Congratulations on entering the exciting world of online, or digital, promotion. You've probably heard the buzz about Web 2.0, blogging, social networks, etc., and are wondering how you can utilize these digital tools to help reach more readers and let them know about your books. You're probably also wondering, what's in it for me? Why should I spend my most valuable resource—my time—on promotions via digital media?

We're here to help! Our aim with this Web site is to help guide you, the author, and share what we've learned about what works. In the digital world, things change quickly, so we'll be updating this page on a regular basis to keep the information as current as possible.

Why is digital media so important?

The simplest answer is, because digital media offers you the best possible return on that time invested. A recent survey of agents from The Idea Logical Company (a strategic consulting company) revealed that "the preponderance of agents believe that authors should spend 2-10 hours per week promoting themselves online."

That's one consulting company's perspective. Perhaps the more significant answer is that digital media is here to stay. Like it or not, when a potential reader wants to seek out information on you and your books, she's more likely to type your name into an online search engine before she heads to the local bookstore—and you want to make sure that the info she finds online about your titles is accurate and up-to-date. One chain book buyer was quoted as saying that when making the buy decision for a particular author, "I check out an author's Web site and MySpace page" to find out how committed the author is to promotion. If buyers and readers are using digital media, you should be too.

But the bottom line is, if you're going to invest your time in promotion, digital media is the best possible way for you to use your best skill—communication—to reach the most readers with the least effort on your part.

With so many choices, what should my priorities be?

If you're new to digital media, the number of tools and opportunities for self-promotion can be overwhelming. Not every new technology is going to help you or suit your needs, voice, or personal brand—evaluate how much time, effort and, in some cases, money you're willing to spend and focus on achieving the best results with what you can manage. For example, don't spend a lot of money on a book trailer if you have nowhere to post it except YouTube; it would probably be better to try to expand your online presence by building your Web site, blogs and the eHarlequin Community.

The following lists are a good guide as to where you should focus your time, relative to how new you are to the digital space:

Basics—Just Getting Started

• Have a Web site and a profile on MySpace.com
• Join affiliate programs
• Have an author profile on eHarlequin.com

Intermediate—Basics Covered; Now What?

• Participate in social networks such as Facebook and Shelfari
• Have a book trailer
• Participate in/start a blog

Advanced—Comfortable and Looking To Expand

• Send e-mail newsletters
• Produce a podcast
• Join Second Life

For more on these topics, just click on the links above to get to the relevant pages within this Web site. Harlequin's digital team also gave a workshop incorporating some of the tips available on this Web site. To view the PowerPoint slides from the seminar click here.