I am officially declaring this February "Love an Author" month. We do what we can to support authors here on Go Teen Writers, but this month I want to get you all thinking about those books on your shelves, the ones you've read multiple times, and what you can do to show those authors a little love.
And stay tuned. The love will bounce back to you, just wait and see. ♥
WAYS TO HELP THE AUTHORS YOU LOVE
-Buy a new copy of their book. Money spent tells stores that you want more like this. Authors make nothing off used book sales, so when you can, buy the book new. Whenever possible, buy new books in physical bookstores to keep bookstores alive.
-Pre-order when you can. Pre-ordering a book is great for the author because you're telling their publisher that you are excited about the upcoming title.
-Write an Amazon.com book review. Nothing helps a book more these days (besides buying it new). The review only needs to be a couple sentences. Even if the book has 3000 reviews, another won't hurt. The more reviews a book has on Amazon, the more Amazon shows that book to others.
-If you have time, paste that Amazon review on Goodreads, Barnes&Noble.com, iTunes, Shelfari, and/or any other site you frequent.
-Vote! On Amazon and many other online stores, there is the option to vote whether or not a review was helpful. When you're looking at some of your favorite author's book pages and see a helpful review, vote. It really helps authors to have positive reviews in the top three or four.
-Visit their website. If they have a newsletter, ezine, or blog, subscribe to it. If the author blogs, understand that this takes a great deal of time. Time away from writing books. If you see a blog post that interests you, click "like," share the post, or leave a comment. It will really encourage the author.
-Become a fan of the author on Goodreads and add the author's books to your To Read list.
-"Like" or follow the author on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, etc. When you do this, all your friends/followers see the author's name or picture. This helps the author get more exposure.
-On Pinterest? Pin book covers of your favorite books. You can either pin to your own blog posts, to Amazon's sales page, or to the Goodread's book page. Anytime someone sees the book cover helps your favorite author get more exposure.
-Write a fan letter. Email can be difficult to keep up with, but even if J.K. Rowling doesn't write you back, she likely did get your email and read it. And these words of encouragement can really help a busy author. You can also write the author's publisher and rave about the book. That's like telling an author's boss they did a good job.
OTHER IDEAS
-Talk about those books. Tell your friends about them in person or online. This generates buzz and keeps the word-of-mouth going strong.
-If a line from the book strikes you, quote it online and cite the author and book title. This is a great way to share things that matter to you and help your favorite author get more exposure.
-Post pictures of books, you holding the book, your cat reading the book, the book driving your car... whatever strikes your fancy. Post these pictures on your social media outlets.
-Buy your favorite author's books as gifts for friends or family.
-If you're in a book club, suggest your current favorite book for the next title. If you're not in a book club, consider starting one.
-If you blog, write a post about your favorite author and tell your followers why you love that author's books.
-Support your favorite author in whatever they're working towards. Keep an eye on their blogs or social media outlets to see what's up. It's important that they know they have readers who care.
How do you love on your favorite authors? Do you do anything I didn't mention? If
you saw something new on my lists today, which do you want to try? Share in the
comments.
This is a brilliant idea, Ms. Williamson! About a month ago I read 'Perfected' by Kate Jarvik Birch. (If you're interested in science fiction or dystopia mixed in with romance, this book is AMAZING.) It was so good I knew that I had to write her an e-mail. I didn't expect a reply because of time issues and all, but she did! It was so amazing that she took the time to thank me. You're right, the love does come back!
ReplyDeleteOh, how fun, Melissa! I'm glad you wrote her!
DeleteThis is an awesome idea, Mrs. Williamson, and great suggestions! I can't do all of these, but I will try to do those I can.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. To do all of them all at once would be pretty intense. Ha ha.
DeleteThose are great suggestions, Mrs. Williamson! I should do some of those :D
ReplyDeleteRandom writing question:
If you are writing a book in first person, does the 'back cover' synopsis have to be in first person?
Thanks, Emily. As to your question, I picked up several books off my shelf. Most of the first person books had third person on the back cover, but not all of them. I think it's a personal choice.
DeleteGreat post! I've been waffling on it, but I finally took the time to email my favorite writer this morning after reading this post. I think it's great that we're at a point where it's so easy to reach writers and tell them how much we appreciate their work!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Aimee! It is great that it's so easy to find people these days.
DeleteI absolutely love this idea! These are some fantastic suggestions. I definitely want to do my best supporting my favorite authors, I know it's so important. In fact, I'd love to write a blog post highlighting all my favorites. Do I have permission to use the adorable "Love an Author Month" graphic there you used in my blog post? If not, that's perfectly fine.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Mrs. Williamson. I love it!
Sure, you can use it, Christine! I found it here, but I added the text: http://thegraphicsfairy.com/free-printable-heart-labels/
DeleteNice ideas, especially where you started listing "pictures of your cat reading the book, the book driving your car..." That made me laugh this morning! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely guilty of having good intentions yet forgetting to follow through, here, so thanks for the reminder.
LOL My BFF from high school FBed a pic of a towel cat reading my book in the hotel room on a cruise ship. I just loved that picture. :-)
DeleteGreat ideas! I must do them all! :P :D I now really want to start a book club too...
ReplyDeleteBook clubs are amazing!
DeleteThank you for all the great ideas! I always do my best to support my favourite authors, and I work in libraries, so getting the word out is especially close to my heart. I really need to start writing more reviews...
ReplyDeleteYay for librarians and library workers! <3
DeleteGreat ideas! One thing I don't like is that often the book store I go to hardly ever has any of the books I really want. (let's face it, it's a book store so it'll have some things I like. :) ) That always makes me sad. It still buy books, though, don't worry. :) Thank you for the post!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a bummer. Though it can be good to have the store order the books you want. That makes the store aware the book exists and they might order another copy for the shelves. You never know.
DeleteGood idea.... although I can't do that for my favourite author.... he happens to be well and truly dead, but still I do do some of those things, for other authors.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Well, for other authors, then, Clare. ;-)
DeleteThese are great tips, Jill. I don't buy books too often, but I love writing blog posts about my favorite authors or reviewing their books. And of course, I love to gush to my friends about my favorite books and push my friends to read them.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Ana. Word of mouth is awesome!
DeleteAwesome declaration, Jill! We're showing love to Christian authors this month by offering Two-For-One publishing packages. We're on fire to publish more books that share the good news of Jesus ~ spread the word!
ReplyDeleteAuthors are my favorite people in the world! I love to support my favorite authors by buying their books, writing reviews, telling my friends....
ReplyDeleteI might do the same thing Christine mentioned and highlight my favorite authors in a blog post. I'll have to link to this post so everyone can know about Love an Author Month! :)
Too bad Tolkien is... well, no longer alive...
ReplyDelete