A Voice for Others

There are many incentives for someone to succeed in their chosen field. For writers, it can be money, notoriety, or just the satisfaction of presenting a story to the public.

But some incentives are about speaking up for others. There is a chance to promote other writers, and there is an opportunity to be a voice for the voiceless.

Now, unless Steven King or J.K. Rowling has decided to click on this blog, you may think to yourself that this is a nice goal, but your audience is too small to have an impact. You don't sell enough books yourself to help promote someone else. You're too much of a no-name to influence meaningful issues.

I'm not sure that anyone sells as many copies of their books as they would wish. Maybe no one even publishes as many stories as they would wish in the first place. But your influence exceeds your professional success.

A couple days ago, I had a couple of people question why I had the "verified" blue checkmark on Twitter, because they never heard of me. I tweeted back that I was a sportswriter and author, not to brag, but to clarify. This led to them and some other people on the social media giant looking through my biography and some of my feed to see what I was about.

I doubt anyone decided to buy anything from me on account of that Twitter banter. But it did show that just by saying I am a writer, some people were willing to check out what I had to say.

Without any sales, I had influence. And that influence is not all about hoping people buy The Jewelry of Grace or The Pride of Central.

I hope to use some of that influence, be it large or small, to both introduce my readers to three other writers I know, and to call attention to two causes.

First, my writer friends. Visit these pages and check out their work:

Laura Campbell: The 27th Protector Series

Tiff Aurora: The Survivors of Johanum

Rachel D. Lyne: The Apple (Coming this summer)

And next, two important causes:

To help children across the world in poverty, sponsor a child through Compassion International.

To help children with cancer and their families, help with Play Live by St. Jude.

Now, for anyone with a blog or a social media feed, give some pub to another writer you know and one worthwhile cause. Even if you haven't published that first book yet, there are people out there who are already ready to listen to you.

Next week: The Tour