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• A graphic titled “The Care and Feeding of an Author on Amazon” has recently swept through the social media world. The bullet-pointed tips, created by technical writer Sherry Snider, include suggestions such as “Write a Review,” “Like It,” “Tag It,” and “Share the Link,” all of which will hypothetically “keep writers fed and writing.” Word of mouth is a huge sales driver in publishing, especially for midlist and self-published authors working with shoestring promotion budgets. Social media is fast replacing traditional word of mouth — or at least that’s what publishers and booksellers are banking on. Unlike a face-to-face recommendation, social media shares and likes can be tracked and quantified. Amazon’s recent purchase of Goodreads for a rumored $150 million only underscores how valuable the digital word-of-mouth trail is expected to be. It makes sense, then, that authors would try to do everything in their power to increase the chatter surrounding their own books on social media.

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