I’m not doing it this year because it doesn’t feel right. So many have lost so much that a gift guide feels inappropriate.

I’ve replaced it with today’s article offering links to a few organizations that are helping writers and authors suffering from COVID-19’s impact.

Interested in helping?

Donating to one of these financial resources for writers can help fund a lifeline for a fellow author who’s struggling.

You might help with a donation, or share this information with a struggling author or writer who can apply for aid.

Here are the programs that are still accepting applications and funding. Each program name links to its information page; I’ve added donation links at the end of each description.

Artist Relief

Artist Relief is distributing $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19. It also serves as an ongoing informational resource and is collaborating on a survey designed to better identify and address the needs of artists.

Donate: https://www.unitedstatesartists.org/artistrelief/

Artist Relief Tree

This is a relief fund for artists affected by cancellations due to COVID-19.

Donate: https://artistrelieftree.com/#donate

ASJA Writers Emergency Assistance Fund

(NOTE: As of November 23, the site is down but I’m assured it will be back up soon.) The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is granting emergency funds to established freelance writers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds are specifically for those “who cannot work because they are currently ill or caring for someone who is ill.”

ASJA established the Writers’ Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF) in 1982 to help writers financially when they are unable to work due to illness, disability, a natural disaster, or an extraordinary professional crisis. To date, WEAF has given more than $400,000 to more than 160 writers.

Donate: http://asja.org/For-Writers/WEAF

Authors League Fund

For more than a century, the Authors League Fund has helped professional authors, journalists, poets, and dramatists in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income, or other challenges. Today, these include writers struggling with income loss due to COVID-19.

The Fund helps professional writers continue their careers with dignity by providing no-strings-attached “loans” to pay for pressing expenses. Writers don’t have to repay the emergency support.

Donate: https://authorsleaguefund.org/donate/

Dramatists Guild Foundation (DFG) Emergency Grants

Saying, “It is vital to support writers in times of need so that they can get back to doing what they do best,” DGF provides emergency financial assistance to individual playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists in dire need of funds due to severe hardship or unexpected illness.

Donate: https://www.classy.org/campaign/website-covid-19-current-website/c280091

PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund

After funding and distributing pandemic grants to more than 500 writers, the organization has secured additional funding to resume grant-making for a limited period. The fund is open again on a first-come, first-served basis for eligible applicants. It will accept applications until available funds are gone.

Donate: https://pen.org/more-ways-to-give/

In addition, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has created an extensive list of organizations providing assistance on a regional level. Explore its COVID-19 Emergency Resources list for additional opportunities to make a difference.

Have I missed any programs that are still accepting applications or funding and isn’t in the NYFA list? Please let us know in a comment and I’ll update the article as needed. 

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month it’s Read Club Hub, a site that connects book lovers with local book clubs and indie bookstores.

The “Find a Club” function asks you to select club genre and goals (pro tip: the less specific you are, the more likely you are to find a club) and “Find a Bookstore” leads you to a local indie retailer. If there isn’t one, you can order books through indie bookstore online hub BookShop.org.

Whether you connect to an existing club or create your own, you’ll be supporting authors and indie bookstores through Read Club Hub.

World reading habits in 2020

By Isabel Cabrera

When the world went into lockdown this year because of COVID-19, many of us had more time on our hands.

Some people turned to watching Netflix and YouTube, and others learned new skills from online education platforms such as MasterClass.

Bibliophiles around the world, however, took the opportunity to churn through more of their favorite books.

Millennials are reading more

Editing and proofreading service Global English Editing wanted to find out exactly how coronavirus changed our reading habits.

A few of our surprising insights include:

• 35 percent of people said they read more books this year

• Millennials had the biggest uptick out of all generations, with 40 percent reading more.

• Maybe because social isolation kept single people from finding love, romantic fiction was clearly the most popular genre this year.

For more eye-opening facts about world reading habits in 2020, check out the infographic below.

What about you? Have you been reading more since the pandemic hit? Please tell us in a comment along with the types of books you’ve been reading. 

I’ve read several articles detailing how authors are dealing with COVID-19. The word “authors” in these articles nearly always refers to traditionally published writers who are suddenly left high and dry.

No book tours. No speaking honorariums. No presentations at book industry events.

Sounds like the normal indie author experience, doesn’t it?

Reports in the press

Here’s just a sampling of what’s been appearing in the press since March:

“The World of Books Braces for a Newly Ominous Future,” The New York Times

Erik Larson canceled the remainder of a planned 33-city tour for his best-selling book about the London Blitz, “The Splendid and the Vile”; his publisher is now looking at ways to livestream a conversation with him, and plans to post a series of short videos online in which he discusses his research and writing process. 

“15 Books and Authors Hurt by the Coronavirus,” Publishers Weekly

The mass cancellation of tours and events has forced Chavez to switch her focus to “connecting with readers on social media instead.” She is finding it difficult. “As a debut [author], it’s challenging.”

” ‘From Author to Bookshop’: The IPA Takes Stock of the Coronavirus’ Impact,” Publishing Perspectives

“Authors who had books ready for launch in the spring have had those launches put off or cancelled altogether. So they’re having to scramble to try to do an online launch, and [is that] as effective in terms of sales as an in-person launch?”

“Inside the Book Industry’s Battle to Stay Afloat During the COVID-19 Crisis,” Esquire

“They weren’t cancelled all at once,” writer Paul Lisicky said of the twenty-two stops on his cross country book tour. “No one gave me a phone call and said, ‘Your book tour is cancelled.’ It all went down one by one. It felt like a kick to the heart.”

The problem is universal

This has to be incredibly disappointing for authors who had high hopes for their book launches.

Accustomed to the kind of publisher marketing support that includes book tours and other gratifying live events, they’re now trying tactics that successful self-published authors have been using all along.

Like their indie peers, traditionally published authors are taking their book launches online. New-to-them, but standard operating procedures for others, include:

• Participating in virtual readings, interviews, and presentations
• Beefing up their social networks
• Learning how to use certain social platforms, including Instagram, effectively
• Getting creative about how to let readers know about their books

Sound familiar?

Coronavirus, the equalizer

Many of the traditionally published authors with upended book marketing plans get publisher support with these unfamiliar tactics. That takes some of the sting out of the situation.

Self-published authors don’t have this advantage, but many will say they don’t want or need it.

Those who are succeeding know their readers. And they know how and where to reach them. They know what resonates with them and they know what doesn’t. This has certainly been an advantage in an uncertain environment.

COVID-19, it seems, is the great equalizer, even in the publishing community.

What book marketing tactic is working for you right now, as people tend to stay home and read more?