#AidAnAuthor Month

 

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.)