So October is #AidAnAuthor Month*, and I’m going to suggest
exactly how you can do that, given that they can be elusive little critters,
squirreled away at their laptops, spinning story yarns for the enjoyment of the
general public. Perhaps you don’t know an author personally to whom you can
offer your help. Perhaps you do know one but they might be ever-so-British and
not know quite how to say “yes please, I would dearly love your help” as
authors are also human and aren’t always very good at asking for or accepting
help from others.
In fact you can help an author- relatively anonymously if
you prefer, without even putting them on the spot by asking them- very easily
and often at no cost to yourself. Here’s how;
*Cue fanfare* Leave their book a review.
Amazon reviews for an author are gold-dust. Reviews give a
book visibility. Browsers will take other readers’ recommendations and, most
crucially, if a book gains 50 reviews, Amazon start giving it more attention.
You can see how this is valuable, yes? For a newbie author, it means they have
a chance of getting noticed and can start a career. For an established author
it might mean their next books get picked up too.
-It doesn’t need to be a long
review. Not at all. You can just hit the stars button, or leave a simple line.
(Only about the book please. You don’t need to drop stars because the packaging
was scuffed…)
-It doesn’t have to be 5 stars.
Be honest (but remember authors have feeling too.).
-You don’t need to have bought
the book from Amazon. You might have received it as a gift. You might have
borrowed it from the library. You’ve read it, you can leave your opinion.
-If you’ve already left a review
on another retailers’ sites, or on Goodreads, NetGalley, or your library search
pages, you can cut and paste them into an Amazon review. Recycling is
absolutely acceptable. Life is busy, time is short, right?
So, please, if you are feeling benevolent and have a moment
to spare, please spare a thought for authors this #AidAnAuthor month* and leave
a review. Simply find the book page on Amazon, and midways down there should be
a Leave a Review button to click. Hit up the stars and leave some words. Easy
peasy. (If you've read my book and want to have a try, here's the link to the page www.hyperurl.co/sweatpantstiffanie :) )
(*#AidAnAuthor Month might not, in fact, be truthfully
accurate, in so far as I might have made it up. But there are many causes claiming
months, so why not this one? Either way, the fact remains that Amazon reviews
help authors. Thank you.)
