Here are some interesting stats for you.
There are 129,864,880 published books in the world. (That number written out is one hundred twenty-nine MILLION, eight hundred sixty four THOUSAND, eight hundred and eighty.)
That would be a great number if it had a dollar sign in front of it and was written on a check with an author’s name in the “Pay to the order of” section, but when you’re an author, especially a small, unrecognized author, that number of books besides your own is incredibly daunting. (Okay, let’s be realistic, any author would find it intimidating.) I guess the good news is that there are 7.9 billion people in the world as of today. If only that translated to the number of readers for those hundreds of millions of books available!
2.2 million books were published worldwide in 2021
2,700 new books are published each day
I mention all of this above because even though the competition is huge for finding readers, each reader could make a huge difference in an author’s world. Here are some simple ways you, as a reader, can help local authors who are typing their fingers to little nubs in hopes of writing the next NY Times #1 Bestseller.
- If you liked a book, recommend it to friends. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.
- Write a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, or in the local newspaper.
- Buy more of their books to read.
- Purchase their books as gifts for others. (You’ll make the author AND the recipient happy! Double win!)
- Support them at book signings and other author events (friendly faces are always welcome)
- Write the author a note or letter letting them know what you thought of the story, their writing style, their topic, their cover… authors love to receive “fan mail”.
- Send them chocolate-covered strawberries! (Okay, this might be a personal desire, but feel free to ask for my address.)
Being a writer has its lonely, solitary times, but once that book is out and on paper, that isolation is worth it. The book can now be in the hands of readers. On behalf of all authors everywhere, thank you for reading our books. We would seriously be nothing without you.