How to Support an Author Without Paying a Cent

 

Some Christian authors in Australia are selling tons of books and are able to write full-time for a living. BUT NEWSFLASH! Most of us aren't. In fact, a lot of Christian authors in Australia only sell a few hundred copies of their book or less. 

If you're traditionally published, you would typically get about 10% of the royalties, though contracts do of course vary. So if your book retails for $20, you might get $2 per book. You don't have to be a maths genius to work out that you need to sell a lot to make much. 

And in case you think the publisher is 'sitting pretty' on all the profits, they are only getting a small percentage as well because they're the ones who've paid for all of the editing, cover design, layout, distribution and so on. They have to sell a lot of copies to recoup their costs before they even start earning anything on your book. 

If you've indie-published, you get to keep the profits. YAY! But you may have spent thousands to produce the book in the first place, so you also have to sell a lot to get back the money you've invested. 

This might sound grim, but it's not all about money. Presumably, you've written your book because you feel God has given you a message that He wants you to share. However, that's difficult if it's not actually getting into the hands of readers.

The most obvious thing you can do to support an author is to buy their book. However, there is a cost-of-living crisis in Australia at the moment and a lot of people simply can't afford to buy extras such as books. But never fear! There are a number of ways you can support an author and help raise the profile of their books without spending a cent.

Order Books For Your Library

As part of the Australian Lending Right Schemes, eligible authors can receive some compensation when their books are being borrowed from libraries. However, their book has to make it into the library first, and that's where you come in. Libraries have budgets for new books and they are looking for suggestions, so why not request some? 

Check with your library first, as they would have a system in place for doing that. For example, my local library has an online form you can fill out for requests and they allow you to have three requests in at a time. They won't always purchase a book you request because it has to meet certain criteria and be something they think other readers would also like. Sometimes, they will get an inter-library loan for you instead of purchasing the book. However, you never know until you ask. I've successfully requested dozens of books for my local library over the years. Why not give it a try?

Once the book is in the library, other readers can discover it and read it. If they like it, they might request more books from that author or purchase books from that author. Win-win!

And if you've finished reading a book you own, think about donating it to your church library or a local neighbourhood library or street library. You never know who might be touched by it.

Write a Review

Consider writing reviews of the books you read and put them on sites such as Goodreads, Koorong, and Amazon. Reviews can help to increase the visibility of books on those sites so that readers can find books they might like. Remember these types of reviews are for readers. You don't need special qualifications. Just say what you liked or didn't like about the book. A review can be any length, but you can do a really good one in just four sentences:

• First sentence - What is the genre or what is the book about?
• Second sentence - What specifically did you like?
• Third sentence - Was there anything you didn't like or that didn't grab you?
• Fourth sentence - Something positive to end on, such as your overall impression or your suggestion regarding the type of person who might like this book.

Did you know that if you put a review on the Koorong site, you get points towards their reward scheme? So for every dollar you spend and every review you submit, you accumulate points towards a voucher. I think it's only available for Australian citizens, so check the details. Also, check the guidelines for the particular sites you use. Amazon has quite a strict set of guidelines and you have to have spent a certain amount in the last year to be eligible to review an item. Goodreads is often a good place to start as it's very reader friendly. 

If you want to write a review for every book you've ever read, then go for it. However, most of us have limits to our time and energy. Think of the books you've read recently, and maybe start by writing a review for someone who doesn't have many other reviews or ratings on the site. The author who already has 2000 reviews really doesn't need you to write another one for them. The person who only has two reviews could really use your help. Unless of course you hate their book and your poor rating will negatively impact their overall ranking. This can create a conundrum. There may be something about the book that you want to warn others about. However, if it's just not your cup of tea, maybe think about whether you really need to put that review up. There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism. In fact, it can even give more credence to your review. However, don't nitpick either.

It goes without saying that your review should be your own honest opinions. I've made a decision not to put up a negative review for authors I know personally. If I can't honestly give their book at least four stars, I don't review it at all. But everyone has to make their own decision about this. Don't give a five-star review if you didn't like the book, or worse if you haven't even read it. If you think people wouldn't do that, I saw a five-star review once in which the reviewer said something like, 'I haven't read this book yet, but I know I'll love it.' Please don't do that.

For any of the sites, you would need to include a disclaimer if you have received a book for free. For example, 'I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher for the purposes of review, but these opinions are my own'. Sites like Amazon don't allow you to review a book if you've had anything to do with its production (e.g., publisher or editor), but check specific guidelines.

