In internet-savvy circles [Amanda Hocking] has been embraced as a figurehead of the digital publishing revolution that is seen as blowing up the traditional book world – or “legacy publishing” as its detractors call it – and replacing it with the ebook, where direct contact between author and reader, free of the mediation of agent and publishing house, is but a few clicks away. There is certainly something to that argument. The arrival of Hocking onto the Kindle bestseller lists in barely over a year is symptomatic of a profound shift in the book world that has happened contiguously. Her rise has occurred at precisely the moment that self-publishing itself turned from poor second cousin of the printed book into a serious multi-million dollar industry. Two years ago self-publishing was itself denigrated as “vanity publishing” – the last resort of the talentless. Not any more.

Read the full article at guardian.co.uk.

No, it’s not a trick question.

Fact is, Amazon may not be selling your 99c ebook for 99c. It may well be selling your 99c ebook for $3.50, and pocketing most of the difference.

For those of you lucky enough to have strong sales from the US market it’s perhaps not something you’ve ever given a thought to. And when you look at the six million Kindlefires expected to be sold over the Holidays, plus all the nooks, it’s really not something you need worry about.

Sellers with a strong US base can expect a bonanza this Christmas season for sure.

But spare a thought for the rest of the world. Because the vast majority of your potential readers don’t live in the USA. And if you’re thinking, So what? Amazon is the world’s biggest book store and my book is available for 99c anywhere in the world, then think again.

Read the full story at thewritersguidetoepublishing.com

Do you organize real-life events? Social media can help you promote them – and save time, says Laura Austin.

Image © Toby Rhind-Tutt

How do we organize our bi-monthly BookMachine tweetups alongside full time jobs? Well, doing this has only become possible in the last few years, and all thanks to social media. We spend just two to three hours a week on promoting our events. Here are the top five free tools that help us out:

1. Twitter

Twitter works best if you use it little and often – that way you get to follow the trends and keep in touch with your followers, but without losing sight of the rest your life! In other words, it’s extremely addictive but equally extremely effective.

We have been using it for a year and now have over 1,150 followers, many of who come to our parties. We have learnt so much by following interesting people and also extended our network and knowledge of the industry by reading the constant stream of articles on our timeline.

BookMachine’s Top tips:

• use DMs for more personal contact
• always thank people for RTs
• use Tweetdeck to schedule your tweets so you can get on with the rest of your life.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp software is ideal for starting out with email campaigns. We send out weekly newsletters to our distribution list. It enables us to easily monitor response rates. The best feature is the mobile app which allows you check data on the move. Using the app you can also add new contacts to your distribution list as-and-when you meet them.

It is very intuitive and provides an array of pre-designed templates to get you started. From the easy-to-follow analytics we can check which campaigns are most read and which articles are clicked on. It’s interesting to see how many people might read the same email up to 18 times!

BookMachine’s Top tips:

• carefully analyze your stats so you increase click through rates
• don’t add folks without asking permission first – if you do they’ll block you and if you are blocked too often you will be blacklisted by anti-spam software
• take the app with your everywhere so you can always add contacts.

3. WordPress

WordPress makes building and updating a website much easier. Previously only a platform for blogging, WordPress has become a fully-fledged web content management system, used by some of the biggest sites on the net. Using free plugins, it is easy to integrate feeds from all our social media profiles, and create a real ‘base camp’ for BookMachine. Once set up, we just add our articles weekly using the handy management tools, and hit ‘publish’, no fancy coding involved!

BookMachine’s Top tips:

• there are a multitude of high-quality (and free) themes available for WordPress, pick one and give your site a more polished look
• don’t buy an expensive web hosting package if you only want a simple blog, host for free using wordpress.com
• use Google’s Analytics code with WordPress so you can track visits to your site (in terrifying levels of detail)
• be sure to add social links to your posts so your content can easily be shared on social media sites.

4. Eventbrite

We have just started using Eventbrite for event sign ups and so far it seems to fit the bill very nicely. It enables you to set up a few events at once and event-goers are then sent invitations, which you can customize. For example, Atwood Tate are sponsoring the drinks at our next event, and we’ve been able to personalize each and every invitation with their logo on it.

You also have the option to insert a map of the venue and attendees can either sign up with their name and company, just their name or anonymously, depending on the type of event you’d like to hold.

BookMachine’s Top tips:

• link up Eventbrite with your Mailchimp account, and easily send out event invitations to your mailing list
• do something interesting with your tickets – we might hold a raffle at the next BookMachine event using them. Maybe.

