’re not only robbing the author of their rightful income, but also the editors, proofreaders, designers, typesetters, publishers, sales rep, booksellers and anyone else whose livelihood is dependent on the sales of books.
- Join your local library. It’s free whether you’re borrowing the physical book or the e-book. Authors still receive royalties on the titles borrowed.
- Review the author’s books on Goodreads. The most powerful tool behind the success of a book is word of mouth. How many times have you turned to your friends for recommendations? It’s only natural to trust their opinion. It’s the same when choosing a book. Sometimes seeing a 4-star rating from you is enough to sway their decision.
- Share links, tell your friends, get others involved. Spread the good word. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are powerful tools when it comes to this, potentially reaching audiences far greater than just your circle of friends.
- Join the author’s fan-page, participate in discussions and comments.
These are just some examples of ways you can get involved in supporting authors. I’m sure, putting on your thinking caps, you’d be able to come up with more.
Of course, you don’t need to be doing all the above to show your support. Personally, I’m not one for joining a fan page. Instead, I show my suport via author events we organise through Your Bookshop, and reviewing books on Goodreads. Instagram and Facebook the books, hashtag the author. It’s my way of acknowledging the hours of dedicated hard work which is gone into writing a book.
Let’s face it, we all like to be rewarded for our hard work.
And authors are no different.
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