As we mentioned last week, social media is an important part of promoting your book. We’ve already covered Facebook, this week we walk you through getting set up on Twitter. Keep in mind, this guide is for someone who is new to Twitter. Twitter is an important part of joining the conversation and is how David Mathison pre-sold 5,004 books through in 11 days.

1) Go to Twitter.com, and create an account.

2) For your username, use your full name if it’s available.

3) After the account is created, go to your Account Settings to add your web site or Facebook page to the More Info URL, add a one line bio (up to 160 characters) and your location. Leave your updates unprotected so people can find you easily.

4) Upload a picture of yourself, which is an mportant way people recognize you on their Twitter homepage.

5) Customize your Twitter profile by selecting one of the pre-made themes or for more advanced users, use TwitBacks.com to build a fully custom background.

6) Follow BookRixUS on Twitter!

7) Add yourself to the Twitter directories Twellow.com and WeFollow.com. Then search the directory for other people who might be interested in following.

8 ) Add your Twitter profile link to your web site and Facebook page.

9) You’re ready to then share with the world what are you doing! It’s important to stay focused, include personal information so people can build a personal connection but also share information about your topics of expertise.

10) Use Twitter Search to find other people who are talking about the same topics that you’re interested in. That is the community that you’ll want to be participating with.

11) Here’s some more advanced Twitter tips on TechCrunch from Kevin Rose, founder of Digg who has close to 1 million followers.

BookRix looks forward to connecting with you on Twitter!

1) Your name- Yolanda A Jackson

2) Titles of the work you have on Bookrix (Please provide the link to the book cover)

Imaginary Friends, Peter Carrot-top, and The Prince and the Robot. link is=http://www.bookrix.com/library.html?lang=en&user=honeyyocat

3) What is your writing method? Do you wake up super early in the morning? Do you burn the midnight oil drinking coffee to stay awake while penning your passion?

I write between 6-8 pm with no interruptions and then I am free.this is a self discipline that  I made myself do to assure my time for my writing

4) How long have you been writing?

From the age of between nine and eleven.

5) How do you maintain your regular job while writing?

It is very hard. I have to be up by 6am and don’t get off until 3pm so that’s why I set time aside for my writing and then other activities

6) Do you have special places where you go to write?

By my bay window.  I stare out into the yard.

7) Do you have any quirks when writing? Do you need to shut off your phone for the weekend or stay away from family and friends?

No, my only big thing is that I have to turn the TV off or I will get submerge into it

What inspires you?

The love of creating a fantasy where anything goes,and is only limit by my imagination.

9) Do you want to make a living from your wordsmith skills or are you doing this for fun?

I will love to make a living from writing so I can be able to do this all day long and not worry about going to work the next day.

10) What are your stories about? Are they fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction/Fantasy mainly to inspire readers to imagine outside the norm

11) Do you have a lesson in your stories? Do you have a philosophical or moral mission you are showing in your work?

In my novel Peter Carrot-top, I wanted the readers especially children to know that it is alright to be yourself no matter how different they look, In Imaginary Friends, the message is the effects of an abuse child, and the Prince and the Robot is about how a small lie can make a bad situation worst. I love to implant lessons in my novels so that the readers can better relate in their own way.

12) What advice do you have for other authors?

Don’t give up on your dreams, I too am still dreaming of the prefect novel, but if I give up I will never known if I had it or not.

13) Please write anything else you’d like for the Bookrix blog.

I am working on a tremendous fantasy novel, hopefully will rival that of Harry Potter keeping my fingers crossed. My readers can learn more about me at www.YolandaJackson.com.

Social Media is an important piece of any well rounded book promotion. But more importantly you can build a relationship with your readers that can last a lifetime. It can and will deliver results, for example David Mathison pre-sold 5,004 books through Twitter in 11 days. But with so many social media web sites, it can become overwhelming too. Do you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace or another social networking site? It’s important to focus and be active in whatever community your participate in. Today we will focus on how to create a Facebook public profile (this can be in addition to your private Facebook profile).

Public profiles allow anyone can access the page. More importantly, they allow your readers to become fans. This allows you to take advantage of the viral nature of Facebook. Your content will appear in your friends’ newsfeeds and their actions on your profile will appear on their friend’s newsfeeds.

The advantage of having a Facebook Public Profile is that you can keep it separate from your private profile that you share with your friends. You may not want your fans to see who your friends are or the kindergarten photos of you that your friends have posted. Your public profile can be what you show to your fans and your private profile can be for your select group of friends and family.

This is what you need to do to create a Public Profile:

• Go to Facebook where you can find out more about Facebook public profile (page) features.
• Create your page where you’ll select the category (Writer, Artist, Band or Public Profile) and specify your title in the drop down menu.
• Enter your name, and your page has been created.
• You’ll want to customize it with a profile picture. It should include any additional information about yourself.
• Now invite your current Facebook friends by using the “Suggest To Friends” link underneath the profile picture. Also encourage them to use the feature once they’ve become a fan.
• It’s important to include your Facebook public profile url in any of your other profiles and communications. Add it to your email signature or BookRix profile. Once you reach 100 fans, you will even be able to create a shorter vanity url like facebook.com/yourname/
• It’s important to share as much information as you can with your fans to keep them engaged. Publish content to your Facebook public profile regularly. Content can include links, photos and videos which can easily be shared from the publisher (share) area.
• Also listen to your fans and respond regularly. It’s important to be part of the conversation that’s taking place on your Facebook profile. You want to be seen as a participant.

There’s a lot more you can do with Facebook public profiles. You can create custom tabs linking your blog & Twitter. There are special applications and analytics, but these steps should help you get started with your own Facebook public profile. Good luck!