#publishing advice

Direct from the publisher's website (including the author's website, if they self-publish): This will almost always send the greatest amount of money to them - with minimal transaction fees - plus you may be able to get signed copies, swag, and other cool stuff not available through other sales channels. Authors or small presses who don't have the tech savvy to set up a bookstore on their own website (though I've seen a lot of creativity here, including an author who sells signed print copies through a Google Form) may sell on a platform like Gumroad, Sellfy, Itch.io, or Ko-fi. And if the author/publisher runs a Kickstarter or other crowdfunding campaign to launch a book, joining it gives them support at a crucial time and will earn you some unique perks + bragging rights! Supporting an author's Patreon or Ko-Fi or subscribing to their Substack can also give you sneak peaks at their future work (some authors let their supporters vote on what story they'll work on next) and other bonus features.

Smashwords for ebooks: If the author or publisher uses it, this site still offers industry-leading royalty rates of 75% for books priced $2.99 and more, and 40% for books under $2.99 (5% higher than Amazon in both cases). Smashwords also offers frequent sales, which is something for budget-conscious readers to watch for.

Amazon: Monopoly concerns aside, there are reasons an author may appreciate when you buy their books here. For one, they may publish a paperback or hardcover edition through Kindle Direct Publishing, in which case they get the highest royalty rate when you buy directly from Amazon. The second reason: quite a few readers find books through Amazon's algorithm, including its "customers also bought" list on each book page. An author's books get included in that list when lots of people buy them on Amazon. So: if you buy a lot of books in this author's genre, such that your taste is a good marker for "If you liked that, you'll also like this," you could do your favorite author a favor by buying their work from Amazon. (I, meanwhile, have an extremely scattered book-buying history - lots of obscure and out of print nonfiction, for instance - so my purchases impacting the "also bought" list would probably cause confusion.) Buying from Amazon also allows you to post an Amazon Verified Review on the book.

Lulu or Ingram Spark for paperbacks: If the author or publisher uses one of these print-on-demand companies rather than Kindle Direct Publishing, they'll have a page in Lulu's bookstore or a direct sales link through Ingram Spark. They may even be able to offer a discount coupon to readers through these sales channels. (For example, my small press, The New Smut Project, offers a discount from the Amazon price when someone buys our anthology Cunning Linguists via Ingram Spark. Currently, though, this option is only available for US and UK orders.)

Bookshop.org and affiliate links: The B-corp Bookshop.org aims to be an ethical alternative to Amazon, and it donates 10% of proceeds to independent bookstores. It also offers a 10% affiliate rate to authors, publishers, and others who create links to its store or run shop pages on the site. As an example, here's my shop page. If you buy a book from this page (or anywhere on Bookshop.org so long as my name is in the top left corner of the screen), 10% of your purchase is paid to me as an affiliate; this doesn't affect what you pay for the books. Buying on Bookshop.org is a great way to support indie bookstores and your local author, book reviewer, nonprofit, or anyone else who sets up a shop page there.

(In general, be aware that authors often use affiliate links when they share where you can buy their books. Purchases made after you follow these links earn them a small commission at no additional cost to you. Deliberately clicking their links to wherever you plan to buy the book can be a nice favor.)

Brick and mortar bookstores: If your favorite author is local, come to their events! Even if they aren't, buying from your local bookstore, especially an independent bookstore, helps keep the literary ecosystem more diverse and thriving. Bookstores are often happy to special order a title you want that isn't on their shelves. And it only takes a few special orders for them to consider stocking the book on their shelves, so if you have a few friends who are also interested, you could coordinate a mini-campaign that will bring the book in front of local shoppers!

Other retailers: Kobo, BN.com, Apple Books, the subscription service Everard - there's no wrong way to buy a book, honestly.

Preorder

If you know the book is coming out and you'll love it (after all, this is your favorite writer we're talking about), it's great to order the book sooner rather than later. Preordering the book before its release date is a gift to your future self: you don't need to remember when the book comes out, just wait to receive it. It's also a helpful boost to your favorite writer. Preorders are credited as sales when the book is released, giving it a head start in Amazon sales rankings, which can bring it increased visibility. If your favorite writer works with a publisher, the publisher is watching preorders as a sign of reader interest and whether they should invest more money and marketing into the book.

I hate how the pace of modern publishing requires books to make a big splash right away. (And it's not entirely true - some books find success as sleeper hits or cult favorites years after they're published.) But given that's the playing field, you can help your favorite author succeed by ordering their books as soon as you know you want to buy them.

Libraries

This is a wonderful option if you want to read a book, but you’ve already blown through your book-buying budget. Or when you know a book is so good it should be easily available to as many people as possible. I’m a big library user myself, and I’m especially excited to see more books by independent and small press authors on the shelves.

