10 WAYS TO SHOW AN INDIE AUTHOR SOME LOVE

1. Buy the Book. Whether you purchase an author’s book at a book fair or BUY through their website (instead of online retailers), the author retains a greater percentage of the purchase price. If you see their books in a bookstore, purchasing there could potentially add to the longevity of both your favorite indie author and that traditional “brick and mortar” bookstore.

2. Tell Friends. Word of mouth buzz sparks other readers to purchase copies. If you like a book, don’t be shy! Recommend it to others.

3. Write a Review. Readers check the Amazon site to gauge an author’s performance. No one wants to waste money on a book that is poorly written. If you have enjoyed a book, let other readers know and tell them why. Leaving a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GoodReads, Shelfari, only takes a moment. And be sure to email or message the author to let them know.

4. Join and Support Authors across Social Media. Indie authors typically do not have a staff assisting them. Many are on such sites as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Shelfari, Pinterest, SheWrites, Blogger, YouTube. Connect with them. COMMENT, LIKE, and SHARE their posts. And share your excitement! Instagram or Tweet a photo of you and their book.

5. Request a Book at Your Local Public Library. A public library is more than happy to order a number of books (budget permitting).

6. Recommend it to Your Book Club. And if your book club has more than a few members, an indie author may be open to attending and/or reading at your book club meeting.

7. Host a Book Party. Be it in your own home or a community event, gathering of readers, refreshments, and an invited author reading excerpts, selling books and signing copies would be a great way to spend a few hours.

8. Invite an Author to Speak for your University, Company, Alumni or Professional Association or Holiday Event. This could expose your favorite author to a larger audience and bulk sales, especially if the organization is willing to gift attendees with a copy of their book.

9. Gift Book Lovers a Copy of their Book. If your friend is a book lover, it may even be possible to have a print copy autographed and personalized for them.

10. Feature independent authors in your newsletter or blog. If you blog or podcast, write for a newsletter, or other medium...spread the love!

Follow me, Eartha Watts Hicks, on FaceBook, GoodReads, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram @Earthatone and if you find this information helpful in any way, be sure to purchase my novel, LOVE CHANGES, just for good measure.

Visit earthatone.com or purchase from Amazon www.tinyurl.com/LoveChangesNovel

FACE to FACE with BLACK HISTORY....

Sarah Forbes Bonetta was popularly known as the "African Princess."
Sarah was born 'Aina' in 1843, a princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people born at Oke-Odan, an Egbado village in what is now southwest Nigeria.

Sarah Bonetta’s village of Okeadan was attacked by King Gezo of Dahomey, the most notorious slave trading monarch in West Africa in the early 19th century. In this 1847 attack, her parents and siblings were all killed and Gezo’s men seized the four year old Sarah. She remained captive at Gezo’s Court until 1849 when the British Navy Commander, Captain Frederick Forbes’s, landed the HMS Bonetta in Dahomey on a mission to persuade Gezo to give up slave raiding and trading.

Captain Forbes noticed the young princess, marked for execution and bargained for her life. He persuaded King Gezo to “give” her to Queen Victoria, by saying “She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites.”

The girl remained with Forbes in West Africa for the next year where she was baptized and given the name Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Bonetta for the British Navy ship. Of Sarah, Captain Forbes wrote that “She is a perfect genius; she now speaks English well, and [has] great talent for music… She is far in advance of any white child her age in aptness of learning, and strength of mind and affection.…”   

Sarah Forbes Bonetta was taken to Great Britain, where she met Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on November 9th, 1850. The Queen was so impressed by her intellect, she declared Sarah her goddaughter, and paid her tutorial expenses.

In January 1862, Sarah was attendence at the royal wedding of the princess royale, Victoria.
To see more, visit: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bonetta-sarah-forbes-1843-1880#sthash.n04ZRN77.dpuf

I am Eartha Watts Hicks, author of Love Changes.