5 FREE Ways to Support Your Favorite Author

So, I’ve got to be honest. I’ve been playing around with this writing thing off and on for over twenty years. But have only just recently decided to take the plunge and take it seriously as a career. Since I published my first book, I let fear and self-doubt creep in and replace the confidence I had as a young aspiring writer when I released my first book in 2008. I took the safe route and continued to focus on keeping a steady job instead of on being a better writer and best-selling author.

Now, more than 20 years later, I still have a second book that has yet to be published and a lot of fear of the unknown. I also have a passion and a compulsion to write that only gets stronger, rather than going away. And since I’m not getting any younger (and you guys aren’t, either), I felt like now was as good a time as any to drop this second story. I am releasing it chapter by chapter as a series as a stall tactic, of sorts. I’m still addressing edits and doing some tweaking. While doing so, I wanted to feel you out as my readers to see how you like the story.

My plan is to release it for the rest of this month and then start taking pre-orders for a release date to be determined in September. Publishing is an impossible task without an effective team. And since independent publishers like don’t have the backing of a large company with a big marketing budget, we need people like you on our team. Here are 5 FREE things you can do right now to support me on my writing journey, and any other writer or person like me trying to make a mark in this world.

5 Free Ways to Support Your Favorite Author

1-Sign up for my newsletter.

I know we all get thousands of unwanted emails in our box everyday and it gets annoying. But as a small player in business, its our best defense to make sure the word gets out about our new books, events, etc. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram bury our important posts about our business so they don’t come up in our newsfeed, so they can force us to pay for ads which are most likely not in our budget. Our newsletters offer a free or inexpensive way to expand and communicate with our audience, so you won’t miss out on anything we have to offer.

2-Join my social media platforms and like, comment on, and share all my posts.

I created a Facebook group in an effort to reach my fans directly so you will be able to see my posts. It is working because the statistics are showing more engagement there than on my Facebook fan page. Your interactions in the group increase my visibility, allowing my page to reach more potential readers. So please, join the group and talk to me. And talk to each other about the story. Tell me what you like or what you don’t like. And it lets me know that at least you’re paying attention.

3-Subscribe to my YouTube channel and like my videos.

I created a corresponding YouTube channel for my audiobook chapters. Whether you prefer to read or be read to, subscribing to my channel increases my numbers and my potential visibility to other readers looking for remarkable stories.

4-Comment and interact with each other on my posts.

My Facebook group is only a few days old, but I’ll soon be posting some interactive content to hopefully spark conversations and generate ideas. But I’m sure you already have some thoughts of your own. Don’t wait for me to drag it out. Tell me what’s on your mind.

5-Leave a review on Amazon.

This is a touchy one for me because an independent author’s relationship with Amazon can be a tricky one. I include a link on my website to purchase my book on Amazon because it’s familiar to people and they will go there to look for your books. But keep in mind that when you buy a book from Amazon, the author only gets a small portion of the price that they already marked down. This can mean pennies on the dollar. So, if you buy my $4.99 eBook from them, I’m barely getting a dollar off the sale. So, you’re not really supporting me. You’re supporting Amazon.

Authors don’t sell their books on Amazon for the money, but for the exposure. The more reviews a book has, the more visible Amazon makes it to potential readers. So, whether you buy my book or someone else’s from them, remember to ALWAYS leave a review. Books with less than 8 reviews get buried under more popular books the same way Facebook buries our posts. Your review helps put my book front and center in front of other readers with great taste, like yours.

Whether you decide to purchase my books or just wait for the free chapters to drop once a week, your support means everything to me as a writer. And I appreciate all that you do to support my desire to entertain and inspire you. Thank you.

Catch up on my original blog serial drama, In Your Dreams right here on my site, also for FREE. And if you’re curious to see how the story of Toy and Ericka began, click below to download a copy of my first book, “…and then I woke up.” for just $3.99. Or order a paperback copy for just $10.99. Happy reading!