I'm getting close to wrapping up almost nine months of promoting Totally Wired in early December -- I've sold close to 10,000 copies of the book and done lots and lots of press. I'll leave the Totally Wired book blog up as a resource but will no longer be updating the site as of December 7th. For any aspiring authors out there, I figured I would post the highlights of what I've learned about book promotion -- feel free to add your own tips in the comments.

- Tap into your network. Granted, I have a bigger network than most people, but everyone has someone who may be able to help them get the word out in ways you haven't thought of. Go through your address book, Facebook, Linked-In, wherever your network is....if you're speaking to parents, someone is a parent of a child at a school and can arrange for you to speak and sell books.

- Know that after 30 days, you will become your own publicist. Be ready to pick up where they leave off, and keep sending personal notes to magazines, reporters, bloggers, etc. Put out your own press release -- you can do it for around $100 on sites like PRWeb.

- The long tail works. If you can, do every blog interview, podcast request or newsletter article you can write. Even if the audiences are small, as long as they're targeted, you will sell a book or two here or there. The more you do, the more you sell. It adds up.

- Skip the bookstores. I've said this before, but unless you're already a big name, it's not worth it to do bookstore appearances. Do one when your book launches and invite all your friends so it's crowded. Other than that, plan more targeted appearances. Nothing worked better for me than appearing at a PTO meeting as the main agenda item (after the administrative business, which is why parents came in the first place).

- Stand by your sound bytes. First, come up with them, then stick to them, even when the media wants to fit you into their predetermined angle or story. You have to come up with your own narrative for who you are and your book's message and get good at repeating it. The book validates you as an expert, so even if you don't sell a ton, if you "give good press," they'll come back to you as a source in the future.

- Whenever you speak at events, try to get them to sell your book. I haven't been super consistent with this one, but most events I've spoken at where they did sell my book, it sold well. People see you speak, then want to buy the book.

- Blog. Blog. Blog. It's hard work but maintaining a book blog on your book's site and on Amazon just keeps pushing out more searchable content about your book -- again the long tail.

- Even if one person shows up to a book event, give them your all. You never know how many people they know or who they will tell about you. Everyone is a connector. Unless it's the weird guy who comes to every single book event.

- Unless you're really good at doing your own make-up, ask for hair and make-up whenever possible for TV appearances. Having seen myself on TV after doing my own make-up vs. when the pros do it, it makes a huge difference. I also want to just learn how to do my own TV make-up for those times when you're on your own. On a similar note, pay someone to take high res photos you can use for publicity. I'm actually getting my friend and fave photog Andrea to do new shots of me today since the ones I've been using are now almost three years old!

- If you're driving on tour, purchase the GPS from the rental car agency. Not only will she keep you company during those long stretches of solo time, but you'll actually get where you need to go -- at least most of the time. When she messes up, you just yell at her, pull over and ask.

That's pretty much what I've learned. Totally Wired has been an amazing two-year odyssey for me. Oh, and if anyone who works for Oprah is reading...

Posted by anastasia