5. Facebook

We are also quite new to the world of Facebook brand pages. When we first signed up we started an ads campaign so that people who were interested in publishing were enticed with BookMachine adverts. The response rate to this was good, and we made some interesting contacts this way, although we found it to be too expensive to be continued long term.

We have many contacts whose only regular social media usage is with Facebook, so it’s really important to be present here, even if your updates are less frequent than with Twitter or LinkedIn. It’s also a good way to share great content from your website as people can ‘like’ and comment on your posts.

If you do wish to feed your Twitter posts into Facebook, make sure you only do so for tweets marked with #fb. This way there won’t be a content overload.

BookMachine’s Top tips:

• set it up so your WordPress articles feed automatically into your Facebook feed so it runs itself in terms of new content
• similarly set it up so that there are no more than two updates a day – no one wants their Facebook homepage overloaded with posts from one contact
• make sure you like other interesting pages via your Facebook page so that you are able to follow and support others with their marketing too.

Sign up for the next BookMachine party. Simultaneous events are being held in London and Edinburgh on 25th August.

If you’re not yet familiar with hashtags, they are simply words or phrases used in tweets with the # symbol in front of them. Make sure you don’t use any spaces or punctuation, and they become links in Twitter that, when clicked, reveal a timeline of everyone whose tweets contain that hashtag. To make the most of your hashtags, include a relevant weblink where appropriate and where space permits.

Here are my top 10 hashtags for writers, with suggestions for how to use them – and a recent example of each plucked from the Twittersphere. Click on a few of them to get a feel for hashtags and how you might use them – and do share any others you’ve found useful in the comments below.

1. #amwriting

Writing can be a solitary experience, and Twitter is a great way of connecting with other writers. It’s like a virtual watercooler. #amwriting is a hashtag started by Johanna Harness as a way of supporting writers and fostering a sense of community. It even has its own website at amwriting.org. Use it to tell us what you’re working on, support and learn from others, and share your experience.

Crossing the 50K mark on this first draft tonight! Over halfway done and still right in the thick of things! #amwriting

July 27, 2011 7:29 pm via TweetDeck Reply Retweet Favorite

@sposcente

Stephanie Poscente

2. #amediting

If you’re at the editing stage, let people know and ask for any advice you need.

Writing is easy but crafting the words and honing the plot sure isn't! #amediting

July 27, 2011 4:20 pm via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@mmrule

mmrule

3. #WriterWednesday

#WriterWednesday or #ww was originally intended as a way to give shout-out to writers / suggest authors to follow, or to share writing tips. In practice, it also covers pretty much anything else to do with writers or writing too.

A big #WriterWednesday shoutout to @johannaharness, whose #amwriting community is two years old today! http://bit.ly/oXUf2S #WW

August 3, 2011 12:56 pm via bitly Reply Retweet Favorite

@publishingtalk

Publishing Talk

4. #writetip

While #WriterWednesday is sometimes used to share writing tips as well as give shoutouts to writers, if you specifically want to share or find writing tips, use #writetip.

Avoiding distractions frees up more time to write http://ow.ly/5OoPh #writing #writetip

July 27, 2011 2:15 pm via HootSuite Reply Retweet Favorite

@JodyCalkins

Jody Calkins

5. #wordcount

For some people, regularly sharing your word count in public can be a great way to stay focused. Use it to share your successes (and failures!) and motivate yourself and other writers.

Today has been an AMAZING success. I successfully avoided writing a single word, leaving my August #wordcount at 777. #campnanowrimo

August 3, 2011 12:42 am via TweetDeck Reply Retweet Favorite

@mightylauren

Lauren Anderson

6. #followfriday

#followfriday or #ff is one of the most popular hashtags on Twitter, used on a Friday to suggest people to follow to your followers. Ideally, don’t just include a list of @usernames – tell us why we should follow the person or people you suggest. You can do them one at a time, or include a list of people grouped together by topic or reason.

#ff can help raise your profile too, if people return the favour, or at least thank you in public. This isn’t why you should do it – but it’s an added bonus if it happens.

Thank you! RT @miss_givans: #ff publishing folk: @LOSTINFICTIONUK @ThebutterflyT @scrollscast @lornableach @helenahalme @publishingtalk

July 29, 2011 11:33 am via TweetDeck Reply Retweet Favorite

@helenahalme

Helena Halme

7. #fridayreads

Another thing you can do on a Friday is tell us what you’re reading. This can be a good way of name-checking other authors your admire – or even promoting yourself if you can persuade your friends to include you in their #fridayreads!

