One of the key things for me is to keep track of when people have mentioned me or my books. That usually means a blog post where they’re written about me and when I find them, I often find a review that I can leave a “thank you” comment on. One of the most amusing was a World of Warcraft forum board posting about my books. When I got an account on the forum and left a little “thanks” note, it shocked the heck out of the poster.

Here’s a post that came thru my normal aggregator this morning about three tools to help you keep track:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-online

I make substantial use of Google Alerts but I’ve taken a look at the others and they’re kinda interesting. I’m not comfortable enough with them to say how well they work. They look interesting.

If you are not monitoring the social media space, you’re missing a chance to engage directly with your audience.

I’ve got a Google alert for “The American Book of the Dead” and “Henry Baum (both with quotes or I’d get every post with American, Book, and Henry). Recommend that for every writer/book. That’s really all I need b/c I’m curious what Google picks up above all. But I’ll check out those other services, thanks for posting.