12+ ways to support writers

Whether you’re a writer yourself or just looking for ways to support writers, it can be difficult to judge what kind of help we can give. I’ve compiled over 12 ways to support writers, covering personal support, social media support, and financial support where possible.

It’s important to remember that you have your own limitations too. You don’t need to be someone’s personal cheerleader or therapist to support them. Even just interacting with social media posts or reading their books can help a writer.

How to support a writer

When it comes to supporting writers, there are many ways to provide support.

Buying books is one form of financial support, because writers get royalties from sales. For self-published writers, buying a book directly supports them, even if the retailer takes a cut.

Writers who aren’t published yet can also get a lot of support, especially on social media or just from messages. They might want to share what they’re working on with you. Sending encouraging messages can be a great source of motivation too.

Ways to support writers

Here are 12+ ways to support writers, whether they’re published or not.

Follow and interact with them on social media

Social media presence is important to many writers. For some, it’s about promoting their books. For others, it’s about community.

By following writers on social media, you’re giving them a little boost to their confidence. But you shouldn’t stop there.

Interacting with social media posts through comments, likes, reposts, and shares are even more valuable. By interacting with posts, you’re telling the platform that this content is great and should be seen by more people.

Bonus: share their content using the share function on the social platform.

Sharing is a valuable metric on social media, but its importance isn’t as well-known.

When you share a writer’s posts from the platform (not the URL on desktop), you’re telling the algorithm that this post is even more worth being seen by people.

Buy their books

Whether a writer is published traditionally or self-published, buying their books is the easiest way to financially support a writer – and get to read their writing!

If you can’t buy books, you might still be able to get a copy. Try:

• Asking for books as presents – and specify which books!
• Checking platforms like NetGalley and Bookfunnel for free books to read and review
• Checking your local library – most libraries will let you request a book too

Bonus: buy directly from authors!

Some authors sell eBooks directly from their website. When you buy directly from authors, you’re giving all the money to them, so retailers don’t take a cut.

Review their books

The #1 thing you can do to help a writer sell more books is to review the ones they’ve published. The sooner you can review a book, the better.

Positive (4+ stars) reviews just after a book is published helps algorithms know that a book should be pushed up the list of new releases.

If your review is a 3 or below, hold off on reviewing if the book has only been out for a month. Honest reviews are fantastic for readers, but they can be damaging to a book’s launch.

I recommend writers don’t read or check their reviews, because reviews are primarily for other readers, not authors!

The best places to review books are Goodreads, Amazon, and retailer websites.

Bonus: share photos and reviews on social media!

You can help more readers discover and consider buying books by sharing reviews online. Photos of books are even more persuasive.

You don’t need a book review blog, bookstagram, or booktok to make a difference here.

Subscribe to and read author newsletters

Many writers have their own newsletter, where they’ll share excerpts of their books, updates on their writing, new releases, and sales.

Subscribing to newsletters helps an author more if you open and read those newsletters! While you might be tempted to subscribe and leave it at that, you might actually be taking up space.

Newsletters cost money, and the cost is usually linked to how many people are subscribed. If you don’t open the newsletter, you’re taking up a space someone else might be able to fill. Leave it too long and a writer might have to pay a higher subscription to upgrade how many subscribers they can have.

Bonus: clicking links in newsletters helps writers know what kind of content you’re interested in! Even if you don’t do anything, just taking a look at what they’ve linked – a sale, an exclusive bit of content, etc. – gives them an idea of what to include in the future.

Encourage them

Sending writers encouraging or affirming messages can really help to motivate someone to write more or feel better about their writing.

Writing is a difficult hobby, let alone career. Writers have to deal with imposter syndrome and rejection before they even get close to publishing.

Every now and then, try commenting or emailing some encouragement. Even a quick “Hope you’re doing well!” can help.

You could also say, “Looking forward to your next story!” when they have something coming out – otherwise this might come across as putting pressure on them.

Share and recommend their books

Even if you haven’t bought their book, you can still encourage others to buy them by sharing and recommending books you’ve enjoyed.

You can do this by posting on social media, sharing book reviews, and just letting someone know that they might enjoy a book.

If someone says that they’re looking for new books to read, jump at the chance and recommend some books from writers you follow! The smaller the audience for the book, the more recommendations matter.

Nominate and vote in book awards

There are a number of book awards that take place every year, and nominating your favourite books can help a writer reach more people.

For book awards like the Goodreads Choice Awards, nominating and voting on books can help more people add the book to their TBR. It’s free marketing!

Indie book awards are even more important to self-published writers, because getting your book out there is hard enough, but most won’t be eligible to win a mainstream award. If you see an indie book award, find out how to nominate writers, or share the awards with the writers themselves.

Join their “street team” or book launch group

One for the self-published writers out there – author street teams, or book launch groups, are an amazing way to contribute to and support a writer launching their book.

It usually entails promoting the book on social media with premade graphics and text. You’ll have to commit some time, and ideally you should read the book first, but most street teams receive an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) for free so you can review it too.

To a lesser extent, ARC teams are also an important part of launching a self-published book, but there’s no requirement to promote the book. Just read and review – for free!

Attend in-person or virtual book talks and signings

Book talks and signings are a way for writers to promote their books, but there’s no guarantee of how many people will attend.

Showing up for writers doesn’t mean you have to buy the book. Just listen to what they have to say, shower them in compliments, and encourage others to attend too.

Subscribe to their Patreon, Substack or Ko-fi

If you’re able to financially support other writers, subscribing to a Patreon, Substack or Ko-fi account can really help out.

Not only will you be able to support writers financially, you’ll also get access to resources, behind-the-scenes content, and sometimes even writing snippets or advanced access to books.

Add their books to your to-read pile

Especially on Goodreads, to-read shelves or TBR (to be read) piles can help others discover books even if you haven’t read them yet. It indicates what books you’re interested in and shows people what books are out there.

I’ve discovered a lot of books just from my Goodreads feed telling me what my friends have marked as to-read. It can also give you a good idea of what books your friends would like as gifts – just make sure they don’t already own them!

Ask them how you can support them

Writers will usually have an idea of what kind of support they need.

Maybe they need an accountability buddy, someone to check in with about their writing progress.

Or they really want to post an interview, but need someone to provide them with questions or a blog to post on.

They might just appreciate you asking!