Ideally, include the Twitter @username of the author and official hashtag for the book if either exist; and a link to the book on Amazon. If you have an Amazon Associates account, you might even earn a few dollars (pounds, euros etc.) if people buy your Friday Read on your recommendation.

And if someone else gives a shoutout to one of your books – whether one that you’ve written, or one that you’ve published – retweet it on your own Twitter account, and add it to your ‘Favorite’ tweets.

xoxo RT @thejumbles: Found a package from @penguinusa waiting on my stoop. Rules of Civility, my new #fridayreads; Penguin, my new crush.

July 29, 2011 2:35 pm via HootSuite Reply Retweet Favorite

@penguinusa

Penguin Books USA

8. #writingprompts

Use #writingprompts as a way of engaging with other writers by suggesting a trigger for a story; or to look for writing inspiration yourself. Sarah Salway starts her Twitter day with a writing prompt, for example. Also check #writingprompt (no ‘s’), since this is used too; and maybe throw in an #amwriting for good measure! You’ll notice that many of the hashtags in this list are combined where appropriate.

A writing prompt for today: The subtitle for your life #amwriting #writingprompts

August 2, 2011 7:36 am via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@sarahsalway

sarahsalway

9. #bookgiveaway

Running a book giveaway on Twitter? Use #bookgiveaway to help people discover it.

#bookgiveaway time! Which pig built a house out of bricks? 1st, 2nd or 3rd? Tweet us ur answer & u could win a copy of http://t.co/7MBBNph

August 3, 2011 1:20 pm via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@fridayproject

Friday Project

10. #askagent

You know that you should never pitch to an agent on Twitter, right? They really don’t like it. However, you should follow them, and many are prepared to give advice on Twitter. #askagent is the hashtag to use, which some agents will seek out to answer your questions. #askpub and #askeditor are variations to ask questions of publishers and editors.

OK I am starting the August Open Thread early so you can hit me with your great questions. http://t.co/932UlDV #AskAgent

July 31, 2011 12:59 pm via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@literaticat

jennifer laughran

Let us know which other hashtags you find useful – and find more practical Twitter tips in The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter.

Looking for a job in publishing? Suzanne Collier shares her top ten tips for using Twitter for your job search.

As with all social networking, when it comes to job searching there are some big ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. Twitter on its own is unlikely to find you a job: you may see jobs advertised (and you’ll need to respond quickly if you do), but it should be used as the means to finding a job, and your personal marketing tool.

