Readers and writers helping authors…
I don’t know about other readers, but I have a vested interest in increasing the number of good books written by good authors. In my article “Internet PR and Marketing” (9/25/2018), I lamented that self-published authors and authors published by small presses have a tough time getting their work known. In spite of Big Five claims to the contrary, ALL authors have a tough time nowadays unless they’re among the ones pampered by those big publishing houses. And a reader who likes a good book shouldn’t limit themselves to those Big Five faves.
What can readers do? For a start, if you read a good book, tell other readers about it. Word-of-mouth advertising is still the most important form of advertising, whether face-to-face or on the internet, and telling just friends and family can start a snowball effect for our favorite authors and their books. You can also write a review for a book you like. It doesn’t have to be an MBA thesis. Just say what you like and dislike and why. You can be brief and still convey information to readers and the author. Your motivation? Stimulating that author to write more books!
What can writers do? The Big Five’s prima donnas don’t do much. They’re not very accessible to readers, rarely write a review other than some endorsement for other members of their exclusive club, and don’t care much about not doing much because they already have name recognition. Other writers? Don’t be like that! Support your fellow authors. You should all be avid readers, so you should share my vested interest. Yes, I know, helping other authors takes time from our writing. But think about this: promoting other authors and their books helps your own name recognition. The more it’s “out there,” the better.
I do my best to promote other authors. Sure, Amazon makes it difficult for authors to review other writers’ books. For some reason, the Amazon bots think authors shouldn’t be reviewing books. Excuse me! We’re probably the most qualified to review a book, outside of some academic critic in an ivory tower who has lost all contact with today’s publishing realities. Anyone should be able to review books, so Amazon is doing readers a huge disservice. When Amazon rejects your review, put it on your blog. That’s what I do. Or post it on Goodreads; although Amazon owns that site, their bots seem absent there. (I’m sure Amazon will get around to “fixing” that.)
But enough about Amazon and their nefarious ways. I do more than write reviews (formally for Bookpleasures and informally for my blog). I interview authors. Both reviews and interviews take time, but once I got in the habit, they’re just part of my writing life. And good karma is sometimes returned—I can be invited to do an interview on other websites. Or go after that elusive combo of interview plus review.
These are low-cost ways for readers and writers to help their favorite authors, and for authors to help themselves. All they cost is a wee bit of time. Except for book launches, paid marketing is probably a waste of time in comparison, and costs money.
But one last thing readers and writers can do for authors: go to local book events where the authors participate. First, for readers, it’s a good way to meet a favorite author; and for writers, it’s a good way to talk shop with authors. Moreover, our attendance at these events encourages the events’ sponsors to have more of them. Finally, our participation promotes the greatest gift we human beings have, the gift of reading and literacy. Books ensure human freedoms and discuss human weaknesses, not to mention the sheer joy of reading a good story well told.
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Comments are always welcome!
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