Libraries have finite shelf space and budgets, so they can’t stock everything (and they’ll “weed” copies that aren’t circulating—so another favor you can do your favorite writer is check out any their books that are already in your library!). I’ve heard the tip that libraries are more able and willing to acquire requested books earlier in the year, while they have funds in the budget. They’re also more likely to acquire books that receive multiple requests, so again, consider organizing your local friends in a mini-campaign.

The exact system for making a request differs from library to library. Look for directions on their website under “Request an Item” or “Materials Request.” You can also call or walk in to speak with a librarian in person. For ebooks, if your library uses the Libby app, use the “Notify Me” tag. You can also suggest or request books in the Hoopla app. (A quick word of warning about Hoopla—it actually charges your library each time you check a book out; my library system recently discontinued Hoopla because patrons were using it too much and they couldn’t afford to continue! So I suggest only checking out books from Hoopla you plan to finish and enjoy; also, have a backup plan in mind should your library stop offering it.)

Add and Review on Book Social Sites

These include Goodreads, StoryGraph, and LibraryThing (the latter isn't the flashiest of websites, but reviews you leave there can be viewed in library systems and can help librarians and browsers learn more about the book!). If you're an author yourself and have a BookBub account, you can make book recommendations through it. You can also make recommendation lists on Amazon or Bookshop.org or on your own social media or blog - a favor to your favorite writers and your fellow readers!

Just putting more evidence into the world that their book exists is a great help to writers. Adding evidence that you enjoyed it - a rating or a short review - is an even greater kindness.

By this, I don't mean you should write a 5-star review that's a sales pitch. It's not your job as a reader or fan to sell the book - and it's especially not your job as a reviewer. Reviews are for other readers, to help them learn what a book's like and if they might enjoy it. All the same, a writer is happy when their book receives reviews - especially ones that sincerely praise the book, of course.

"Review inflation" is a thing, and some readers and writers see a 3-star review as a poor rating. But honestly, as a reader, I've had thoughtful 3-star reviews convince me to read a book. As a writer, sure, a 3- or 4-star review might mar a perfect 5/5 rating, but it also feels more real: it proves the reviews aren't all empty hype. Even a lower rating that honestly explains what the reviewer didn't like can be helpful to match an author with their audience: it warns off other readers who might be similarly disappointed, and readers who don't have the same tastes as the reviewer might be reassured that they'll in fact like the book ("Okay, this reader thinks the pace was too slow, but I love a slow burn and the plot sounds interesting, so I'll give it a try!"). Since we're talking about your favorite writer here, I assume you mostly like their books, but if you have a difference of opinion, please don't feel that forbids you from leaving a review. And if your favorite author writes a book you hate? You have the right to express that, too. As a matter of healthy literary citizenship, write reviews that are honest evaluations of books you've actually read (if you didn't finish, a DNF review is also honest): be wary of joining pile-ons that 1-star a book based on secondhand reports of what it's like. And, while it can be tempting to get snarky and dunk on bad writing, reviews that are more about the reviewer's cleverness than the actual book don't contribute as much as less witty but more focused reviews.

If you notice inaccuracies about the book or author's page on the site - for instance, the wrong publication date, missing cover art, or a link to the wrong website - see if you can suggest an update or flag an issue for site volunteers to resolve (on Goodreads, these volunteer users are called Librarians. I used to be one myself, but the current terms of service forbid authors from also being Librarians to avoid conflict of interest).

If you love writing book reviews, you might sign up for an ARC (advanced review copy) of a book, which the author will send you a few weeks ahead of its release so you can post a review once it's published. Remember to disclose that you received an ARC in your review, and getting a free book doesn't oblige you to praise everything about it.

Chat About the Book(s) You Love

This may repeat the previous point, but even more so and more widely: the review you posted on Storygraph can also go on Amazon. You can make a social media update about books you're currently reading (if scheduling helps: there's "WWW Wednesday," where users talk about what books they've recently finished, what books they're currently reading, and what books they plan to read next. There's also the #MondayReads hashtag. For bloggers and posters who don't have as much time, a monthly round-up post of books read over the past 4 weeks can be a smaller commitment.) You can make a list of books you recently read on a given topic or in a particular subgenre. Or you can add the book you just read to applicable Public Lists on Goodreads.

