All I Want for Christmas is…

If you ask your favorite author what they think would be the ideal holiday gift they might reflexively answer, “Buy my book,” and that answer would be mostly joking. However, there are gifts you can send them that they may appreciate even more than you picking up another copy of their book… and they won’t cost you a dime.

One great thing you can do for that favorite author is to write a review. Online reviews are important because having a lot of reviews (good OR bad) is proof that a book is being read and talked about. A tweet or email telling me you posted a review on Amazon, GoodReads, Barnes & Noble or Audible is as welcome as a package under the tree.

Promotion on social media is also a great gift. Taking pictures of the book when you get it and posting them on Facebook and Twitter is a great way to spread the word about the book – especially if you add a link to where it can be purchased.

How about inviting your author friend to speak to a club or professional association you belong to. And you should check if your employer’s company is open to author speakers. Writers need exposure to new audiences almost as much as they need sales. This is a way you can help them get both.

If you blog, or produce a podcast, your favorite author would love to be interviewed for it, or to see a review of his or her book there. Again, it’s the gift of exposure to a new audience.

If you belong to a book club, a simple invitation would be a wonderful gift. Many a book has been propelled to best seller status thanks to the support of book clubs. Aside from the sales when every member of your club orders a copy to read, book clubs also provide incomparable word-of-mouth. And, the author you love will have a great time visiting with a roomful of avid readers. If you are distant from the writer’s home, you can have him or her visit by Skype.

All of those perfect author gifts will cost you nothing but time and energy. But if you decide to spend money on a gift to your favorite writer, consider the rest of your gift list. Which would your other friends and family appreciate more: yet another gift card, or a personalized and autographed book? This can be a personal and memorable gift, particularly if you know the author well enough to tell the recipient something about him or her.

So put a smile on the face of your favorite authors. Give that writer what he or she REALLY wants this year.

A Wonderful Book Club Experience

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with the members of the Wisdom Seekers club. The group meets once a month to discuss a book they all have read. This month they selected Beyond Blue, and invited me to take part in their discussion of the book.

I met Yvonne Kinney at the Black Authors and Readers Rock Weekend, an event designed to draw book clubs together. Generally these groups are all female, mostly mature ladies who love reading so much it provides a regular part of their social life.  If they like a book they’ll talk it up and can be the basis of an author’s platform. After hearing me speak became interested in my books. I mentioned that I enjoy meeting with book clubs so after reading one of my novels she emailed me through my web site. I was happy to accept her invitation to a meeting.

Book club meetings generally have a set protocol. They generally begin with a fine shared meal. In this case an assortment of Chinese food was laid out. Nothing relaxes and bonds people like sharing a good meal.

Then we moved to the meat of the meeting, an experience every fiction author should try to have. After expressing how much they enjoyed Beyond Blue the ladies spoke, very clearly, about what it was about the book they liked. They discussed which characters were their favorites, what about my writing style appealed to them, and what story points stood out. Not only was it clear that they got the subtext of every storyline as I intended, but they linked the events in the book to real-life current events in a way that even enriched the novel for me. They read meaning into some situations that I was not conscious of putting there, and made recommendations about the future of many of the characters.

One of the coolest parts of all this was the way the conversation freely flowed. Often one club member would ask a question and before I could respond another member would give their perspective of the answer. The fact that one member had a SWAT team member in her family and another was related to an undercover cop deepened their understanding of the material. And it was gratifying to know there were other people out there who still support good cops and understand how challenging their lives can be. One of the ladies actually said, “There should be a Beyond Blue agency in every city.”

An hour flew by, after which we took photos, and I offered Ms. Kinney a Beyond Blue tee shirt in thanks for inviting me. A few of the ladies purchased other books of mine (glad I always have some with me) and we had dessert. Then I said my goodbyes while the club eased into their business part of the meeting. I did overhear that they designate a part of their dues to literacy charities. Fine ladies, these. I’m proud to know them and look forward to visiting them and other book clubs in the future.