My friend, Amber Dusick of the uber funny, always awesome Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures blog wrote a book.
A whole book!
And I’m going to write more about her book when it’s released in late March.
But Amber’s book got me thinking about ways to support her right now. Before the book is released. And I thought that maybe you would want to know what you can do, too. For Amber, who I’m certain you already love, and for all your favorite writers.
How to Support Your Favorite Writers
- Buy the book. Or, if the book isn’t released yet, preorder the book. Preorder sales matter. A lot. And being on a best-seller list before the book’s released? Well, that matters if we want to see another book from Amber. AND WE DO. Say there isn’t a book, though. Or, well, you can’t afford it. There’s other stuff you can do for free. Stuff that matters more than you might think.
- Be a Facebook fan. Most writers have a Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, like your favorite writers there. Like their pages. Like their statuses. Like their pictures. And comment as much as possible. Your likes and comments make a difference (an ENORMOUS difference) in Facebook statistics — the more likes and comments a page receives, the more likely Facebook is to promote that page to others. AND, the more likes and comments a Facebook page receives, the more appealing that writer is to publishers because the writer can prove there are people who care what she’s saying.
- Comment directly on the blog. Your comments serve two purposes, similar to Facebook comments, likes and shares. First, your comments are a tremendous source of encouragement. And second, your comments prove reader engagement. Comments are truly critical to a writer’s success. Already commented on Facebook? Awesome! Consider copying and pasting it to the blog, too.
- Share! Share what you’re reading with your friends. Share by word of mouth. Share via Facebook or Reddit or Stumbleupon or Twitter. Share your excitement about the book. Share when there’s a post you particularly love. Or just share that you’ve been following this writer for some time and why you keep coming back. And then, periodically, share again.
The truth is, it’s up to writers to be committed, to hone our craft, and to deliver material that’s worth sharing. But ultimately, readers are the people who drive a writer’s success.
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P.S. Greg installed a new comment feature here last night. It’s a tiny change but I hope it will allow you to support each other even more than you already do. You’ll now see a “like” button on each blog comment. It’s not linked to anything. It doesn’t help my “stats” or promote this blog in any way… it’s simply a small way for you to love on each other. Thanks to reader Maira (aka Maria ;)) for the suggestion. And thanks to Greg for the modification.
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21 responses to “How to Support Your Favorite Writers”
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I love your blog and your stories so much, and Amber is the one who bragged about you. So you two are great friends making more great friends everywhere… Talking about the book, please do work on it a bit harder so we can so support you by preorder it… Seriously…
When does your book come out?? 🙂
Karyn, you’re great. I hear that to get a book published, though, one must write one first. 😉 (Working on it! I swear!)
I am very grateful to Amber because she guest posted you and that is when I learned about your blog. You have been an encouragement to me as a mom, an adoptive mom, a christian and a wife. And you make me laugh. Thank you.
I only have two blogs bookmarked-yours and Crappy Pictures. My husband isn’t as big a fan as I often wake him up with stifled laughter. Shame he’s such a light sleeper.
Apologize to your husband for me, Karen. 😀
Love Amber’s writing and love yours, too! I always feel like a crazy stalker when commenting on blogs of people I don’t know in real life, but if you insist that you actually like it, I will do my best to help support! 🙂
We actually like it, Jenni. You make me laugh! xo
I’ve already pre-ordered her book and I can’t WAIT to get it!! I can’t imagine not reading either of your blogs now. You had me at “farkles.”
Yay, Greg! Husbands with superpowers are awesome. I, too, have often wished I could like others’ comments and now I can! Also, this post is a great reminder about how social media works in a business sense. It gives us permission to comment when sometimes we feel like we might just be weirdo people out here in cyberspace who wonder, does anyone REALLY want or care about our comments? So, thanks for encouraging us. 🙂
I LIKE “liking”! I often wish I could just “like” an email, because how do you let casual conversants, who refuse to use facebook, know that you like what they said, but the conversation is over?
Imagine popping in over at your blog and seeing this today, you didn’t even TELL me you were doing this! You rock so hard it hurts my ears.
Aw.
I just put it up. You got here FAST. Riding Farkles around the interwebs again, I presume. It’s probably the most efficient form of transportation around. I should get you a Powered by Farkles bumper sticker. (Oh, man. That’s gold right there… put it in your store. I’d like it to be a square, static cling sticker for my back window. And I secretly want mine to say Sharkles.)
Anyway. I would’ve sent you an email eventually to let you know, but, well… KIDS.
Greg ROCKS! I’ve long wished that I could “like” a comment!! Look – I’m gonna ‘like’ my own comment! (see? I did it)
Love.
Ooh, I like the new “like” possibility. And I love Amber. And you!
I ♥ you, Beth! 🙂 Amber is up on the top of my list, right next to you!
I love her blog, too, and will buy her book. She is how I got to you! 🙂
Ditto! Love you both!
Same here! Found your blog when you did the blog mash up.