I have a lot of friends who genuinely want to help me succeed as a writer, and that’s a good feeling. They say they love what I write, and, being a self-conscious writer with low self-esteem, I choose to believe them. Whenever I see these friends, they say how much they enjoyed “that ____ blog post” or how late they stayed up reading one of my books. Writers need readers, and I’m overjoyed to have a few of you around.
But I’ve also noticed that a lot of readers don’t have much (read: any) knowledge of what a writer needs in order to succeed these days. Most of them don’t know what I mean by the word “platform.” Few know much about “unique visitors” or “number of page views” or “Amazon ranking.”
The good news for you, the reader, is this: you don’t have to know anything about that stuff. But there are still free things you can do to help us along in this writing life.
That’s right. Free. As in, no money required.
(I hope it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: these things should only be done if you genuinely enjoy the writing. If you don’t, for all of our sakes, don’t share it, Tweet it, or dishonestly review it. Ignore us long enough and eventually we’ll take the hint, go find jobs as professional plasma-donators or carpet-fiber-counters.)
But if you do like our writing, here you go:
20 FREE Ways To Help Your Writer-Friend Survive the Writing Life
Like her posts on Facebook. We’ll start simple. A lot of writers blog these days, and when they do, most of them share their blog posts on Facebook. There’s a little “Like” button all of you Facebookers are familiar with, so if you enjoyed the post, click “Like.” It’s a tiny gesture, but the fact that you liked the post will show up on some of your friends’ Facebook feeds, which might lead new readers to your writer-friend’s blog. This is one way writers get new readers, and it costs you nothing.
Have your book club read his book. If you already own a copy of the book, this is free for you! It also introduces more people to the book, and people in book clubs tend to talk a lot about the books they’re reading, so the word-of-mouth factor is huge.
…and then invite your writer-friend to come and talk about it. Your writer-friend doesn’t get out much. She drinks too much coffee. She spends far too many evenings staring at words, long after everyone else is watching perfectly good television shows. She probably battles loneliness with the help of Baskin Robbins. Besides that, your writer-friend loves talking about her book. She probably spent at least a year thinking about it, writing it, revising it, editing it, and producing it. She is passionate about it, and she would love to dust off a nice outfit, take a shower, and pretend to be an extravert for one night.
If he blogs, write a comment. You know how when you tell a joke and no one laughs? That’s kind of how it feels to write a blog post and then have no one comment. Laugh at jokes. Comment on blogs. Any questions?
Share her blog posts on Facebook and Google+ (whatever that is). Sharing your friend’s blog on social media is similar to Liking it on Facebook, only a million times better. If Liking is the equivalent of giving your spouse a peck on the cheek, then sharing is…well, you know. Sharing is better.
High fives. Because who doesn’t feel better after a high five?
Retweet their posts on Twitter. If everyone who followed me on Twitter retweeted one of my Tweets, something like 4,207,451, 639 people would see it. That’s a lot of people. If for some reason you’re not on Twitter, or you don’t know what Twitter is, go back to sleep.
Pin their posts and images of their books to Pinterest. I have a Pinterest account but since setting it up I’ve never been there. I hear pinning things is helpful. Be helpful.
If your writer friends have a Facebook page, become a fan of it. In case you don’t know what a Facebook Fan page looks like, you can visit mine HERE. While you’re there, practice your like-clicking skills.
Go to their book signings. For the love of God, go to their book signings. Book signings are amazing, especially when loads of people show up and there’s a line waiting for you to sign their copy of your book and everyone else in the bookstore is looking over at your table, trying to figure out what kind of famous person you are. Many of the book-signings I have done have not turned out this way. There’s nothing worse than sitting at a table, alone, beside a pile of books and one of those laminated, blown-up photos of yourself. If your writer-friend has a book signing, please show up, and if you’re one of the few people there then pretend to be a stranger who is in love with their book.
Tell your friends about your writer-friend’s book. Brag about it. Talk about it. Weave it into conversation even when it doesn’t quite make sense. Because this costs you nothing except your reputation as someone who can carry on a sensible conversation.
Offer to babysit. Someone over at my Facebook Fan page (ahem) suggested this one. There are a lot of writing moms and dads out there, some stay-at-home types and some go-to-work types, and if you would watch their kids so that they could spend an hour writing in a coffee shop, they would love you forever.
Review their book on Amazon. This is a huge one. Very important. For every good review left on Amazon, it increases the chance that your writer-friend’s book will show up as a similar read when people are viewing other titles. So write a review. Preferably not a one-star review.
Invite them to come and speak at your church, library, or business. I can’t speak for your writer-friend, but I am happy to speak just about anywhere I’m asked to speak (within driving distance). Reminder: your writer-friend doesn’t get out much. They might be willing to speak free of charge, or for something just as enticing as money, like bacon, a batch of cookies, or a ticket to tour the inside of a candy factory.
Pray. Writers spend most of their time trying to turn ideas into words. They try to make the invisible visible. They attempt to create characters and settings – entire worlds – out of nothing. They write books that will change people’s minds, resurrect dead conversations, and in some cases offend a great number of people. Praying for them, no matter your religious affiliation, seems appropriate.
Relationship-Appropriate Back Rubs. I’ll let you be the judge. Personally, there aren’t too many people besides my wife who can give me a back rub without making me feel all…fidgety. But some writers love back rubs. You might want to ask first.