I hope I haven't made this sound too complicated. The main thing to know is that reviews help, especially if the author doesn't have many of them. Your review doesn't need to be long, but be specific and honest, and maybe pick up some bonus points from Koorong in the process.

Engage with Social Media

We live in the age of social media--Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), Threads, Goodreads, TikTok, YouTube and no doubt many more that people my age have never heard of. I don't claim to be an expert on social media, but I do know there are these mysterious things called algorithms that determine who sees your posts. You might have 500 friends on Facebook, but your post will only appear towards the top of the newsfeed for some of them. If you have an author business page, it can be even worse, especially if you post an external link to a blog post, event or newsletter; or if you use any key words like 'giveaway', 'sale', 'competition', 'book launch', and so on. 

The algorithms seem to have tightened up over the last few years. I understand that social media platforms are not charities and that it costs them money to keep them going. But it can be tough if you're a struggling author and just want to let people know that you have a new blog post out.

I don't pretend to understand how all of these algorithms work, but one thing all of these platforms want is engagement. Once people start liking your posts, commenting on them or sharing them, then more people will end up seeing them. So you can help an author by doing all of those things. Not only does it increase the likelihood of their post being seen, but it's also encouraging. I'm sure many of us can think of times when we've put a lot of effort into a blog post, but no one comments. Those little bits of encouragement can help us to keep going when the going gets tough. 

Sign Up for Author Newletters

As the algorithms on social media have gotten tighter, author newsletters have become more important. For many authors, it's the main way they can let their readers know about their books, upcoming events, giveaways and so on.

This is a tricky one, because most of us get more emails than we can handle and we don't want more 'spam' to add to the mix. I must admit that I've sometimes subscribed to a newsletter and later unsubscribed because it was coming too frequently or it didn't contain anything of real interest to me. However, if authors give their readers something of value rather than just always urging them to 'buy my book', readers will want to subscribe and read their news. 

Try signing up for some newsletters of authors you like. If they pose a question to readers, spend a minute to respond. If you like something they said, tell them. If they've got a link to their latest blog, read it and leave a comment on the blog site. Some of these things only take a minute or two, but they can mean a lot to an author.

Pray

Sometimes authors will put prayer requests on social media or in their newsletters, and we can join them in their prayers. However, we could also get into the habit of praying more for each other. (I'm writing this to myself too, as I often forget to pray for fellow authors.) We can pray for the books or other manuscripts they're currently writing, we can pray for upcoming events, we can pray about personal issues that are affecting their ability to write, and we can engage in spiritual warfare on their behalf. The enemy is not going to be pleased if any of us are writing Christian books that can impact others, so we can expect attack. However, praise God that He is stronger and His Word will prevail. I felt like I was under attack in the days leading up to my latest book launch, and it meant a lot to know that the members of my home group were praying for me. Everything went smoothly, thanks to God. Let's not neglect the importance of praying for each other.

Caveats

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all of these ideas? The good news is that you don't have to do them all. In fact, that would be impossible. We all have things that we need to do each day and social media can be a big time waster. However, it also has its advantages. It doesn't take long to 'like' someone's social media post, write a comment on their blog post, or answer a question they've asked in their newsletter.

There's also the 'do unto others' principle. If you're an author and you want people to write reviews of your books, comment on your posts or sign up for your newsletter, you need to be willing to do the same for others. I've written a previous post on that topic and you can read it here. We're all part of the Christian writing community and we operate best when the whole body is functioning well and supporting each other.

So what about you? Are there any of these things you could do right now? Are there a couple of these things you could do sometime this week? If we're intentional, we're more likely to do it, so let's support each other as part of God's team.

Have you already tried some of these things or do you have other suggestions? I'd love to hear your responses.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine loves weaving words of courage and hope. Her inspirational historical novel 'Scattered' was shortlisted for the 2021 CALEB Awards. Her second book 'Comfort Zone: A 40-Day Devotional on the Father of All Comfort' was published by Armour Books in March 2025. She would love to connect with you through social media and her newsletter. For more information, see her website at www.nolalorraine.com.au

Photo Credits

Featured photo was taken at the launch of the anthology 'Symphony of Grace' edited by Anne Hamilton and Ruth Bonetti. The photo shows 17 of the 22 authors. Nola Lorraine author photo by Wayne Logan at Encouraging Photos. All other photos from Pixabay. Library by naobim, woman typing by jane13b, social media by AzamKamalov, newletter by LadyBB, and prayer by doungtepro.