How to help out

Authors really appreciate reader feedback. It’s great, too, when readers post reviews on sites like Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing and so on. For the big-name authors and publishers this is a regular event, of course. For the rest of us, perhaps not quite so frequent as we would like.

So, if you have a few moments to spare online, here’s how to help redress the balance and give a boost to any lesser-known author whose work you have enjoyed:

• Please review or ‘rate’ the stories you have liked on places like Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing and so on. You need to be logged in to do this – but after that the whole process is quite painless and doesn’t usually take long. The best way is probably to write up your review before-hand, then ‘copy and paste’ once you are logged in.

Other things you can do:

• Pass your book along to a friend or colleague and tell others how much you have enjoyed it. Word of mouth is still the very best recommendation of all.
• Tick the ‘Like’ box at the top of the amazon page – for example ‘The Arrow Chest’ or ‘Virgin and the Crab’
• Give them a mention on Facebook or Twitter, along with a link to the author’s website.
• See if your local library would consider stocking it.
• If you discover a review online of a book you have liked, add your own comments (bloggers love this).
• And, of course, if you have an online blog or website of your own, don’t be shy about asking your favourite author to do a guest feature, interview or Q&A session. Most of us writers are dreadful egoists and just love talking about ourselves.