Ways to Help Authors...For Free!
- saraelliemackenzie82
- 23 minutes ago
- 4 min read
I know many people cannot buy books or invest in someone's literary career. That is the ultimate goal for authors. In order for them to get to that point, though, they need support. Not all authors have support from family, friends and their community. That support needs to come from YOU. And the best part of all of this: it's FREE.
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Social media love is the best way to help an author. They are everywhere - TikTok, Meta, Reddit, you name it. I have at least a dozen social media accounts (you can see them on top of this page). By interacting with posts, you can sending a message: PAY ATTENTION TO THIS PERSON RIGHT HERE. The more shares, likes, etc., on a post, the more apps/websites pay attention. If it gets to the right people, then the sales begin.
Word of mouth is the next best way to help an author out. Tell everyone you know - friends, family, your community or some random stranger on the street who likes books. Using social media, you can also share posts about your favorite author. Unless, of course, you are like me when I was younger. I read wwwaaayyyyy above my grade level, and nobody really understood why I loved talking about these adult fiction stories. When I had to do a book report in fifth grade, I was reading The Bastard Prince by Katherine Kurtz. I thought the series was amazing, and wanted to info dump this on my teacher. She declined, probably because of the title name. But I digress...
If you are looking for a new author on social media, unsure of where to look, use that search bar! You can type in your favorite genre and come up with hundreds of authors. Watch a few videos and read through posts. If it sounds interesting, bookmark it on Amazon, ThriftBooks or whatever place you use to buy your books. You can also use some hashtags like #BookTok #AmReading #TBR You get the drift. Many of us use those to be caught somehow by the internet algorism.
Be there for your author friends when they need it. Support and kindness are sparse. A simple phone call, text or visit is sometimes what an author needs. Listen to them rant about something they found out, got stuck on or need to unload about. God knows how much my husband had to lend his shoulder when I had a bad event day or somebody had lied to me about consigning my books or somebody was nasty to me. Those little moments do mean a lot.
Visiting your favorite authors at events (reasonably) might involve energy and gas, but it does not necessarily need you to buy anything. You can bring others with you or tell visitors about the author's books. It does not even require you to read the books either! You might have those personal stories about their writing process or how she/he/they/etc. freaked out or went missing in some historical place for an hour. It bring connections from the author to the readers and makes us more real.
This goes back to word of mouth, but it's more specific. Go to your local library and talk to the staff about your favorite indie authors. If you've read the books, tell them about it. Not only is this passing the word, but the library might be interested and buy the books themselves! That gives the author coverage and sales. The more people take it out, the more copies are bought from the library. It will eventually lead to others buying the book!
Here's another that goes back to word of mouth: talk to your local bookstores. While some have scruples about buying from indie authors (especially from Amazon, which I cannot blame them for), bring a strong force of support with you. Talk about it with the storekeepers. Maybe strike up a conversation with another reader of the genre. It might lead to an influx of your favorite author's books being locally sold.
If you've read the book, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW it! Put it everywhere too - Amazon, Goodreads, local community boards, everywhere you can. And it can be as small as "I liked it a lot." See how easy that was? Not even two minutes. Reviews are the bread and butter of our careers. The more reviews somebody receives, the more the companies notice them. That means we can get featured in ads online!
All those horrible experiences I had happened because of lack of organization, decency, law and representation. There is also a lack of options and inaccessibility for many. Remember, authors are small businesses too. Our income is all commission.
Doing this full time is hard. There is no income except from sales and donations. If you can, please donate to my cause here. That way, I can continue helping other authors succeed.
Did I miss anything, authors? What others can you name? Let me know in the comments section. Namaste!
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