Break Away from the Best Selling Books

How many times have you walked into a bookstore and, within ten feet of your getting past the entrance, you run into the "Best Sellers" table filled with books from politicians, talk show hosts and celebrities? Without a doubt, you recognized the names of Nora Roberts, Bill O'Reilly, Stephen King and others. How many times have you skirted that table only to find another table right behind it with books written by so-called "Favorite Authors"? I dare to say a lot of the time. For the most part, the same can be true of the on-line bookstores presenting the customer with the virtual equivalent of this same setup of top selling authors.

Let me propose a suggestion. One you may find will give you a broader range of reading material. Try getting away from the well-known authors, the best selling authors, the "favorite" authors, and explore the world of the fresh-out-of-the-publishing-gate debut authors. They're all around you, lurking on the shelves of the bookstore, hoping to become your new favorite read. You only need to open your eyes and look.

Don't get me wrong. I love the established big time authors. I read every Nora Roberts' book I can get my hands on and Tom Clancy owns a whole shelf in my house. But they're not the only authors I read. Believe it or not, I have room enough in my heart and on my shelf for other authors. My guess is...so do you. I enjoy digging around the bookstore searching for those lesser-to-totally-unknown authors. So please, try my suggestion and give the little-known author a shot.

Why? Let me list a few of the reasons.

It's hard being the new kid on the shelf. Working as a newly published author (in my case, under a pseudonym) is a hard road to travel. In most cases, the newly pubbed author still holds down a day job that pays the rent.