1. Do choose your username carefully. To be part of your true job search brand use your own name. Then when you then start sending in speculative enquiries or job applications, as soon as your email or application lands on the recruiter’s desk or inbox you are instantly recognised by your real name – the one on your CV / resumé. Twitter has a unique way of making complete strangers feel like they know you. People repeatedly come up to me at publishing events and introduce themselves saying ‘I follow you on Twitter’ and then launch into a conversation about something I have tweeted or discussed with them on Twitter.
2. Do interact with people. I don’t auto-follow, but aim to respond to all @messages directed to me. Do this with the person who has advertised the job – make them feel like they know you, because you have responded to a tweet, or interacted with them.
3. Do use a real photograph of yourself as your profile image. When you walk into a recruiter’s office for an interview or meet them at a networking event there can be that moment when the recruiter instantly recognises you. ‘Ah, you look exactly like your profile pic’, can be a great start to an interview.
4. Don’t leave your biography blank. If you are in a position to state you are looking for a job then do so in this field. If not, see if you can add your current job title and add something personal too, maybe even some slight humour ‘loves coffee’ ‘loves cake’ are two of the most popular things I read on Twitter biographies. At all times keep your biography professional. If you follow someone and they don’t know you and your biography is blank they are unlikely to follow you back. And remember if you are tweeting for yourself but mention the name of your employer in your tweets then do add ‘all tweets are my own’ to ensure no one believes you are tweeting on behalf of the company.
5. Don’t protect your tweets. Yes, it means everyone can read everything you tweet or Google your tweets, but the whole point of Twitter is that it is an open network. Unless there is a very good reason for protecting your tweets, then make them open. Many people on Twitter are unlikely to follow back someone who has protected their tweets, and your tweets cannot be retweeted. Either participate on Twitter or don’t be on Twitter at all.
6. Do follow people you want to work for. Follow publisher accounts, and people who work for the publisher. Check out who they are retweeting or recommending for a #ff (Follow Friday) – very often it is their ‘own’ people. If you want to work in editorial, for example, see how many book publishing editors you can find on twitter, not so much for you to tweet ‘give us a job’ to them, but so you can get an insight to their job and the work they do. This will help you if you are so fortunate to get an interview with them. There are some very good lists of publishing people who are on Twitter, plus a number of people who have their own Twitter lists. One of mine, for example, is @suzannecollier/recruiters, a great resource if you are looking for a job. As soon as I know someone is tweeting publishing vacancies continuously I add them to the list, so you don’t miss out.
7. Don’t look desperate. Even though you are looking for a job, don’t keep tweeting several times a day that you are looking for a job, as aside from appearing desperate (it is okay – we know you are), it is also dull, boring and unattractive.
8. Do proofread all your tweets before sending. Don’t use swear words or text speak and don’t tweet about things you don’t want your mother to read (my mum is following me on Twitter – that keeps me in check!) The best thing to do is to follow others and watch their lead, or ‘lurk’, before stepping out into the big wide twitterstream.
9. Do look professional. It is imperative that you don’t tweet things that could backfire on your job search and at all times you tweet like the professional person that you are. It is okay for you to say you have lots to do, or are very busy, but if you tweet you are exhausted at 3pm in the afternoon, why would someone want to employ you, if you can’t fulfil a day’s work? Don’t be disrespectful to people on Twitter who don’t reply or offer you an interview, or people who have offered you an interview and you didn’t get the job. Why on earth would someone else then want to interview you if you tweet only bad things about people?
10. Do not tweet between 12 am and 5 am on a weekday unless you are in another time zone, or people know you are stuck somewhere. Again, why would someone want to employ you if they think you are not getting enough sleep? This might sound like something from the dark ages, but in a competitive job market you have to remember that recruiters want to employ people who will give their best. And you are someone who can give their best, so show it.

There are no hard and fast rules about what to tweet; you need to find your own ground, but remember, your future employer may (or may not) be reading your tweets.

This post is an extract from The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter. Find out more and download a free chapter at www.publishingtalk.eu/guides/twitter.

In a feat that even the best-selling writers might envy, young-adult author John Green’s latest novel is No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com even though he’s still working on it from his comfy La-Z-Boy in Indianapolis.

With “The Fault in Our Stars,” the author has overtaken hot books by Suzanne Collins and Laura Hillenbrand. His book won’t be published until the spring of next year.

It helped that Mr. Green, a 33-year-old who first gained attention in 2005 with his debut novel “Looking for Alaska,” has more than 1.1 million Twitter followers. Mr. Green is published by Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Pearson PLC’s Penguin Group (USA), but he does his own thing on the Web. “I don’t take direction from Penguin,” he says.

Continue reading at online.wsj.com.

Back in the old days, book promotion heavily relied on the traditional press. I remember the challenge of promoting my first book (Writing White Papers) back in 2006. I had to work with journals and print magazines—and their long editorial cycles. I also needed to speak at physical events and perform many other time-consuming tasks.

The success of a book promotion hinged on getting it reviewed by the “right publications.”

This typically meant spending thousands of dollars on PR firms who had established contacts with elite publications and creating press releases that hopefully caught the eyes of editors. Not to mention a lot of prayer.

Today, authors have an amazing advantage. Not only are there millions of bloggers whose collective audience is larger and more engaged than that of the traditional press, there are also millions of consumers who are one click away from sharing your work with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Power to the people!

If you can make it easy for people to share and get excited about your book, you won’t need to spend big bucks or hope you make the list of some old newspaper that no-one really reads anymore.

Below I’ll share the techniques I used to help my book go viral with social media.

Read the full post at socialmediaexaminer.com and follow Social Media Examiner on Twitter at @smexaminer.

“Every author should read this” – Celia Brayfield

• Get more followers
• Sell more books
• Tweet like a pro
• Save time working it all out for yourself!

Twitter is an Internet phenomenon, yet is the social media tool that confuses more than most. With over 200 million users, it is a vital place to reach readers online and promote your books – but where do you start?

The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter is the only Twitter marketing guide you need. It tells you all you need to know to get started and make the most of the medium – whether you’re a publisher or an author. Packed with practical advice, tips and real-life examples throughout, this ebook demystifies Twitter and guides you step-by-step to marketing success.

