Saturday, December 17, 2011

5 Ways to Help Authors Without Spending a Dime

That's right, not one thin dime!

Let me start with a confession: this is a self-serving post. I readily admit that and hope all my readers take the following action to help me. But you can do these things for any writer whose work you like, and I encourage you to do so. Every little bit helps.

1. Tags - This refers to Amazon listings. If you view a book on Amazon you can scroll down past the reviews and find a section called "Tags Customers Associate with This Product." Books with lots of "agreement" on a tag will show up higher in search results for that term. Unless the term is "rubbish," "tripe," or "infantile," this is generally a good thing. There should already be several tags there as most authors will tag their own books. The way you can help is by agreeing with those tags. To the left of each tag is a box. Simply click inside that box and your "agreement" will be registered. But you're not done! There may be more tags hidden. On the example below, you can see the words "See all 15 tags." Click on this to reveal the rest of them (your page will refresh). You can also, if you like, add tags of your own. I would only recommend doing this if you've read the book, however, and are sure the tags are appropriate.


2. Likes - The next thing you can do while at a book's Amazon page is "like" the book. As with tagging, you do not have to have bought the book to like it. The Like button in next to the book's rating. Just click on it and you're done. It will change from a blue "Like" button to a orange "Liked" button (as seen below). This, as far as I can tell, doesn't help with search algorithms or anything like that but if a potential buyer sees that a lot of people "like" a book and it has a few good reviews, they may be more "likely" to buy it.


3. Facebook Shares - Attention-starved writers like me will post stuff about their books on Facebook. I know, weird, right? If you're a true blue friend or fan, you can share their posts to your Facebook friends. You don't even have to comment on it, just share it and it'll get more eyeballs on the book.



4. Twitter RTs - This is another easy one. Writers tend to Tweet about their books as well. I know! Just click that little Retweet button and your Followers will all get to see how weird your literary tastes really are:


5. Buy Free Books - Writers, being attention whores, will occasionally give their books away for free. Why would they do such a preposterous thing? Because it's not about the money but the art, and as long as people are reading our work, we could care less about turning a profit. No, wait... that's not it. It is about the money! And the best way to sell books is to give them away. If people read one book and like it, they'll hopefully buy more. It also gets our books on those Amazon Free charts and despite what that cop in Provo told me, exposure is a good thing. So when you see an author announce that their book is free, whether permanently or only for a day or two, go buy it. You'll help them out and, who knows, you might get something out of it, too: you might actually like the book! Part two of this is to review that book you got for free! It was free, it's the least you can do, right? Personally, I don't leave negative reviews. This game is hard enough. But whatever you do write, make sure it is honest and reflects your true feelings about the work. Review readers are notoriously harsh toward works that seem to have "fake" reviews attached to them.

So, I hope this has encouraged you to go support me...er... your favorite writer. Leave a comment with other tips that you know of for supporting writers for free!

Best,
Michael

Also read 5 MORE Ways to Help Authors without Spending a Dime.

17 comments:

  1. Very good advice! Thanks for taking the time to share these suggestions.

    And also don't forget that at the end of the day, a short note to the author letting him/her know how much you enjoy that author's writing can be just the right amount of encouragement at just the right time.

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    1. I happen to agree, Jennifer. A kind word goes a long way. Great advice!

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  2. Jennifer - definitely true! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    Michael

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  3. Great info, Michael. Also how about hitting Yes if you find a review helpful or No if you don't. and writing reviews helps. and shout-outs on Twitter via #fridayreads. There are soooo many ways we can all help each other.

    I agree with you though, tags are hugely important. I have authors ask me all the time about tags, or mention that they don't know about them at all, or think they're (gasp!) stupid. When I recover from my heart attack, I set them straight. But it's a process, for sure.

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  4. Michael- Thank you for this post! Helpful info. always! So many ways to help that we tend to overlook or forget about. I need to print this out and stick it by the old computer as a reminder. For Twitter, I try to get the most value out of those 140 characters that I can, so whenever possible for thank you's or welcomes, replies, retweets, etc., etc., it helps to add the authors book title, link , whatever you can get your hands on. Don't forget to join an author's blog site (which I just now did btw) :)

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  5. Thanks for the comment, Jeff! I'm glad you like my blog posts. Sometimes I wish Twitter allowed 160 characters. It's so hard to say what I want in 140, especially when commenting about books!

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  6. You can also review on Goodreads, even if it's just to star books. Some of the reviews end up at the Sony store for everyone to see.

    Good article. I was surprised because I already was doing all this. LOL.

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    1. Ah, Goodreads, of course! I'll remember that if I ever do a Part 3. Thanks for reading!

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  7. Loved your post! Witty, informative, and best of all..absolutely correct! I had to literally beg for the 6 "LIKES" and tag agreements I got the other day...it's demoralizing and sad...I hope this post makes a difference so that we can ALL be more supportive of one another...BTW I've already retweeted about this post and will send out my own love for you to the Twitter community...good luck with your quest for "exposure"...hope you have better luck than I have.

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    1. Thank you for reading and for sharing it with your followers! Best of luck!

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  8. Michael, this is very helpful and I'll do the Amazon thing. Another thing I've done to take my profile from -100 to 0 is like you to write a blog, but I am publishing an episode of my series each day. It's a challenge but slowly my readership is building. Indie authors might like to try it. I'm giving away the first in the series free on various sites but subsequent books are at a price. I'm writing the third in the series. Another place to get exposure is Scribd.com with an excerpt of your book. Even Shades of Grey is on there. I'll come back for more of your good advice. Best wishes, Suzie Louis. http://hot-water-bottle-covers-etc.blogspot.com.au/

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  9. Not keen on the liking option if someone hasn't even read the book. There's enough bullshit in the world already and it may jeapordise the small amount of respect the indie scene has managed to garner. That small amount took a long time to build up.

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  10. I'm not sure how much value there is in getting a free book if you're not going to read it. I'd also rather have a reader read the book and tell a couple of friends -- word of mouth recommendation is still the best way to encourage sales (but you have to really read and like the book).

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    1. I'm a little puzzled by your comment. Which part says that one shouldn't read the books one downloads for free?

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  11. I'm SO happy I stumbled across this blog! Fantastic advice.

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  12. Good job, Mike. I have bookmarked this site to return and absorb the information properly.

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  13. Good post. I've viewed my tags before but when I went there this time they didn't appear.

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