The best way, of course, to support authors is to buy their books. But if you're living on a shoestring budget that's not always an option. The good news is there are plenty of ways to support your favorite authors without spending a penny.
1. The library
Simply checking out books by your favorite author ensures that the books stay in circulation. The less often a book is checked out, the less likely a library is to keep it. And if a book is checked out often enough, the library may decide there is enough of a demand for it that they can afford to buy extra copies!
2. Don't be a pirate, Matey!
The difference between using a library and pirating books all has to do with how you are impacting the author. But if I'm not spending money checking it out of the library, how is pirating much worse? Libraries are legally required to purchase the books they circulate. With e-books, the library pays for a license which lets them be borrowed a certain amount of times until they need to be licensed again. Illegally uploading books online does not involve any sort of license, which prevents publishers from measuring a book's popularity. A pirated book may have hundreds of readers, but the publishers will never know due to the lack of a license, and authors may unfairly suffer as a result. (Source: https://seananmcguire.tumblr.com/post/170553606100/sometimes-i-feel-guilty-because-all-of-my-books)
3. Review, review, review!
If you enjoyed a book, post reviews of it to Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, or anywhere else where potential readers may see it. The more positive reviews a potential reader sees, the more inclined they will be to read the book.
4. Tell your friends
Word of mouth is one of the best ways to attract new readers. And even if your friends or relatives aren't interested in the genre you read, you never know if they might consider buying the book for you or someone else as a present ;)
What are some ways you like to support your favorite authors? Please let me know in the comments section below! :)