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The article might've gone over better if it were phrased as "What Readers Can Do To Help Their Favorite Authors" instead of "What Do Readers Owe?"
I want the authors I like to succeed. I don't think I owe them anything more than my time and occasionally money. (I get a lot of books from promos, and secondhand pbooks.) I'm willing to write reviews.... sometimes. But reviews are for other readers, not for the authors.
I don't feel guilty for the books I liked and didn't review, considering all the books I disliked and didn't warn other readers about. I'm certainly not obligated to review every book I read--and especially not in the author's choice of venue. Considering what various sales websites demand in their TOS, I'm picky about how much and what kind of my writing I'm willing to submit to them, even in the form of reviews. And since Amazon bought Goodreads, I expect them to be substantially not-impartial soon.
What I owe the author, if anything, is my honesty if someone asks me about the book. And that honesty might be "sorry; don't care to talk about it right now."
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