Writing is a paradox. A lot of it is solitary, which is how most writers I know like it. We can hide away with our characters and weave stories about them, minimizing contact with actual humans. The problem comes when we publish our books and we have to interact with others to get the word out. That’s why writers need a group. When I was younger, we called them fans. The younger generation calls it a tribe.

Whatever it’s called, we need people besides our moms and spouses to help us. Selling and promoting is hard for a lot of us, and we need all the help we can get. Here’s how you can support your favorite authors.

Read their books. I don’t know about you, but I go on ebook benders, and that dramatically increases my To Be Read pile. If you don’t read the book, you can’t help the author.

Review their books. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t love the book. It doesn’t matter what site you use. Honest reviews help the book find their audience, and a bigger audience increases the chances that you’ll get to read more stories from your favorite authors.

Recommend their books. Tell your friends. Tell your book club. Tell your library and book stores and the guy in the check out line. The more people who know about the book, the more potential help the author will have when the next book comes out.

The bottom line is publication and promotion take time. Even if an author is traditionally published, the author still has a role beyond writing an amazing story. The more time we spend promoting a book, the less time we have to write another one. So helping the author sell more books is a gift. Authors love that gift.