The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up: Using Google Alerts to Build Your Writer Platform (Issue #29)

This post is part of a weekly series on YWP, aptly titled “The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up”.

Each Sunday, I will endeavour to provide you with a curated list of the best articles I have seen throughout the week that relate to building your platform.

The featured articles cover topics on book marketing and promotion, blogging, social media and self-publishing. (I may even throw in a few inspirational and fun posts, just so that it’s not all work and no play!)

Get Out Your Spy Gear; It’s Time to Gather Some Intel!

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Google Alerts.

Raise your hand if you know how you can leverage Google Alerts to easily gather knowledge on what others are saying about you and your work online, as well as what they’re saying about other authors, your industry, or your genre.

For those of you with your hands down, I’ve whipped up a quick guide on how to use Google Alerts to flex your secret agent muscle.

(Click the arrows in the bottom right corner to enlarge the slideshow to make it easier to read.)

Useful tips, right?

Take a minute to check out the featured articles of the week before you run off to stalk gain useful marketing intelligence about other authors in your field. 😉

Featured Articles

The Report from Hugh Howey at Author Earnings

Just in case you haven’t seen this little bombshell yet, Hugh and another author with advanced coding skills compiled data, and subsequently this report, revealing some hard numbers about author earnings, that until now had been elusive.

How to Get Reviews for Your Book (Without Begging, Bribing or Resorting to Subterfuge) from Kimberley Grabas at Your Writer Platform

Struggling to get reviews for your book, but have no idea where to start? No problem! This post will cover several options that won’t require nefarious means or begging your family members.

Tumbler 101 for Authors from Adrienne from Duolit Self-Publishing

A thorough guide on how to set up your Tumbler account, gain a following and promote your books.

Creative Entrepreneur: The Tools I Use in My Creative Business from Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn

Highly successful author and businesswoman, Joanna Penn, shares a list of the tools she uses for writing, publishing, business and productivity.

Best WordPress Plugins: 40 Experts Share Their Favorite WordPress Plugins from Devesh at WPKube

Devesh asked 40 blogging and social media experts about their 5 favorite WordPress plugins and not only tallied the results for us in this post, but shared their reasons for choosing them as well.

5 Ways Blogging Sells Books from Molly Greene at Molly Greene, Writer

Although Molly notes that blogging may not be for everybody, she makes some great points as to why it can really work for many.

Branding 101: How to Promote Your Blog Like the Big Guys Do from Leo Babauta at Write to Done

A fantastic post on how to develop your core message, get it out into the world and ensure it “sticks”.

The Most Important Part of the Creative Life from Jeff Goins at Jeff Goins, Writer

Jeff discusses the importance of space, and what you must do to create it for yourself.

No, Things Were Not Easier “Back in the Day,” and Other Narratives We Cling To In Order To Avoid the Hard Work Of Success from Dan Blank at We Grow Media

Dan reveals how we create simple narratives for ourselves which cause action–and inaction–that can significantly affect our results and our careers.

Secrets to Crowdfunding Your Book from Paula Krapf at Marketing Tips for Authors

A video outlining tips and things you should consider before deciding if crowd funding your book is right for you.

Just For Fun

Since I spent some time cruising around on SlideShare today, I found another presentation you might enjoy:

Hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Wrap-Up! Let me know what you think in the comments below.