It’s National Friendship Week … reach out and let someone you care for know that you are thinking of them.        

Tweets are faster than a speeding bird …

below are Author U’s Top Ten Tweets from the past week that you may have missed …

Success & Resources

6 Things Social Media Can’t Do For You http://ow.ly/cRFsg  

Amazon & Book Ownership. Who owns your book review? http://t.co/wkrHoSLh

How to Increase Your Book’s Amazon Rank  http://t.co/IZHx9GJr

Authoring & Writing & Speaking

13 Writing Tips To Make You A Better Blogger http://ow.ly/d4xGL  

Words from the savvy and wise Joel Friedlander: AUTHORNOMICS http://t.co/kEJxNGBv  

Social Media & Marketing  What do you think? 13 Blogging Learned The Hard Way  http://ow.ly/cV0Ll

A recent reader of the Author U blog emailed about her strategy for marketing her book. She was an alumnus of a university with a few hundred thousand graduates and 15,000 current student body. Getting a review in the alumni magazine was her game plan. Assuming it was positive, that, she felt, would spread the “get this book” word.

Other forms of marketing would be bypassed. She didn’t want to put her time or energy into other forms of marketing, including all things social media. Blogging and Facebook were questionable. Reviews would be her strategy alone. Those she would direct to her past educational connections.  She writes, “Isn’t that one review worth more than all of my blogging would be?”

Maybe, maybe not. Could she succeed in creating a book buzz? Would it create the momentum to propel her book forward? And would it create the tipping point?  Success book sales do have a tipping point … sometimes it’s obvious as book sales begin to domino; most times, it’s the collective energies and actions of a variety of activities.

Book Publishing Savvy Today:

Do You Know Where Your Book Sales Come From?

       Do You Know Where Your Clients Come From?

              Do You Know Where Your ____ Comes From?

Having a marketing and sales background, it was drilled in that I had to follow my leads, track my leads and know where my business came from. Maybe. Maybe not … at least today. The Internet has changed a lot of the rules of yesterday … yesteryear. It’s fast forward time…

If you have a product—a book, consulting services or any other product—today, it’s all about being “out there”—exposed, talked about, findable.

Maybe it’s time to stop asking the question, Do you know where your business is coming from? Because there isn’t a definable answer. Maybe the answer is in the response zone of “… just because.”

Your Guide to Book Publishing: Everything You Wanted to Know about Publishing and Didn’t Know to Ask radio show is live on Thursday, January 5th on the Rock Star Network at 6 p.m. EST; 5 p.m CST; 4 p.m. MST; 3 p.m. PST. Plan on a fast paced magazine format. Participate live and download the podcast.  Join Dr. Judith Briles and her guests: Book Marketing guru’s Penny Sansevieri and Brian Jud along with others for the first show. 

Here’s info for online listening:  http://rockstarradionetwork.com/shows/yourguidetobookpublishing 

And for calling in live and participating:  866-404-6519

Don’t you love it when authors actually take their own advice? Today, Author U has a special guest who will answer your questions about Book Blog Tours. Dana Lynn Smith has one put together for her latest book, Virtual Book Tour Magic. Her tour has been over the past two weeks.

Here’s why this book makes marketing sense for today’s author:

• The author has a clear vision of her goal.
• She responded immediately to any questions that I have before our big day.
• She sent me her guest post Questions a week before it was due to run.
• She also sent me copy to use in social media promotion-so helpful.
• She is going to be available to respond to questions that Blog readers have about virtual blog tours.
• She also sent me a reminder the day before, just in case–always smart–we are all busy and a little goose is helpful!