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There’s a disturbing trend I’ve seen lately where authors post Tweets and Facebook updates asking for readers to support an author. As if authors are some kind of struggling non-profit organization that will not survive without charitable donations from readers. What worries me is the emphasis on what amounts to begging for support instead of earning it.

There’s even a hashtag on Twitter: #SupportAnAuthor

So we get messages like this (these are all real examples I’ve seen lately):

• Here’s a link to my book. Please Retweet! #SupportAnAuthor
• Post a review on Amazon and Goodreads #SupportAnAuthor
• Want to support me? Like my Facebook page. #SupportAnAuthor
• My book is on sale. Buy it here. #SupportAnAuthor
• My friend’s book is on sale. Buy it here. #SupportAnAuthor

Here’s the most ridiculous one I’ve seen several times a day:

Are you reading today? If so, thanks! #SupportAnAuthor

Thanks for reading? Really? We’ve been reduced to thanking people for doing something that they choose to do for their own pleasure. I can’t think of a single book I’ve read because I was hoping to be thanked for reading it afterwards.

Why am I getting hung up on this? Because all of the above messages say to readers, “my work is not strong enough to stand on its own. I need your charity.”

“But this is marketing. This is how it works online now. You have to self-promote on social media or you’ll never get anywhere,” you say.

Absolutely! There’s so much noise out there, you most definitely have to get your message out. My point is that instead of begging for support, earn it. Here’s a few ways you can accomplish this without asking for a handout.

• Before you do anything else, write a great book that will blow people away. If you don’t do this first, then the rest won’t work and you’ll be reduced to begging for charity from readers.
• Retweet other author’s links to books you liked. That means you need to read a lot (which you should be doing anyway to be a better writer). Don’t expect reciprocating. Just do it for good karma’s sake. I guarantee it will come back to you and others will retweet you.
• Do your own reviews of books you read. Champion other author’s works you really liked. Be sincere and honest.
• Create great content that’s unique, compelling, and interesting on your social media profiles. Give people reasons to follow you and listen to you. Then they’ll naturally want to buy your book.

I hope I haven’t sounded too harsh. I know all of the above messages are written by struggling authors who mean well and are just doing their best. I just think authors would be better served by focusing more on making a great product, championing work you love online, reading more & writing reviews for the books you love, and making their social media feed less about themselves and what they are trying to sell.

There’s no question that talented writers can tell great stories. A writer who is truly committed to the craft will work to hone that skill through continual writing, challenging reading, expanded vocabulary, and a deeper grasp of grammar rules. All of this increased knowledge will allow the writer’s work to evolve to ever greater heights.

So why do I see advice to the contrary? We are told to shorten our sentences, leave out the “big” words, and in many cases “dumb down” the plot to make it more approachable. It’s made me wonder if the reader might be expected to put in a little work of their own. Does a reader need to have enough cognitive talent and grasp of the language to actually understand what’s being written?

Faulkner vs. Hemingway

No two writers are exactly alike. Some tend to short bursting sentences. Others pack the sentences with multiple layers in a dense writing style. One classic contrast is between Hemingway’s very straight forward prose and Faulkner’s heavy, sometimes impenetrable style.

Here’s an example from William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury

And here’s an example from Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms

Both contain emotional depth and though-provoking themes. Hemingway is easy to speed read. You might have to re-read Faulkner several times to get the main ideas. You may even need a dictionary handy to look up a few words along the way.

So which is better? Certainly, if you’re an author trying to write for the mainstream audience, the advice would be to avoid Faulkner’s style completely. In today’s book market, it would seem that even Hemingway’s more straight-forward style could use some streamlining.

HubSpot’s Content Reading Level Tool

Hubspot provides a tool that will read webpage content and tell you what reading level the content is currently written for. It can be useful when you’re writing for a specific market and want to know if you’re writing under or over your audience. You can find the tool here:

http://marketing.grader.com

Writing for the Masses (even untalented readers)

Unless you’re a writing elitist and don’t care if you’re ever read, you care about readers. Most of us are writing for the masses. We want as many people as possible to experience our stories and connect with our characters. Here are a few tips to help reach those readers:

1) Connecting with the reader is your job
It’s all about communication. Think of your reader giving you their full attention as you spin a yarn around the campfire. How would you tell the story to keep them engaged? When you spend time on exposition or long description, do you see them nodding off? Do you see their eyes light up when you get to the good parts? Why not cut out the boring stuff then?

2) Your purpose is not to teach vocabulary to the reader
People are going to read your work for enjoyment. They want to escape. They want something thought provoking. If they can’t understand what you’re saying because it’s over their head, where’s the fun in that? Use the right word at the right time. Don’t just search for synonyms.

3) Keep it flowing
Ever been reading along and hit a word you didn’t know? It’s kind of like a car hitting a wall at full speed. Maybe you steer and just barely avoid it but you keep looking back in the rear view mirror and you can’t focus on the road ahead. Using multiple uncommon words creates a virtual obstacle course for your reader so keep it flowing with everyday language.

4) Paragraphs & Whitespace
Use short paragraphs with five sentences or less. Break up dialogue with a paragraph for each character’s words. Make sure there’s a lot of whitespace on the page.

5) Focused Sentences
Make sure your sentences express one clear idea. Look for “and” to make sure you aren’t joining two separate ideas. Cut the clutter and stay focused.

6) Only vital description
Description should either set a mood, provide insight into a character, or make us feel something. Long description is typically one of the most common parts of a story readers skip. Why put it there if it is just going to be skipped? Get to the good stuff.

I’ve made my peace with the masses. I want to tell stories, not teach grammar. I want people to connect emotionally with my work. So I’ll be writing for the mainstream, using the tools available at that level, to craft a cleverly worded and well written story.