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Welcome to The Book Marketing Action Podcast with Becky Robinson and Christy Kirk. During this episode, Becky and Christy talk all about action. Rather than sharing a few action steps at the end of this episode, they share 11 ways you can help authors spread the word about their books.
We realize that many of you listening to our podcast are authors, but you are also readers. We all need to support each other, especially as the Coronavirus crisis continues. As our world is disrupted, many of the things you may have done in the past to grow awareness for your book might not work as well as before. Here are 11 ways you can help support authors below:
- Buy books! Buy a book for yourself, a family member, or a friend. Everyone loves receiving a surprise in the mail, and a book is a great surprise that also supports authors and local bookstores. You can find local bookstores online at Bookshop.org.
- Support your libraries. You can also use apps like Hoopla and Libby to download ebooks and audiobooks which, in return, supports authors.
- Leave reviews. If you love a book, don’t forget to review it. You can put a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and many other places. Your review helps an author more than you think!
- Use Goodreads. If you use Goodreads, put the books you’re reading on your shelf so others can find them.
- Rate or review on Goodreads. Once you’ve read a book on Goodreads, make sure you rate and review it.
- Gift a book. We kind of mentioned this earlier but if you love a book, give that book as a gift to someone. A book that Becky often gifts is the book, Today We Are Rich by Tim Sanders.
- Share books on social media. Talk about what you’re reading or books you love on your social media channels, and maybe even post a picture.
- Contact an author directly. After reading the book, contact the author directly via social media or email to give them concrete feedback. If you loved something about their story, character, or if the advice they gave you is helping in some way, don’t be afraid to tell them! Receiving feedback (positive or negative) is so important to authors.
- Spread the word. There are many different ways you can spread the word about an author’s book. Share the books you love in a blog post, a podcast episode, a newsletter, or on social media. People appreciate hearing what you are currently reading.
- Start a (virtual) book club. Invest time to discuss a book with others and share feedback with the author.
- Discover authors from your hometown. Visit and tell your favorite authors about Hometown Reads so they can list their books for free and gain awareness. This is a great way to find local authors in your area and for authors to gain local awareness for their books. Your next favorite author could be your next-door neighbor!
We hope you take some time today to do at least one of these 11 ideas to help authors. We would also appreciate it if you did one or both of the ideas below to help support our podcast. Here are the two ways you can help us get this podcast to more listeners who can benefit from the content:
- Share the podcast. Share the podcast on social media and with family, friends, colleagues, anyone you think will benefit from the content.
- Rate and review the podcast. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, rate, and leave a review. This is extremely helpful and we appreciate your support!
Let us know below if you will take any of today’s action steps. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please email Becky Robinson here and Christy Kirk here.
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I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.