Do you support authors or do they support you?

One of my favorite authors is a fantasy writer named Brent Weeks.  His first books The Night Angel Trilogy were the first I’d ever read in the fantasy genre.  Prior to this, I had a misplaced belief that most fantasy readers spent a lot of time living in their mother’s basement.  However, these books opened a whole new world for me and I have since enjoyed dozens of fantasy books.

Last year Brent released his latest title, the first in a new series.  I preordered it as soon as it was available and, once it was released, neglected my family and responsibilities to read it cover to cover.  I loved it.  Can’t wait for the next one.

Now let me ask you something.  Why did I read that book?  Was it for the author?  Was I focused on supporting him in some way?  Was it my obligation?  Did I feel like I needed to support the struggling publishing industry with my money?

Of course not.  I bought and read the book because I got a lot of enjoyment out of it.  Sure, I like the author and am thankful that the publisher brought his work to the world, but that wasn’t enough for me to pull out my wallet.  I read books because I love them.

The funny thing is, I only knew about Brent Week’s new book because he told me about it on his blog.  Otherwise, I would never have known that I could preorder it.

This “marketing” tactic of Brent’s with his blog and writing publicly about his work wasn’t some smarmy thing he did to trick me into buying something I didn’t want.  Instead, he gave me a way to easily find out about something that would make my life better.

Tim Grahl
Tim Grahl
Tim Grahl is the author of Your First 1000 Copies and the founder of BookLaunch.com. He has worked with authors for a decade to help them build their platform, connect with readers, and sell more books. He has worked 1-on-1 with over a hundred authors including Daniel Pink, Hugh Howey, Barbara Corcoran, Chip and Dan Heath, Sally Hogshead and many others. He has also launched dozens of New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestsellers.
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