Get a bunch of people together to celebrate their book release at a coffee shop, library, or a bar. The arrival of a book is very much like the arrival of a baby, minus the diapers, the late-night feedings, the crying, the colic…okay, it’s not a lot like the arrival of a baby, but it still deserves a celebration. Send out a few invites. This can all be arranged for zero dollars.
Email blog posts to friends you think would enjoy them. I recently had a friend tell me she emailed my post to all of her brothers and sisters. This made me very happy. Do you want to make your writer-friends happy? Email their blog posts to your friends and family.
Face the book out at bookstores. I stole this one from Chuck Sambuchino, who has also compiled a great list about supporting your writer friends, but my list is slightly better (in my humble opinion) because most of his ideas cost money. Mine are all free. But this is a good one. Unless you are a bookseller – then it might be kind of annoying.
Ask them how their latest project is going. Did I mention we don’t get out much? Prepare yourself – we might launch into some extended summary of our latest sci-fi romance vampire novel, or go to great lengths to convince you that our most recent antagonist is NOT modeled after our father. But it means a lot, the asking.
Be sure to point out all the errors, missed commas, and misspellings in the book they recently released. Actually, don’t do this. It’s the moral equivalent of pointing out the flaws in someone’s newborn child. “Cute kid, but why is its head so pointy?” Or, “Wow, look at all those red spots!” Not cool. At some appropriate point in the future, when the newness of the book has died down and the next edition of the now-New York Times-bestselling book is about to go to print, then you can mail them a marked-up copy, and they’ll be thankful.
In the mean time, just keep clicking “Like” on their Facebook posts.
I love the book club idea, Shawn. And thanks for letting me know that I’m not the only one with social media accounts I have no idea how to use (i.e. Twitter, Google). Since I started blogging, my Dad has (surprise!) been my biggest fan, which is sweet. Also, I’ve noticed recently, that facebook, which is one of my main traffic sources, keeps tweaking things in ways that really cut traffic. Not cool facebook, not cool at all. There’s such a big networking aspect to blogging and, being an overwhelmed introvert, I’m a little slow at it all, but I’m learning.
Thanks, Kelly. The networking aspect can be overwhelming, which is why it’s so great when your friends join in and help out.
Awesome post, Shawn! Sharing! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Christine. Happy Thanksgiving.
This is so good and you are right, I’ve found that people who aren’t writers don’t get how important all this stuff is for us. I’m sharing.
Definitely true. Thanks, Shelly.
Amen!
Thanks for reading, Amy.
Great list – and now I can put out the ask without actually asking.
Exactly.
Wonderful list!
Thanks, Mike.
This is a fantastic list, Shawn, one that I will be sharing all over the place. :) I just had one thought to add because your last point reminded me of something that happened recently. I wouldn’t recommend sending a marked copy of a friend’s recently published book, but I do really appreciate when friends let me know about errors in my blog posts. A friend did this for a post I published a few weeks ago. I had edited two separate sentences together, but you know how it is, sometimes you work on something for so long that your attempts to edit the piece actually create more mistakes, and you don’t even notice them. It’s embarrassing to go back and catch them a few weeks or months later, and realize that ALL those people read that post and didn’t care to let me know. It sort of feels like tripping down the steps in public and no one offers to help you to your feet. So I really value it when a friend reaches out that way. It tells me that they pay attention to what I write, and that they have my back.
That’s a great point, Bethany. There have been times when I’ve loved a blog post that I’ve read, but I haven’t shared it because of a glaring error in the title or first line. If I know the blogger, I shoot them a quick email, and I’ve always been thankful to receive those kinds of alerts.
As a fellow writer, I strongly support and encourage all of this. Bravo! Sending me chocolate, coffee and wine is also a huge help. =)
Agreed. Especially the part about the wine.
tricky, tricky, crowdsourcing a blog post in the writers group the other day. i love it, shawn! these are all great suggestions. i really love the one about liking posts on Facebook. i know it’s a silly, little thing, but when i get a like notification about a post or story or whatever, it truly boost my self-esteem as a writer…writer-esteem?
Thanks, Tim. We all need a little boost from time to time.
And I’m thankful you liked my Facebook page, Shawn.
Good to see you’re in the Thanksgiving spirit.
This was so affirming that my writer ego is at least sort of mostly normal. Thanks. I’m going to go share it with both of my readers ;-)
Hopefully they take the hint(s).
Love reading all your works Shawn, love this list and did all of the above for you :-)
Thanks,
Libby
Thanks for being such an enthusiastic supporter, Libby. You’re awesome.
This was so useful! (And like Leanne said, made me feel like me writer ego is totally normal). Muchly appreciated!
Thanks for coming by, Tanya. I’m glad you liked it.
I love this post – I have been writing for nearly 30 years now and rarely has anybody taken an interest or helped me promote what I do out of their own personal interest. I would love if more people in my immediate circle showed support!
(Also I tried to pin your post, but posts can only be pinned if there are images in the post, so I’d recommend at least having some kind of graphic that represents what the post is about!! I love pinning and it’s the 3rd highest referral of traffic to my site!).
Thanks for the heads up regarding Pinterest, Julie. I appreciate it.
These are all excellent, helpful ideas! I’m so glad I came across this post. I don’t have very many friends who “get” the whole being-a-writer thing, but hopefully I can at least get them to read this post (I’m sharing on Facebook) and it will help them understand better. Thanks!
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