When someone does something well, do you tell them you thought they did a good job? When YOU do something well, whether it’s cooking a difficult and impressive recipe, growing some spectacular orchids, doing an amazing cabinetry job, or giving a great speech, don’t you like to receive praise that tells you your efforts were appreciated?
Authors are no different. We like to know that our readers appreciate our books.
There are several ways in which you can praise an author’s work. The one that does him or her the most good is to post a good review online. Where did you by the book? If you bought it on Amazon, you can leave a review there. If you bought it somewhere else, then leave a review wherever you bought it.
There are other things you can do, too. You can post a notice on your Facebook timeline. “I just read a fascinating book,” or whatever words best describe it: “very well written,” “compelling,” “useful,” “helpful,” “marvelous”…. If you’re on other social media, you can post notices there, too.
And you can write to the author directly. Many times, an author’s bio in the book, on the back cover, or on the website from which you bought the book contains a link to the author’s website, and almost all websites have a contact page with a link or a form whereby you can send a message to the site owner—in this case, the author. Your message can be as short as “Loved your book [and insert the title here, as the author may have written more than one book, so let him/her know which book you are referring to].” Or you can be a bit lengthier and tell the author why you loved or liked his or her book.
If you can’t find a direct contact link for the author, try sending him/her a note c/o his/her publisher. Most publishers will forward to the author any email or snailmail that comes in for them.
But authors are people, just like you. They like to know their efforsts are appreciated. Why not tell them? Or tell the world how much you enjoyed what they wrote.