First off congrats to Shelli for snagging an agent. And, has everyone checked out my writing pardner, Beth's new blog look? WHOA! It is totally awesome and totally Beth.
I read an interesting article this morning. It talked about Google Alerts and Twitter Tweets Alert Digest. Simply put, these alerts let you know when your name is mentioned. For any reason. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The article said that authors need these alerts. You can tell these alerts what you want them to find for you and they do it. BTW, when I googled my name I discovered that there are many, many, many Robyn Campbells in our universe. Who knew?? Out of all the RC's I did find moi. *smiles*
What does all this mean? Dunno. But this article said it was very important to sign up for these alerts, and I always want to do what's important in my writing, yup, you guessed it, I signed up.
Once you've got an alert, you react to it immediately. Hey, that's great PR. If someone says something bad about you, that is untrue, you must dismiss it publicly. Now if it is true, apologize and get on with life. If a person says something nice about you, your book, or your blog, you thank them. Publicly. Truly. That's great advertising for you and great PR. What say you? Thanks for reading. :)
Congrats Shelly!
ReplyDeleteI saw Beth's blog. It's definitely more Beth this time! I think that alert thing is great. You can immediately respond to the twests that concern you, whether they're good or bad. Also, it's pretty fun to receive an alert on your name!
My writing partner, Becky said that she learned that someone had posted a piece of her writing without permission by googling herself. Those google alerts are a good thing! Congratulations to your friend, Shelly!
ReplyDeleteLiyana, that's what I thought--pretty fun. I can't believe my name came up in the form of so many different people. And you need to be able to respond to the good or the bad. :)
ReplyDeleteI want to know if someone does that to me. I hope your writing partner got that taken care of. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really great! Thanks for passing along the info.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I shall have to look into it more when I'm no longer so obscure. ;-)
I didn't know they had a tool like that. I think it's great. I have a friend who published a book a few months ago. And, recently, I found that someone had given him a great review. He had no idea that anyone read his book because he never googles himself. This could be very useful for people like that.
ReplyDeleteI love Google Alerts. They really do help keep track of who's mentioning you or your book so you can drop in and acknowledge it!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the new blog look!! :)
ReplyDeleteGoogle Alerts help me keep track of who linked me--then I can find blogs by people who liked me so I can like them back. :)
Hey BJ, you're welcome. I couldn't believe it when I found myself among all of the Robyn Campbells. :)
ReplyDeleteDanyelle, you never know. You may find yourself when you google your name. :)
Davin, Yes, your friend could definitely use it. Us too, when we are published. :)
PJ, I agree and I'll be there someday soon, so I am thankful I discovered it. :)
Beth, did you tell me about this last year sometime? I know there was something else you were going to show me, but it wasn't this. Can't remember. :)
Google Alerts are awesome. Yes, I sometimes see posts about Cape Breton folk musician Jennifer Roland, but most of the time, they are about me.
ReplyDeleteI also have them set up for fun topics, like the breed of dog that I own. That's how I found out that fellow UO graduate and new Seahawks player Max Unger also owns a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. It's fun stuff.
Jennifer,It is awesome!! I'm glad I found it. Can't wait to see my book reviews. :)
ReplyDeleteI tried them in another context and didn't get much use from them, because the search always seemed to be for someone else with my name. But I haven't tried it with my pen name. Hm.
ReplyDeleteHmm, might work using your pen name. It is for someone else with me right now, but in the future, I want to know who is reviewing my book, etc. Thanks for stopping by. :)
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