Is There a Right Way to Read?

Last week, I talked about authors and some of the bad habits I'm seeing. To be fair to them, this week I'm going to talk about readers. There's no right or wrong way to be a reader, but there are ways you can be more supportive.

Here is how you can support authors:

LIKE them on Facebook. It takes a second. And with the Facebook system being the way it is nowadays, trust me, you won't see half of what they have to tell you or share with you.

Log onto Facebook, look to the left. It says Favorites, Ads, Pages. Beneath PAGES, you see Pages Feed and an orange flag. If you click on that once a day, you'll see what your favorite authors had to say that day. Take a moment to LIKE their posts. It's really very little effort and it makes a huge difference. The more likes a post gets, the more interesting Facebook will determine it is, and the more folks they will permit to see it.

Honest truth from me: I have over 1,000 page likers, but Facebook only permits about 33 of those people to see a post. We need those likes. EVEN BETTER, comment!

Don't wait for a book to be free. (It may never be free) If you're interested, buy it. Remember, authors spend hours, months actually in writing and editing a book. They then spend countless hours trying to tell you about that book. Seeing an alarming number of people say things on goodreads like, "Oh, just wait for it to be free."

Don't buy on Amazon if you can avoid it. Don't be afraid of publisher sites. Dirty little secret here. You love those 99 cent books, right? Who doesn't. Amazon takes 65% of that, leaving the publisher with 35 cents and if the publisher retains 45% of all royalties, your favorite authors is only making 35% of 35 cents. So even after 50 books are sold, she is left with...2 bucks.

OUCH!

Now, I'm not saying boycott Amazon, but if there is a publisher site you find easy to use, USE IT instead. Sadly, I cannot seem to get people to head to publisher sites and have given up entirely on sharing those links. But if more people got on board...

Don't read a book you know you won't like. I'm seeing more and more readers reading simply for the sake of writing snarky reviews. If you didn't like the first five books, why are your reading book six? Just to poke fun?

Do write a review. Being honest in a review often means there are bad reviews, but don't make it personal. Shelves like "worst book ever", "don't give up your day job", and others...is that really necessary? And don't attack the author personally and tell that author they should not be writing.

Too self-conscious to write a review? Just tell your friends about it. Word of mouth goes a long way. Share it on your Facebook or twitter, your book club.

Thoughts? Suggestions?