About the author: Jon Reed is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Publishing Talk, which has the largest publishing community on Twitter with over 180,000 followers. He previously worked in publishing for 10 years, including as publishing director for McGraw-Hill. His book Get Up to Speed with Online Marketing was published by FT Prentice Hall in 2010.

Title: The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter
Author: Jon Reed
Hashtag: #ptgtwitter
Length: 32,000 words

• PDF Download: £9.95 (about $15 / €12) – plus VAT within the EU
• Kindle from Amazon.com: $6.99
• Kindle from Amazon.co.uk: £4.43
• Kindle from Amazon.de: €5.45
• Kindle from Amazon.fr: €5.45

Unlike print books, ebooks are subject to VAT within the EU. Kindle prices include VAT in the EU.

Buy PDF edition:

Buy Kindle edition:

Don’t have a Kindle yet? Get yours now from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Reviews

Jon Reed’s guide is an invaluable and – crucially – easy to understand map of the world of Twitter and the gateways it offers. I can’t wait to publish my third novel and capitalise on my new-found knowledge.
Sue Cook, broadcaster, author and presenter of The Write Lines (BBC Oxford)

Every author should read this. A brilliant guide to creating a social network presence for a book – tips, tricks and and case studies from the go-to guy in social media.
Celia Brayfield, author and Head of Creative Writing Programme, Brunel University

Highly recommended. An invaluable guide to Twitter that expertly navigates the high seas of effective networking with flourish and wit.
Sarah Such, Founder and Owner of Sarah Such Literary Agency, London

This comprehensive yet accessible guide draws on its author’s deep expertise in social media to help publishers build a credible presence, enabling them to reach out and engage with new audiences in new ways.
Simon Juden, former CEO of the Publishers Association

Packed full of handy tips, interesting case studies and useful step-by-step practical guidance. A much-needed lifeline for all those closet Twitterphobes within publishing who wish they knew how to engage with this social media phenomenon.
Sanphy Thomas, Head of Books Marketing, SAGE

Crammed with Twitter success stories and practical tips, which help aspiring writers, published authors and publishers achieve their goals.
Anna Faherty, Lecturer in Publishing, Kingston Writing School

Jon Reed is uniquely positioned as a social media expert with a publishing background to provide relevant and timely information to an industry that needs to find new ways to connect with consumers.
Kate Wilson, Founder and Managing Director, Nosy Crow

Packed with top tips, practical examples and written by one of our brightest and best commentators on social media. A must read for all publishing students.
Beverley Tarquini, Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes International Centre for Publishing Studies

If you are an author or a publisher and not on Twitter, you need to be on it today. Your very next action before you start tweeting should be to get and read a copy of The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter by Jon Reed – the Twitter bible for authors. Tom Evans aka The Bookwright, author of Blocks, Flavours of Thought and The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments.

About the eBook

Sample pages from PDF edition

The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter takes you step by step through the process of planning your strategy, setting up your account and tweeting effectively.

You will learn how to:

• Get to grips with the ‘New Twitter’ interface
• Identify your goals and decide on what type of Twitter account(s) you need
• Decide what to tweet and how often
• Build a following in your niche community of interest
• Increase your followers
• Understand the dos and dont’s of Twitter etiquette
• Master hashtags and use them effectively
• Reach out to new readers (and/or agents and publishers)
• Automatically tweet your blog with Twitterfeed
• Shorten your links with bitly
• Tweet a daily online newspaper with paper.li
• Create Twitter Lists
• Integrate Twitter with other social media tools to make your reach even more powerful
• Create buzz around your book with Q&As, twinterviews, giveaways and tweetups
• Use a range of third-party tools to enhance your Twitter experience
• Develop a clear action plan for using Twitter as a promotional tool.

You’ll be able to use Twitter effectively to make connections, build a following and promote your book(s) – even if you have never tweeted before.

Includes contributions from:

• Sarah Salway on how Twitter propelled her book into the top 250 in the Kindle charts
• Lucy Coats on how she makes the most of Twitter as a children’s author
• Suzanne Collier on how to use Twitter to find a publishing job
• Nick Belardes on his experience of producing the first Twitter lit novel
• Johanna Harness on the success of the #amwriting hashtag
• Oxford University Press on how they gained thousands of followers for their @OxfordWords Twitter account
• Waterstones booksellers on the benefits they gain from running ‘twinterviews’

…and many more, who share their ‘Top Twitter Tips’ in their Twitter Success Stories.

