Why isn’t EVERYONE thinking this??
Just imagine a situation: You’ve just read a great chapter, a fantastic short story, seen a stunning illustration or heard a great tune. You’re moved to tell the creator how great you think their work is so you leave a comment, a vote, a thumbs up or send them a message.
That’s great! You will make their day, improve his or her mood and, hopefully, encourage them to keep creating. But here’s the problem: Who are you encouraging them to create for? You love their work and you want to see more of it. That’s lovely but that doesn’t benefit the person whose work you love so much. You may not be aware of it, but you’re hoping that by making them feel better, they will work for you more. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but that’s a little selfish!
Let’s roll back to the start of this scenario. You experience the creative person’s work and want to give something back. A comment or thumbs up is nice, but does it help that person? Does it improve their situation? Not really.
So, what can you do? How about instead of telling the creative person how great you think their stuff is, try telling everybody else how great it is! Tell your friends, family and social media followers how great you think it is. Believe me, that is worth a thousand times as much to any author/artist/musician.
Do this and you will be increasing their fanbase, spreading the enjoyment and, just possibly, helping them sell a few books/pictures/tunes. That is a MUCH better way to say thank you and much more likely to encourage them to produce more. The more people you recommend the book/story/tune/picture to, the bigger the thank you!