Many are quite familiar with Twitter, and probably don’t need much on an introduction, but just in case it’s new to you, Twitter can be a great way to find people talking about just about anything you’re interested in. It can also be a way for you to share your latest book or publication with others.

After you’ve joined Twitter, which is easy to do, along the right side of the page there is a search box. Just now I put “author” in the box, and you can click here to see the search results for author.

You can search for anything, then start “following” people that seem to share the same interests as you, and reply to what they are saying using the “reply” feature.  Before you know it people will be following you if you actively participate, set aside a little time each day to send out a few “tweets” it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time, and is another way to promote yourself and connect with like-minded people.

Related Post:

Using Twitter to Promote Your Book

Raj Patel tackles the subject of saving the planet….but maybe not the way you’re thinking, more like saving the planet from financial devastation.

The news is full of talk about big government, government overspending, the desire for government to be by the people and for the people, and not the people being controlled by the government. Raj Patel shares a refreshing perspective on how people need to organize themselves in ways so that we the people, not the governments, can decide how to share our world and it’s resources. The book “The Value of Nothing” with a big zero the cover, which fittingly opens with Oscar Wild’s quote “nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing,” is available now…you can find out much more about it through any of the links in this post. Be sure to listen to the author on the video below.

As a matter of fact, you may just be able to win a copy of the book.

Other books by the author include such compelling titles as “Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System”, “Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform”; “Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice” and “Voices of the Poor: Can Anybody Hear Us”.

If you have read my earlier post about Squidoo, you’ll know what a “lens” is, it’s a single page web site focused on a single topic using a large variety of “modules” supplied to you by Squidoo…you can do them quickly, and by choosing your “tags” or keywords carefully, can bring a nice number of visitors, and promote your book.  If your book is on Amazon, you would do well to use the “Amazon Spotlight” module as one of a number you can chose from, and search for your book through the module feature, and once you find it, “add” it, that’s all there is too it.  Then if anyone buys the book through your lens, you get a bit of money for it, and anything else they happen to buy while at the Amazon site. 

This week, a lens entitled “The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection” won the annual award offered by Squidoo to what they call “Giant Squids” (I know, it sounds a bit silly unless you visit and see what Squidoo is all about), an exceptional job done by a man who goes by username “Laddoo”, and when you’re there, be sure to click on his user id in the upper right of the page and view his other exceptional lenses.

But this gives you an idea of how you, a writer, author, publisher, or just anyone, can promote your interest.

If you would like me to do a lens for you, I would be happy to for a reasonable fee, contact me at bookreviews[at]happynutritionist.com

Related Lens - the following is a “how to” on how to use the SquidLit lens which is designed just for promoting or sharing about books, includes a video on how to get started with Squidoo:

Squidoo Squidlit to Promote Your Book

While this site is a resource with help for authors and writers, as well as reviews, The Authors Show is a place to listen to, or watch book reviews…they also have a newsletter that will help you if you are interested in information about publishing a book.

I am listening to a review right now as I type this…I don’t necessarily agree with what the author is presenting in his book, and it may be an entirely different book when you visit the site, by the way…but it is interesting to be able to hear the voice of the authors as they explain their books, and more.  I haven’t watched a review yet, but it can be done from this site.

You can also complete a form at the site if you would like to be interviewed.

Books and eBooks aren’t the only things that are “in print” that people find useful, or enjoy. There’s many ways that the written word can benefit us, here’s just a few obvious ones:

• Birthday Greetings (today is my sister’s birthday!)
• Christmas Greeting Cards
• Business Cards
• Party Invitations
• Wedding Invitations
• Even things as humble as the return address labels on an envelope.

You can make each of these items a promotional piece by adding your logo, or something that matches the cover of the latest book that you have written.  Then personalize them to your liking.  This can be done for business purposes or your own personal needs.

I visited the link above, and loved the pricing, and had some fun trying to design a few things of my own.  There’s a very large selection of ways to promote yourself, your book or ebook, or your business.

Authors, you may or may not be aware that Squidoo is a wonderful way to promote your books…it’s something that you can put together in a very short time to bring attention to your book, your website, your blog and more.

First, you must register. Squidoo is so easy, and provides you with many modules to make your page, and if you use good “tags”, choose your words carefully when you make your url - that means your “http”, or the “address” to your web page. Here is the address to my Squidoo Lensmasters page.  If you aren’t a member, you can join using appropriate links there or at any one of my lenses that you might visit - http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/happynutritionist 

If the terms “Squidoo” and “Lens” are confusing you, just think of it as a single-page blog.  Squidoo provides a special lens template for books called “SquidLit”.  Here is an example of a SquidLit I did recently: http://www.squidoo.com/heaven-by-randy-alcorn. You may prefer to use just the basic Squidoo lens if you prefer a brighter look, I’m going to use some of my html knowledge to brighten this one up later.

There are many tutorials available at the site, and I found the video below to be a quick explanation to give you and idea of how to get started…the same person that made this video made others, you can also visit YouTube and search “Squidoo Tutorials”.  But like I said, there are MANY tutorials at Squidoo’s site. 

Enjoy the video, and be sure to visit one or more of my lenses through one of the links above, and join if you aren’t a member already.  Don’t miss this approach to promoting your book, yourself, or whatever you want to write about!  It’s a great outlet for the writer in you, and each lens can bring traffic to your main site or blog. Now here’s the video:

Related Posts:

Using Twitter to Promote Your Book

Writing Articles to Promote Your Book

Getting Your Book Reviewed on Amazon

How to Do a Virtual Book or Author Tour

Social Network for Book Lovers