It’s what we writers want, right? To have bright readers, well, flock around us?

For today’s episode of Writer Unleashed, I’m going to let you in on a handy dandy resource to help you gather fans. It’s a book called 55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet by Bob Baker.

I came across an excerpt of this book as a free download promotion from BookBaby and liked it so well I bought the company.

Actually no, I bought the book. (How many of you are old enough to know that old Remington commercial with Victor Kiam? A commercial so old, you can’t even find it on the web. Yep, I tried.)

But I digress.

We were discussing 55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet, which I heartily recommend. And no, I’m not getting a piece of the action. Would that I were.

It’s a fast read with clear, easy-to-follow objectives. (Another digression—speaking of it’s, the misuse of the word it’s/its in the text did drive me a little nuts. Also, you’re/your errors. Suggestion to the editor for the next edition, perform a search for these words and make necessary corrections. You’re or is it your? readers will thank you.)

So here’s the thing. I don’t yet have a published book to promote and sell. Soon, we hope. Still, as all authors and aspiring authors know, it’s never too early to put your name out there. Bob Baker’s book provides specific resources and no-nonsense advice.

Instead of the general instruction you hear on every street corner: Find like-minded bloggers and form connections blah blah, Baker tells you how to do that in tip #45.

Using the author’s links, I finally found some sites to follow and interact with. One of these, Stainless Steel Droppings, I have mentioned before, and I am now connecting both with the site and with others connecting with the site—a sort of inverted pyramid. The good news is that after taking this step, visits to my blog really increased—up 29 % in October. Of course, October is the month to read ghost novel reviews. But so far, November is not looking too shabby either.

Tip #51 provides more good information about generating traffic to your blog, including sending an email to anyone whose online work you reference. This one is a little hard for a self-deprecating-humble-good-girl such as myself, but I’m going to do it. In fact, I will write to the 55 Ways man himself. As soon as I sign off. I promise.

Those are just two of the 55 tips, leaving 53 more for you to explore. Who says writers can’t do math?

Check out this book. And get yourself flocked.