Word of mouth is how most books find readers and how readers find books - it's also how readers find each other and connect over stories that have moved them. You don't need to be an accomplished book reviewer to share your thoughts and enthusiasm. Posting a picture of the gorgeous cover, a few words about why you picked the book up, a quote that moved you, a headcanon you're developing - these are all fun, worthwhile things to do! They're a favor to the writer because they generate word of mouth, but they're also you expressing yourself and connecting with people who share your interests. That is to say, I wasn't blogging 5 quotes in a row from Maria McCann’s As Meat Love Salt the other week as a favor to McCann. I was trying to explain what I had experienced in that book and why it so moved me, and I invited my friends to share the experience (okay, I also set up my Tumblr queue wrong so that posts I thought were scheduled to post 1 at a time over 5 hours all got posted within a few seconds of each other. Regardless…)

You can also respond to other people's chatter. You can repost/reblog reviews, add comments, upvote a Reddit comment recommending the book, rate an insightful review as "helpful" - many of these are quick but welcome ways to connect to your fellow fans and make the book a little more visible to others who might like it.

And you can repost/reblog/link to some of the author's posts about the book. This might be especially helpful if the author isn't on a website or social media platform that you use. The Balkanization of social media makes it impossible for an author to authentically participate on all websites. But you can talk about books wherever you are. It can even be a relief to know the author will never see exactly what you say. (One of my anthologies has a ~30-minute book review on YouTube; I'm never going to watch it and I only skimmed the comments, but I'm happy people are having fun engaging with it!) If people on Tumblr get a little goofy or unhinged in our enthusiasm, we're among people who understand us. I'm also thinking of the "Plastic-Eating Crow Boy" phenomenon and how it turned out well for everyone involved: the writer's Instagram style of communication presumably worked for her on that site; meanwhile Tumblr had fun, some of the more mean-spirited or judgy posts never reached the author's eyes, she acknowledged the friendly parts of Tumblr with an FAQ, and she sold more books to readers who wouldn't have heard of her otherwise. Congratulations all around.

Praise Your Favorite Writer to Their Face

You don't have to do this - writers don't expect it. And none of us want to get parasocial. But it's encouraging to hear from readers, and social media and websites make authors easier than ever to talk to. For bigger authors, there's often an arrangement for fanmail - it might be sent through their agent or through a comments form on their website.

You don't want to get so gushy or personal it turns creepy, but just being aware that you want to avoid that pitfall will probably keep you from falling into it. Sense of proportion: You liked the story this person told. It meant something to you. That doesn't make the two of you soulmates or give either of you particular insight into the other's psyche. Keep the story as the focus and you'll probably do fine.

Fanfiction writers know how exciting it is to hear someone left them a comment on AO3. Published writers don't have a comments box under each chapter, and reviews aren't written for them. But a quick message from someone is...I don't really have words here. It's wonderful! It makes the whole solitary process of writing worth it!

To be honest, I actually find it easier to tell writers to their (usually virtual) face that I liked their story than I do to write a review. I think it's because the writer already knows what's in the story, so I don't really need to explain things as I would in a book review. Lincoln Michel explains how reviews are tricky because they're written for two audiences with different levels of knowledge: "How can you offer interesting commentary or interpretations to already-read-it-ers without 'spoiling' the story for haven’t-read-it-yet-ers? How do you usefully summarize the book for the latter without boring the former?" I can just tell a writer, "I loved that [Character Name] is [character trait], it's so refreshingly realistic and rare in [genre]" and they will know who and what I'm talking about.

I've done this in fanmail emailed or sent through a contact form; I've also done it in passing when I'm in the middle of a conversation on, e.g., Bluesky and suddenly register the username or bio of the person I'm talking to. "Oh, by the way, I read Book X, I loved ABC!" I don't know if this is, in some objective sense, "smooth" or "cool" of me. Usually they say thanks, they might mention a detail about the book, and that's that on my end (I generally let the author have the last word because I don't want them to feel like they're getting pressured or sucked into a conversation). But I hope my happiness with their storytelling lingers in their mind. And perhaps it encourages future stories; I admit to some self-interest here. But I don't expect to inspire entire plotlines. Just to do something nice for writers whose stories have done something nice for me.

That said, the writer may respond thanking you and also encouraging you to put your praise in a review that will be read by other readers - because reviews and word of mouth are very helpful! And conveniently, you've already got a start on one with what you've just said.

Sharing Reviews with the Writer

I don't really recommend this unless you and the author have personally made this arrangement. Some writers find reviews so anxiety-inducing that they prefer to have another person read them all and forward the good ones to them. If you're up for this task, the author appreciates it. If you haven't signed on for it, it's not your responsibility to keep an author updated. That said, popping in to their comments with "Did you see this starred review from Publisher's Weekly? Congratulations!" probably isn't a terrible faux pas. They might have already seen the review, but the reminder that other people are also seeing and celebrating it isn't unwelcome. Still, don't make a production of this. There's the rare possibility you'll come across a review where the writer doesn't know of it - in an example I'm having fun inventing, say a Paleolithic-era mystery series gets a good review in a newsletter for archeologists because of its faithfulness to current research. You, an archeologist and fan, see the review, but you know the author isn't a member of the newsletter. In that case, you might send them a link and note to the effect of "The archeologist newsletter loves your work!" What you should definitely not do is alert your favorite author every time a random person writes a new review on Amazon. That's excessive and creepy.

