CREATE A WEB PRESENCE
If you don't already have your own website you should either get one or seek publicity on others. This can be a great, simple way for you to communicate with your readers and spread the word about your book. As well as having your own website, the free myspace.com is well worth considering.

Make sure your website includes the following information:

	title, publisher, ISBN and publication date
	an excerpt from your book
	a detailed author bio
	back cover copy from your book and endorsements, the foreword if applicable etc
	positive published reviews
	jacket cover image
	author photo
	schedule of events coming up which are relevant to your book, or where you are speaking
	details of where readers can buy the book, including links to your title on online booksellers
	information about readers can reach you. Reader feedback is really important so please encourage this; it helps you develop your next edition!
	mailing list signup. If you want to, set up a free email account at Yahoo! or Hotmail so that you can keep this email separate.

And finally, Keep your website as global as possible; include links to the prominent online booksellers in the UK, Europe, etc. Amazon is the best example, you could include links to your book's product page on Amazon.co.uk; amazon.com - or through to your page on books.elsevier.com with a code to offer a discount:

	Code: AUTHOR - gives 10% discount to everyone.
	Specific book url - http://books.elsevier.com?isbn=0750653353&srccode=AUTHOR Just change the isbn for your own book

CREATE A PRESENCE ON MYSPACE.COM
MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends - great for viral marketing and for meeting other authors. You can share links, photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends and potential buyers. Powered by Google, sponsored links (to author websites and Amazon as available) are also included on the search pages of specific people.

How Do I Use MySpace?

	Sign Up and Create a Profile on myspace.com - Your Profile is Your Space on the Web, where you can describe yourself, hobbies and interests. You can upload pictures, link to other websites and write journals/blogs.
	Invite your Friends to join Your Personal Network or Search the site for your Friends who are already Members of Myspace.
	View the Connections you Create between Your Friend and Their Friends. Some people have 1,000s of people in their extended network.
	Meet your Friend's Friends and Suggest Matches. You can communicate with anyone in your Personal Network.
	Search for Groups and Forums to start your networking. Related ones include Literature & Arts, Business & Entrepreneurs, Computers & Internet, Cultures & Community, Film & Television, Music, Places & Travel, Recreation & Sport, Science & History.
	Create blogs for people to read (perfect for samples of your book?) and bulletins to send to your network of friends.
	Please be aware that MySpace is for everyone and, as such, you may find some content that is inappropriate - but the network is huge and growing massively and well worth considering.

Example of Elsevier author MySpace page:

Angie Taylor, Creative After Effects, Focal Press www.myspace.com/angieaftereffects

CREATE A WEB PRESENCE ON FACEBOOK.COM
Facebook is a social utility that helps people better understand the world around them. Facebook develops technologies that facilitate the spread of information through social networks allowing people to share information online the same way they do in the real world. Facebook is made up of many networks - individual schools, companies or regions - each of which are independent and closed off to non-affiliated users. To join Facebook, people can authenticate into a school or work network, or they can join a regional network. They can then create profiles to connect with friends, share interests, join groups, send messages, write notes and post photos.

Facebook launched in February 2004, and the website now has over 13 million registered users across over 40,000 regional, work, college and high school networks. According to comScore, Facebook is the seventh-most trafficked site on the web and is the number one photo-sharing site.