Writer's Digest Conference January 2011

Writer's Digest Conference in New York, January 21-23, 2011. Topics include branding, marketing, publishing options, revision, building the perfect plot, blogging, and more. Check out the session descriptions and speakers. There is something for everyone!

How to Use Twitter - Video

How to Create and Upload a Podcast

I'm not a Windows user, but I have some friends who are. Therefore, I'm sharing this video on how to create and upload a podcast.

For those of you using Macs, here's a version for Mac Users: How to Create a Video Podcast.

For users of Garage Band on Macs: How to create a Podcast using Garage Band.

Making a Book Release Trailers

At our WIN group (Writers of Inspirational Novels) on Saturday, we learned about creating Book Release Trailers. Today, I discovered this resource called, FlixTime, where you can create a 60 second video in only a few minutes. You simply upload photos, videos or text, choose music and share the video. This could be a simple, inexpensive solution to authors on a budget.

ACFW Workshop in Searcy, Arkansas

Linda Fulkerson will present a workshop on "Using Free Online Tools to Promote Your Message" at the March 20, 2010, meeting. Time: Noon - 4 p.m. at the White County Regional Library, 113 E. Pleasure, Searcy, Arkansas.

For more info, see the Arkansas Inspy Writers Web site.

Social Media Bible

It’s practically as big as the Bible, too! For those of you interested in knowing more about Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Meebo, Plurk, Digg, Vimeo, PodBean, BlogTalkRadio, Second Life, etc.), The Social Media Bible by Lon Safko and David K. Brake is the book to buy.

The information found in The Social Media Bible is comprehensive, timely, and practical. It provides the historical background of social media as well as how to use social media as a strategy in your marketing plan. It describes what each social media tool is, how it can be used, what other applications work with it, who uses it, and even gives suggestions on who SHOULD use it. I’ve read just about every other book on social media and none of them are as complete as this one.

As well as being an essential resource for everyone involved in marketing, PR, and business, this could well be used as a textbook for college classes in social media.

To keep the information timely, the authors have included a link and log-in information for purchasers to access up-to-date information.

SPAN

For those of you who self-publish or who are independent publishers, check out SPAN (Small Publishers Association of North America). This organization provides information on small publishing as well as printing, production, shipping, and marketing benefits to its members.

You'll find resources related to traditional book production as well as to digital publishing, writing and editing, marketing and entrepreneurship, all specifically focused on small publishing.

This month, SPAN created a Blogging Network for its members. I've been looking for a network of self-publishers and now we have one!

My Favorite Social Media Books

Now, that I'm getting very familiar with blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In, I'm reading a lot of books about social media to see some other ways I can use them in my home business. 

Here's my favorites so far:

• Facebook Marketing: Leverage Social Media to Grow Your Business.
• Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time.
  
• Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day.
• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.

Here's some I've bought, but haven't read yet. Hopefully, this week!:

• Start Your Own Blogging Business (Startup).
• YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business.
• Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online.

A Good Tweet Article

Want to know more about Twittering? Here' s 10 Tips on being a good Twitterer. from Chris Pirillo.