Helping Your Author Friends: Where the Staircase Ends Edition

As you're probably aware, our very own Stacy Stokes's debut YA novel published last week! Let me tell you, guys—I love this book. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are so complex and interesting that I couldn't put the book down.

My shiny new copy of Where the Staircase Ends now has a place of honor on my bookshelf. I was admiring it today, and I started thinking about how many teens I know who would love this book. I talk to a few voracious readers on a fairly regular basis, so I made a mental note to mention it to them.

And that got me thinking about ways the members of the YA writing community can get the word out about their friends' books. Sure, buying the book yourself is nice, but what then? What's the most effective way to get the word out?

Luckily, for those feeling overwhelmed by all the options out there (social media? bookstores? libraries? reviews?), there are some great resources out there to help you narrow down the most effective strategy.

First, author Erin Bowman has this excellent breakdown of what you can do in addition to buying the book here on Pub Crawl: Support an Author Beyond Buying Their Book. A couple of suggestions I love: gifting the novel to friends and family for special occasions and reading the book in public (because I know I always check out what people are reading when I see them on public transportation or in the coffeeshop).

This similarly titled post from author Jen Malone on Writer's Rumpus focuses specifically on social media: Help an Author (Beyond Buying the Book): Part Three. Jen points out that tweeting, posting pics to Instagram, or posting on Facebook are some of the easiest and most effective ways to get the word out. People trust personal recommendations above all else, so this can vastly increase the likelihood that someone will pick up your friend's book.

And last but certainly not least, Stacy herself wrote a post a few months ago: 12 Easy Ways to Support Your Soon-to-Be-Published Author Friend. She points out that leaving reviews, requesting the book at the library, and asking about the book at your local bookstore (on my to-do list the next time I'm in the neighborhood!) are all good ways to support your friend.

Congratulations again, Stacy!