Everyone creates content on the internet but not everyone has claimed their content ownership with Google. In order to do this you must open a Google+ account using your normal Google account. Once you do that you’ll need to setup your profile and tell Google where you contribute content. To learn how to do this read this article by Caitlin Muir.
Selling your book is hard enough if you are self published but getting book reviews is even harder. The 42Ruleds blog often offers review resources and today we have one more for you. There is a group of people, on Facebook, who offer book reviews in exchange for a free copy of your book. If you’d like to join and offer your book for review visit the group here.
The Catherine, Caffeinated blog has a great guest post about hiring an editor by Robert Doran. Catherine is a great fan of self published authors hiring an editor and has pointed this out in many venues and at various times. She is hoping this post by Mr. Doran will get through to those stubborn self published authors who don’t believe in using an editor.
Book Hitch offers a free option to add your books to the site. This includes a 60-word description, 5 search keywords and a link to the site where readers can purchase your book. If you don’t mind paying a yearly fee you have the option of a more detailed listing. To see what other authors are doing visit Book Hitch and then open your free account!
Here’s a nifty website: Nothing Binding. Authors can register for a free account and upload information about their books. Another important feature is that you can meet and network with other writers. That’s always a good thing. Already using the site? Let us know how it’s going for you!
If you want to get noticed as a writer visit authonomy. This site was created by Harper Collins in order to find new talent and join writers and readers. You’ll need a few chapters of your work to get started. You can learn more at authonomy.
Link to your Amazon.com to Shelfari and import your books. You can interact with potential and current readers and build your platform and audience!
There are lots of places to post free books that are part of the Amazon.com KDP promotion. One place you may not have known about is the Kindle Boards the Book Bazaar subforum. You’ll need a free member account first and be sure to follow the rules before posting your freebie!
BookTalk.org is a free online reading group with thousands of members and hundreds of forums. If you have a book you want to introduce to readers find the fiction or non-fiction forum and watch what others do before you make your first post. Also, don’t forget to introduce yourself in the forum for introductions!
If you are jonesing for some feedback on your latest masterpiece before hiring an editor check out Wattpad. Register for a free account and load up a chapter or your whole masterpiece and wait for the feedback to roll in! Do you use Wattpad?
Writing-World has compiled a great list of resources for self published authors. I really love the fact that they created a button to give you a version suitable for printing! You can see the list here.
The SlideRocket blog has a fantastic freebie that is great for authors. They are giving away a free, customizable social media marketing plan template. If you don’t have a social media plan for your book you need one. This template will help you get off on the right foot AND keep you there!
Mashable is sharing their presentation “Top 10 Tips for Social Media Engagement” on Slideshare. If you already know Mashable skip the introductory slides and go right into the meat of the presentation. Our favorite slide is “10 Commandments Of Twitter Etiquette”. We wish the world would read and follow this list! You can see the presentation, and that slide, here.
Salesforce/Radian 6 has a nifty presentation on Slideshare called “30 Ideas For Your Social Media Plan”. Salesforce went through their most popular posts from 2011 and came up with 30 ideas that you can use for your author social media campaign. This not to be missed presentation is here.
Today I was looking at a few books for my Kindle when I noticed that almost all of them were lacking. Lacking what, you ask? They were lacking a complete description. Most of them had one line or two that didn’t tell enough about the book to make it worth buying. None of them had an author biography that is easy to create on the sales page itself or through Author Central on Amazon.com.
Your book is going to have hundreds if not thousands of authors competing for every dollar spent on books. Make your book stand out by writing a complete description of at least two paragraphs. Don’t know what to include? Here are some ideas:
The more you tell people about your book the more likely they are to want to buy it. Make sure you open an account on Author Central and write a nice biography for yourself!
From “Birds On The Blog” we have a clever blog post about “pinning” your ideal client to a Pinterest Board. We like this idea because you can tweak it to focus on your ideal reader. Pin pictures of people that represent your ideal reader and, as the article suggests, add demographics, psychographics and infographics of all sorts… You can read the entire article here and put your own twist on your Pinterest board!
Author Jennifer L. Jacobson shares an excerpt from her book “42 Rules of Social Media for Small Business” that is great advice for authors who blog:
While blog types vary, here are a few points to remember when writing a blog for your business:
A blog is a very personal thing and, if you have one, I suggest keeping in mind the persona from which your blog is written. Is your company a snowboard manufacturer, that has an edgy, super-cool blog voice, designed to glamour teens into thrashing the slopes through a wave of pure white powder? Or, perhaps your organic wine company is looking for the Über-Neo-Foodie voice entrenched in pagan culture, and opposed to anything that may block the very karma that holds all life forces together. Regardless, write your blog for your audience and expect that it will be read.
You can purchase the book “42 Rules of Social Media for Small Business” by clicking the link!
Want to make a whole lot more from your non-fiction book — maybe even enough to go full-time? After working with 12,000+ authors over the last 20 years, Steve Harrison has learned rich authors simply do seven key things differently than poor authors.
Join Steve for a free telephone seminar on Thursday, February 21st and he’ll share those things with you. I participated in Steve’s Quantum Leap program a few years ago and it was one of the best investments I’ve ever made in myself, my business and the 42Rules series. So much so that this is one of the few programs that I’m an affiliate for (by way of full transparency. 
To register go here now: http://bit.ly/VZzqTq
Author Marketing Experts has a very interesting newsletter that covers topics for writers and publishers. They do a good job in collating content from around the web that you might find interesting. Take a look at a recent newsletter here.
Has publishing a book been on your To-Do list for far too long? Then make 2013 the year it gets done! This webinar explains the strategy and process of taking your book idea from being just a glimmer in your eye to a real-live book on Amazon.com.
Attendees will learn:
* How to make your book work for you before it’s even written
* Publishing strategies that get your book to market fast
* How to make your book title drive website traffic and sales
* The 5-steps to writing a great book…really fast!
About your presenter: The 42Rules book series was started by long-time marketing executive, author and founder of Impact Marketing Group, Laura Lowell. Laura wanted to help experts write books and share their wisdom, while maintaining their current workload and lifestyle. Today, the 42Rules series outperforms industry standards for sales of independently published trade paperback book.
Join Laura Lowell on February 20, 2013 at 10:00 am PST. Register here!
