This is particularly for my non-writer friends (who might not already know the stuff below): it’s now just four weeks until my first novel, American Craftsmen, comes out. While I encourage every interested and able person to pre-order the book for yourself or others, friends can support my work in lots of ways besides purchasing it, and I’d greatly appreciate any such support. Here’s a far from complete list to stimulate your own thinking:
1. Have your library get the book. Libraries buy lots of books, so if you’d like to borrow American Craftsmen from your local library, be sure to let them know.
2. Tell your friends about the book. Tell them on FB and other social media, and tell them in person. In particular, be sure that all your SF/F fan friends know about it. Or just share what I post about it.
3. Post accurate reviews on book-related sites. Note that I’m not saying to post only good reviews, as any accurate review is helpful. Some sites will direct more user attention to items with more reviews, particular items that pass certain threshold numbers.
4. Over the next month, check out the blogs and other sites that will be interviewing me, posting excerpts, or giving away books, and leave a comment so they know you were there. This network of for-the-love online support from bloggers and others is crucial for any author.
5. Suggest the novel for your book group, if your group is genre-friendly. I’d be happy to answer any group questions, etc.
6. Follow/friend/like me on social media. I have a general FB page, an FB author page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Doyle-Author-Page/368308889951293?ref=hl and I’m also on Twitter, Google+, etc.
I think this gives you some idea of the sorts of things you can do to help, and I’ll always try to show my appreciation for any and all of them.
Finally, an apology in advance: for the next month or so, I’m going to be a bit pushier than I’ve ever been before or will ever be again, because a first novel is uniquely critical. Please have patience with me; we’ll return to our regular programming soon.