In a few weeks, everything on your Facebook profile, plus your photos, everything you’ve ever “Liked”, everything you’ve ever posted and more will be available unless you tell Facebook otherwise.   For more information on this important privacy change, go to this Techlicious blog post.

What’s the best way to get fans to “Like” your Facebook page other than blatantly asking them to or bribing them with a prize?  In a study of 10,000 Facebook fans done by Roost.com, they found that photos generate 50% more impressions than any other type of content.  Next, are quotes which provide 22% more interactions that any other content.  Questions results in two times the number of comments than any other post type.  On Twitter, quotes and retweets rule.  You can read the details of the survey findings here. 

Roost also offers a free social networking tool to help you plan and execute your activities across Facebook and Twitter, which could save you considerable time and energy. You can also run a free Roost Local Scorecard evaluation of your Facebook fanbase.

If you have a print or ebook on Amazon, you are eligible to set up an author profile page.  This is accessed from the “More About the Author” section of your book sales pages.  Here’s a look at my author profile.

To set up your own profile, you must sign up at Amazon Author Central.  You’ll be prompted to identify your book(s) and respond to a verification email, then you’re ready to go.  You can upload your photo, enter your blog feed address and publicize upcoming events.  Take advantage of this great marketing tool!

Thanks to Dana Lynn Smith, author of How to Sell More Book on Amazon, for this tip.

What do visitors see when they view your blog or website?  The general rule is that the first view of your home page should capture the reader’s attention without having to scroll or click, so that they’ll spend more time on your site. To find out what they see, visit Google Browser Size application and enter your blog or website’s URL.  Click on About Browser Size for more detailed information.  

I’d like to introduce you to Doug Simpson, a fellow author whose debut novel, Soul Awakening, was released last October in the U.S.  If you’ve ever been fascinated by past lifetimes or reincarnation, you’ll want to check out Doug’s book.  Here is a link to a recent interview with Doug on Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog.

A big thank you to Dee Owen for posting my interview in her blog, Mum’s Writings, Mystery and More.

We authors are always looking for unique ways to promote our books. One idea is to create your own holiday, or even better, link your book to a holiday someone else has already created.  For instance, did you know that the second week of January is letter-writing week?  If you’ve written a book that involves letters, why not launch a publicity campaign that week?  

Here are some others ideas for the month of January: the release of your new book could be tied to Make Your Dream Come True Day, or your recipe book could link to National Pie Day, or your children’s book could match up with Winnie the Pooh Day. 

Here’s a website with a list of unique holidays in January.  Let your imagination run wild!  

If you have ever wanted to write a book or be published and you live in the Northern California area, please join me and three other local authors for our presentation, “So You Want to Write a Book,” at the Moraga Library on January 7, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30.  We will discuss our writing process and publishing experiences.  A Q&A session will follow.

The members of the panel are:

Barbara Bentley (A Dance with the Devil: A True Story of Marriage to a Psychopath).  When life threw her an unexpected curve, Barbara took the experience and turned it into a book to help others understand the crazymaking world of the psychopath.  Her story has been featured on Dateline NBC.

Jon Cory (A Plague of Scoundrels). Retirement enabled Jon to return to creative writing after a career in business. His debut novel received the 2009 Independent Publishers’ Silver Medal award for popular fiction. 

Alfred J. Garrotto (The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story)   A native of Santa Monica, CA, Al now lives in Contra Costa County. In addition to his writing career, he serves as a lay minister specializing in adult faith formation in a local Roman Catholic parish.

Judith Marshall (Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever). The novel won the Jack London Prize awarded by the California Writers Club and has been optioned for the big screen.

Hope to see you there! 

Moraga Library, 1500 St. Mary’s Road, Moraga, CA 94556  (925) 376-6852 

A big thank you to Doug Lentes for showcasing me and my book on his site Paper Dragon Ink.  If you have a minute, please leave a comment.

Happy Holidays!

Indie authors have known for a while that a good book trailer can be a great marketing tool.  It’s taken a while, but traditional publishers like Random House and St. Martin’s Press have finally caught on.  The difference is that while an indie author might set up his or her video camera in the back yard, a big publisher will hire a professional filmmaker and a cadre of actors to the tune of around $50K.  You can log on to Google TV right now and see the trailer for “Retribution,” the latest chapter in the para-normal serious, “Dark Hunter.”  

I love that indie authors thought of this first, and now the big houses are copying us.