I am not tech savvy.
At all.
I don’t know how many people come to my blog or web site, or where they came from.
My posts aren’t tagged.
I don’t tweet.
But one of my wiser friends told me I need to set up some Google alerts so that I get word when my books are blogged about or I’m mentioned somewhere on the web.
(Does that sound like an adolescent nightmare, or what??? Everytime someone talks about you, we’ll let you know!!! Bwaaahaaaa…)
Anyway, she assured me it wasn’t that bad and it was so easy, even I could do it.
But here are some of the alerts I’ve gotten in regards to my next book title — All the World:
The College All-Star World Series (about Ohio baseball)
All’s Fair on the World’s Stage (about Israelis and Palestinians)
The best all-around meal the world over (about the Food Network)
Out of all the speeches, I’m wondering how in the world… (about college commencement)
All the world’s a stage (about role playing and the World of Warcraft)
Nothing against the aforementioned topics, but I’ve got plenty of reading material already.
I haven’t even gotten through yesterday’s New York Times.
So.
Don’t tell my friend, but I’m thinking that even Google Alerts aren’t for me.
Retreating back into my cave…
Ta-ta…
I am minimally tech savvy. Like on the tech savvy scale of 1-10, I’m a solid 4.5.
See, I think that’s pretty dang good….
Yep, google alerts for ME WITH YOU turn up nothing at all related to my book, so I canceled it. But a google alert for your name should turn up results that are you. I’ve found out about some blog reviews that way.
I’m such a skeptic that I might just have to bail on the whole thing now!
Kristy and Liz, Did you put your book title and your name in quotes?
Yep, but it only really helped with my name. There are too many instances of “me with you” on the net, mostly misspellings of “me with your” or “take me with you”. It was tiring. 🙂
No, don’t bail! Just do Google Alerts for your name, and after your book is released, you should see more relevant links.
I don’t have a site meter, either — I think it would be too depressing to be worried about stats. Photobucket now tells me how many times the images on my blog are viewed, and I’m already getting obsessed. Sheesh!
I doubt I’ll ever tweet . . . even FB was a big step.
I know. I couldn’t sustain Facebook. I loved it for about 8 weeks and now I haven’t even logged on for about that long. Sigh…
I agree about the name alert—your name is unique enough to make it work. And it’s nice to know about mentions so you can follow up and make connections—one lovely connection happened when I learned that a book club was reading Letters From Rapunzel, and so I offered to send pencils and a personal letter. Win/win all around.
But I understand your troubles with All the World. I’m having the same problem with Operation Yes. I keep getting ads for appliances in sentences like: “Cordless operation: yes.” Oh, well. My new goal is to set up a search for “Operation Yes All the World” and see if we can hit the jackpot together. 🙂
OK, yes. That’s what I’m going to do, too. I’m going to search for “Operation Yes All the World Happy Authors Fall Releases Champagne and Yoga” and then the only thing that’ll show up will be our own blog posts. Which are sure to be flattering 🙂
Tanita Says 🙂
Oh, crap. I meant to do this for the first book. I guess… I should, um, think about doing Google Alerts now for the second one. Just my name, I think.
…on the other hand, I value Sara’s reasons for doing it, but I’m not sure I want to know what people say. It does sound like an adolescent nightmare, and I’m still too immature to like the sound of it…
(Email me and tell me how to do it, ‘kay?)