There are many different types of authors of books from children's books to romance novels. There are the authors that make it big with a best-selling book and even an award-winning book and then there are the authors that we never hear of. Something that these authors all have in common is their dream of seeing their work in print has been fulfilled. That doesn't mean that the books they have written are worth reading. The reader ultimately determines that.
How do you find a good book to read? How do you sift through all the authors? Books are so plentiful (just go to your local library) that it could take you a lot of reading to find an author of any worth. Another way to find a good author is through reviews. If an author's book has been reviewed you can find out its basic premise without any of the juicy bits being given away. But can you trust the reviews? If they come from someone you trust this can be a good source for finding an author's books. But listen to this spicy gossip. Recently Amazon.com had a slight computer glitch that allowed the identities of the normally anonymous reviewers to be seen. It seems that many of the positive kudos were made by the authors themselves and even their friends and family. Whether this is true or not is up to you to determine but the point being made is go with an opinion you trust. Oprah has a following that is unheard of and one author and their book can be brought to instant fame with a nod of that famous head.Authors love it when they overhear someone recommending their book to someone else. I am sure they haunt the bookstores just out of sight of the shoppers to wait for these comments, at least in the early stages of their author careers. I know I would! Word of mouth is a great way to find a good author and a good book. I have read many books in my day but only a few of the author's names have stayed with me and these are the books I recommend. It's always good to chew on a classic book here and there to broaden the mind but a nice salacious novel by a talented author is a nice treat too.
Join a book club and have everyone challenge each other to find the best authors that maybe aren't so well known. Who knows maybe you'll start a trend and you'll take this author from obscure to overnight sensation. Watch out Oprah!