6 easy ways to help authors

From time to time people ask me what they can do to help the writers they enjoy. Here're my top 6 easy suggestions for helping an author or a book you love. If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments!

1. Buy the book. Of course. Or check it out from the library-demand could make the library buy more copies. And the closer you can do this to the book's release date, the better for the book.


2. Make booksellers aware of the book. There's no way they can keep track of all the books they sell. When you're in the book store, casually mention to a bookseller how much you enjoy this book/author's work or are looking forward to this book.


3. Write a review on Amazon, BN.com, Borders, Goodreads, Shelfari, your blog.


4. Talk it up. Tell people about the great book you just read. Word of mouth is everything in publishing! Ask people what good books they've read lately. Encourage others to talk up the books they read. Post a comment on your Facebook or Twitter feeds. A book I just read and loved is THE AIR BETWEEN US by Deborah Johnson, and I've been talking it up a storm. It's only a month old in paperback so there's time to push this one up the charts!


5. Send a picture of your book club holding copies of the book to Essence magazine patrikspicks@essence.com. Every month they run a photo of a book club and the book they are reading.


6. Play "shelf elf." Don't tell anybody this recommendation came from me, but we authors love our books "face out" (with the cover showing) rather than spine out. And if your bookstore has a display that you believe a book fits well with (i.e. I added Orange Mint and Honey to a Mother's Day display the other day), then ask your bookseller if you can add the book to the display. Don't get too creative about reshelving though. You don't want your favorite books to be where booksellers can't find them when they're looking for them.
   

Online Book Club

Over on Goodreads readers Wilhelmina and Rona moderate the Literary Fiction by People of Color Book Club. Rather than starting a new club here, I'm joining theirs and encouraging you to as well. This club reads more than black authors, so I will continue to spotlight books each month specifically by black authors as that's the mission of this blog. However, I am ALL FOR everybody reading everybody and love the idea of diversifying my own bookshelves! So I'm really looking forward to it.

In March we're reading The Gangster We Are All Looking For byLê Thi Diem Thúy. The discussion begins March 1.