Supporting Other Authors

This summer, I participated in a summer book chain of sorts. Participants received an advance reader copy of a new middle grade fantasy book Beyond the Far Horizon, by mail. We had a week to read it and then pass it on to the next person on the list. In return, we were asked to leave reviews for the book to help with its promotion leading up to and immediately following its release date. This was the third book in the trilogy and the third summer I participated as an advance reader. The whole series was very clever, and I would have loved to have shared it with my classroom if I was still teaching! It involves a family with special abilities to enter and travel through paintings.

I left a review on Goodreads and then tried to leave a review on a major online platform. I was surprised when I got a pop up that said I didn’t meet the minimum requirements to leave a review. What? After a little digging, reading the requirements, checking my account settings, etc., I discovered that I hadn’t spent more than $50 with them in the last year. Woah! I hadn’t even been trying to boycott them! After the surprise wore off, I was pretty proud of myself. =)

However, I still did want to honor my agreement to leave reviews. So, I had to decide what to order to hit the $50 mark to qualify to leave a review. Since my reason for spending the money related to supporting and promoting current authors (especially authors with a Christian worldview who were putting out quality work), why not do even more of that? I ended up purchasing a few books I’d be interested in but hadn’t read yet. I ordered The Carver and the Queen by Emma Fox, Shiloh by Helena Sorenson, and Paradox and Parable by Malcom Guite. Though I haven’t yet read all of these to give my full recommendation, I’m looking forward to reading them (and leaving reviews). I already have enjoyed another poetry collection by Malcom Guite and a fantasy novel by Helena Sorenson. The Carver and the Queen is a fairy tale retelling by another member of the online writing group, the Habit.

Speaking of promoting authors and poets, if you haven’t preordered I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry, you still can! The Kickstarter campaign was successful, and it is on track to go to print in October. It should be in hand before Christmas if everything goes according to schedule. I’m so excited to hold a hardback book with one of my poems in it!