With the ongoing enshittification of social media, the increased algorithmic nature of everything, and the rise of plagiarism software (so-called “AI” and LLMs) it’s becoming ever harder to make an impact as a creative person. So if you are a fan of the arts—and bear in mind that everything you read, watch, play, listen to, etc. was made by an artist— and you feel inclined to help, here’s a bunch of ways you can. I’m framing it with books, but feel free to replace books with any art of choice. And while some of these involve a financial commitment, many don’t. Any degree of support in any form is absolute mana for a career, I promise.
Buy the book if you can afford it, or order it at your library if you can’t. It’s a sale to the library and authors in Australia, UK and other places also get paid for borrows. Plus, it exposes the books to all those library-goers who might never look elsewhere. Order books at your library even if you do buy your own copies!
Buy the author’s books as a gift for someone. It’s another sale for the author, a potential new fan and one less gift for you to think about. Also, giving someone art that you’ve loved is a wonderful way to connect more deeply with that person. Everyone wins.
Talk about the book—online, in person, literally anywhere. It all helps. An author can talk about their work all they like, but other people talking about it is magnitudes more powerful. Social proof (the idea that if others like something, I’ll probably like it too) is incredibly powerful. This is why popular things get more popular and other things find it hard to get noticed.
Review the book, on social media, dedicated sites (Amazon, Goodreads, etc.), your blog, absolutely anywhere helps. More social proof, but also more triggers to the various algorithms to help get that book shown to more people.
Buy direct from the author. Lots of us sell from our websites, often signed copies. We make a far better margin that way as we don’t have to pay bookstore discounts and you get something more personal for your collection.
Follow the author’s Patreon, Ko-fi, etc. If you can afford to subscribe, that’s fantastic (my Patreon covers about one week of groceries a month, which is a *massive* help.) But follow at the free level even if you don’t subscribe, as more followers is more social proof and it will encourage others to follow as well. And once following, some may upgrade to paid subscriptions if they like the stuff they find there.
Occasionally drop the author a tip (via PayPal, Ko-fi, Venmo, etc.) if you can’t afford a regular subscription to something. Income in the arts is sporadic and unpredictable and every single dollar really makes a difference.
Buy the author’s merch if they have some. I have a Teepublic store and the profit margin is thin, but remember, every dollar helps. Plus, if you wear their merch you’re helping to spread the word about them to the general public. Excellent conversation starter!
Ask organisers for the author to appear at things—signings, conventions, events of any kind. If organisers know you want them there, they might get invited. That means more exposure for their work, possible sales at the event and (hopefully!) appearance or speaking fees.
I’m sure there are other ways. Comment below if I’ve missed anything. Genuinely, readers championing our work in any way possible is absolutely fantastic and will have a far greater impact on us than anything we can do alone. Most importantly, don’t think your voice is too small or your impact somehow not worthwhile. Sure, an endorsement from Stephen King is definitely going to have a massive impact on my career, but one word from someone to one other person can create a new fan. That’s huge too. And you never know what one word might do, where it might reach. You share a photo of my book that you enjoyed on social media and you’ve only got a handful of followers, but one of them decides to check it out. Hopefully that’s a new fan. And then what if they share about it too, and just by chance, someone following them has some kind of bigger reach. And so on and so on. A butterfly flaps its wings in Sydney and I get a Netflix series in America. Hey, it could happen. You never know! But if you don’t share the things you love, it’ll almost certainly never happen. Never underestimate the power of your enthusiasm.
If you do anything to promote the arts in any way, you are a beautiful person and should be worshipped. Thank you.
Find all my links here: https://linktr.ee/alanbaxter