Sample Chapter

Sample chapter from PDF edition

Everyone wants to increase their followers on Twitter, right? Find out how by downloading a sample chapter from the ebook. Chapter 15: How to Increase your Followers includes:

• Three reasons to increase your followers
• Eight ways to increase your followers
• A Twitter Success Story showing how @OxfordWords increased their followers.

Download the sample chapter for free – or rather, by paying with a tweet – another tool recommended in the book! Try it out for yourself by clicking the button:

Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction

Part One: TWITTER FOR AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS
1. Why Twitter Works for Authors and Publishers
2. Ways for Authors and Publishers to use Twitter
3. How to Use Twitter to Find a Publishing Job

Part Two: USING TWITTER STRATEGICALLY
4. Twitter and the Sales Funnel
5. What Are Your Goals?
6. What Sort of Twitter Account?

Part Three: GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
7. Finding Your Way Around Twitter
8. How to Set Up Your Twitter Account
9. Twitter Terminology
10. How to Find People to Follow
11. What do I Tweet?
12. How to use Hashtags
13. How Often Should I Tweet?
14. Twitter Dos and Don’ts
15. How to Increase Your Followers

Part Four: MAKING THE MOST OF TWITTER
16. How to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
17. How to Shorten URLs
18. How to Tweet your Blog
19. How to Link Twitter to Facebook and LinkedIn
20. How to Create a Twitter list

Part Five: CREATING BOOK BUZZ WITH TWITTER
21. How to Host a Q&A
22. How to Run a Giveaway
23. How to Organize a Tweetup

Part Six: TWITTER RESOURCES
24. 100 Twitter Tools to Help You Market your Book
25. 100 Publishing People to Follow on Twitter
26. Your Twitter Action Plan
27. Further Reading

So why not do the same for books? This is a question recently posed on Twitter by Ian Greenleigh (@be3d).

I'd like to see more books w/ official hashtags so readers can discuss while reading. Not just SM books.

April 22, 2011 9:40 pm via Twitter for iPad Reply Retweet Favorite

@be3d

Ian Greenleigh

The idea is to have an official hashtags for each book, printed on the flyleaf, on the cover – even at the top of each page – to encourage discussion of the book on Twitter.

Ian had a positive response and wrote a blog post about it. Seth Godin picked up on the idea, and mailed his list with a link to Ian’s post and a list of official hashtags for his books. From Ian’s blog:

Readers would have access to a sort of whenever-you-care-to-contribute book club, where they could discuss the content, share related links and recommendations, and–perhaps the most appealing feature to me–add people with similar interest graphs to their social networks. Because the niche community would form on Twitter, an existing social network, it would be far likelier to reach the activity level at which online communities become sustainable and vibrant, unlike siloed, built-from-scratch communities like private forums, where the barriers to entry deter many from joining what they see as “yet another” social network.

Authors would stand to gain even more. By facilitating the foundation and growth of these hashtag communities, authors would be tapping into a goldmine of word of mouth, reader loyalty, consumer data, actionable feedback, jacket-worthy praise, and of course, book sales from new readers who learn of an author’s work through related activity on Twitter. A fan base like that can’t be bought, and can rarely be built.

Read Ian Greenleigh’s full post at: daretocomment.com

It’s a simple idea but, as Twitter becomes more and more mainstream, one that could help book promotion by giving readers the tools to do it for you.

Find more book marketing ideas in The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter – which has the official hashtag #ptgtwitter!

When I made my first halting steps into kindle publishing, I was fortunate enough to stumble headlong into Maria Schneider, author of Catch an Honest Thief. She’s been treading the independent waters for years, and taught me pretty much everything I know about indie publishing. Thank you, Maria!

Today, I’ll focus on kindle publishing, but the principles apply equally well to Nook, Smashwords, PubIt, and other distribution systems.

LESSON #1: Content Comes First
This ought to be a no-brainer, but I’m going to spell it out anyway. Don’t assume that just because kindle publishing has no gatekeepers, you can skip important steps like revision, peer critiques, proofreading, and so forth. Take your time and write a manuscript that’s every bit as worthy of New York publishing as the ones you were actually sending out to agents.

Read all eight of Nancy Fulder’s lessons at nancyfulda.livejournal.com and follow her on Twitter at @NancyFulda.