I had a lot of wonderful people help me out when Song of Summer was released. If you want to know how to support the debut author in your life, here’s how to help both before the book is released, and after!
BEFORE THE BOOK IS RELEASED:
1) PREORDER: Did you know that the pre-order numbers are all lumped into the first week of sales? They also help put the book on the charts before it’s even released, making it jump in search engine recognition!
2) SHARE EVERYTHING: If your author friend makes any kind of announcement, it’s probably a big one! This includes, but is not limited to: Cover reveal, Amazon sale, blog posts, pre-order promotions (like all of the lovely people who shared my Best of Westfield raffle basket!), launch party announcement, and especially the day of the big event– the book release! If you’re on Twitter, retweet like it’s your job! Tag some groups that you know that the author might not know- try to introduce the book to people in your circle of friends who are outside of your author friend’s circle.
3) PARTICIPATE: Goodreads is one of the best ways to participate in the book’s release before the book is available to the public. Add it to your to-read shelf. Ask the author a question- all of these things make them look legitimate and popular (which helps to sell books). Someone I graduated with asked me a Goodreads question and it made my day! Add the book to a couple of Goodreads lists. Is there a giveaway? Enter!
Other ways to participate: Leave a blog comment, send a Facebook congrats, attend the release party, join in a pre-order promotion, retweet a link with your own comment- these are all ways that I felt INCREDIBLY BLESSED by my loving, supportive community!
AFTER THE BOOK IS RELEASED:
All of the above, plus…
4) LEAVE AN HONEST REVIEW ON AMAZON (or Nook or Kobo or ibook): The average reader chooses a book based on how many stars it has and how many reviews it has on Amazon. ALSO! The more reviews a book has, the better search optimization it gets! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have 20 reviews only 20 days after the book was released. Even if it’s only a sentence or two, even if it’s not a 4 or 5-star review, an honest Amazon review is worth way more than its weight in gold.
5) MAKE CONNECTIONS: Are you in a book club? Do you know the local librarian? Do you have any kind of blog or vlog? Are you a high school English teacher or are you related to one? I have never known an author to turn down a chance to connect with readers, whether it’s three readers or three hundred. Reach out!
I was a diner waitress and barista for a long time. If there’s anything I know, it’s that a dollar may not seem like much to you, but it can make or break a waitress’s night. That’s how I think about book promotion: One tweet, one Goodreads question, one Facebook post, one two-sentence review may take only five minutes of your time, but it means the world to a brand new author.
Thanks again to my wonderful support network, and I hope this is helpful to those of you looking to support the debut author in your life!
Laura Lee Anderson 