While it's a great way to financially support your favourite authors, buying new books can become pretty expensive. However, there’s more than one way to support the authors you love, and not all of them involve buying new books. Here are a few creative ways you can support your favourite authors in addition (or as an alternative) to buying new books.
1. Borrow books from the library
This is the most obvious one. While borrowing books from the library doesn’t seem like it helps authors, it can have a positive effect behind-the-scenes.Borrowing books helps libraries learn which authors people are most interested in. Putting a book on hold, checking it out, reading it on an e-reader, or even requesting a specific book be added to the library, all contribute to an author’s success.
Unfortunately, not all libraries are well-funded or carry a diverse selection of books. But if you do have access to a library and you enjoy their selection, it’s a great way to support your faves.
2. Rate and review books on Goodreads
I opened a Goodreads account a few months ago and it changed my life drastically. Not only can I keep a record of the books I want to read, but I can also read thousands of reviews by other people. These reviews help me gauge whether or not I want to read a book. On the flip side, marking a book as “to-read” on Goodreads helps publishers promote and sell upcoming books—if, say, 20,000 people say they want to read a particular book on Goodreads, that’s a huge selling point to other potential readers!3. Start a book blog or a YouTube channel
Just by talking about books with others, whether in a book club or on social media, helps leverage an author’s fan base and helps get the word about their work out there. The majority of the authors I’m drawn to these days are people I heard about on social media from book bloggers and BookTube.While the majority of book bloggers review new releases, some of my favourite bloggers and BookTubers work around that by discussing older books or less talked about books. It's always refreshing when people discuss books already on their shelves or ones they picked up from the library. Discussing older titles helps keep your favourite authors on everyone's radar—and could potentially help keep their book in print. Keep in mind, though, starting a blog or YouTube channel may come with additional costs like hosting your website or buying camera equipment and editing software.
4. Follow your favourite authors on social media—and engage with them!
Authors and writers have something called an "author platform" (if you're either of the previously mentioned, you're probably cringing right now.) An author's platform can be anything from their blog, newsletter, involvement in organizations or book clubs and, most commonly, their social media platform. When authors are pitching their books to literary agents and publishers, they'll most likely discuss their platform in order to help sell their book. When you follow your favourite authors on social media and engage with them, you're helping show publishers, agents and future readers that they are part of a community and have an active following. Of course, it's up to the author to reciprocate, but hitting that "follow" or "like" button can help an author tremendously.5. Thrift
Keep an eye out for sales at your local thrift store. You’d be surprised by the kind of books you can find—I found all my Stephen King books at Value Village in good condition, and I always come across recent releases in close to brand new condition.Book sales from the thrift store don't really contribute to an author's financial success. So what can you do with those great books you found second hand? Read them, of course! And once you're done that, you can discuss them on social media with others in the book community.
Whether you blog about books or create a huge TBR list from the library, there are many ways to support your favourite authors. All it takes is a little bit of time, dedication and creativity.
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