Don't Start Fights on Their Behalf

Your favorite writer is not everyone's favorite writer. Sometimes they will get bad reviews. They may even deserve these reviews, in the sense that their story didn't work for this particular reviewer, even if it worked for you.

Don't get aggressive about someone else's response to your favorite writer. Or, if you must rant about how these willfully illiterate jerks are misunderstanding a brilliant work of literature (I do sympathize!), do it somewhere private among uninvolved friends. Don't rant to the writer about people misunderstanding their books. Don't rant to the reviewer about how much their review sucks. If you behave badly on behalf of your favorite writer, this may be taken to reflect on them, which is definitely not doing them a favor.

In some circumstances, you may write a measured, thoughtful, well-supported review that is sort of a response to some other people's misunderstandings. ("While some people find the ending pointlessly depressing, I think Shakespeare's choice to have Romeo and Juliet die at the end is moving and it strengthens the theme of the pointlessness of family feuds.") Keep your focus on the story; don't make it personal. Don't expect to convert everyone to your viewpoint.

There are some places where polite disagreement is expected and even welcomed. Discussion threads may involve readers sharing different opinions and interpretations. You don't need to agree with everyone in order to get along and contribute. But, to continue a theme in this list: sense of proportion. Don't get excessive. Don't make it personal or be unkind to others.

(As a writer, I do read critical reviews of my books, usually during time I've set aside when I have the right combination of emotional distance + energy. Sometimes I've finished one and gone, privately, "Oh, that's a good point. I'll probably do some things differently in the future." Sometimes I've shrugged and admitted there's no accounting for taste. Sometimes all I can think is "Ouch!" And look, sometimes a review is just mean-spirited, and the thing is: everyone reading it knows that it's mean-spirited. You don't need to reply to it saying "You're a mean-spirited jerk!" Let them be the ones behaving in an embarrassing fashion.)

Follow the Author on Social Media...If You Want

Don't feel obligated (again, don't feel obligated to do any of this). I don’t always follow writers whose books I love because I don’t necessarily want to know they have terrible taste in music or something. Your favorite writer doesn't want to annoy you. But if you look at their social media and like what you see, this can be the start of something beautiful.

When you follow an author, you can learn updates about their books faster. You can learn about authors they like, as well as their hobbies and other things that make them the author of the books you like so much. And having a bigger social media following can benefit the writer if they pitch future books or stories to publishers or aim to get media coverage. I wish publishing wasn't such a popularity contest, but insofar as it is one, you can help show your favorite writer is popular, at least to you, by making yourself a countable part of their audience.

You can also subscribe to the author's newsletter to get updates. A newsletter is a more reliable way to connect with readers, given how suddenly the social media landscape can change. Twitter might become X, Facebook might completely change the ability of fans to get regular updates from the author fanpage they follow, but a short weekly or monthly email from your favorite author will find its way to your inbox (so long as you don't change email addresses). This is less of a barrage than social media, too.

Check Out More Stories

Your favorite author may have more stories you haven't read yet! On the one hand, you may want to savor them a few at a time over months or years - completely valid. But bookmark their website or bibliography and come back when you're looking for more reading material.

You can also check out your favorite author's favorite authors (see if they're on Goodreads, Bookbub, or Storygraph; or your favorite author may share book recs and reviews on their blog or in their newsletter). If they're with a small press, check out what else that small press has published. Explore the literary ecosystem that they're a part of. You might find even more to love.

Resist Censorship

I started my series of blog posts about publishing with dispiriting news about how I write about sex too much for many ecommerce platforms. These platforms, in turn, often censor erotic content for fear of losing their ability to run credit card payments. You can help by joining the continuing campaign to pressure payment processors to butt out and allow people to spend their money on all legal content. ("Legal" is not an unproblematic category, but practically speaking, you're unlikely to convince a company to do something illegal, so that's why it's emphasized here.)

Censorship and privacy invasion are risks from governments across the world, from the European Union pushing for online age verification to my local school board trying to pull books out of the middle school library. Raise hell where you see it happening, for the sake of writers and readers everywhere.

Thank you for taking the time to read this list! I hope the perspective is helpful! If you have ideas of your own, or things I overlooked, please share in a reblog or comment.