How many times has someone said to you, “I don’t have time for Facebook?” or “I just don’t understand how to Tweet.” Frankly, I also have trouble finding time to devote to using social media for my promotional purposes. But if you’ve got books coming out or hope to in the future, you’d better get used to finding the time. Those links will take you to my sites on these two where you can see just what goes on in my world. The Facebook site is not for promotion, but I have a group, Fans of Velda Brotherton and a writer’s page Author Velda Brotherton where I can do all the promotion I want to do. Learn how to set these up so they can help you get a buzz going on your books.
If you have a book out there now, why not allow your fans to read the first chapter. Freado does this nicely for you. It will post your book on your blog or other sites and allow readers to open it up and read whatever amount of the book you set. See an example on my blog where you can open Fly With the Mourning Dove and read some of it.
Another site highly recommended for writers is LinkedIn. Here again I have linked you to my site there so you can see what I’m doing there.
The other one every writer should use is GoodReads. I have only begun to understand how this site works and how it can help promotion wise. Authors may not actively try to market or promote their books here. Rather, they are asked to review books, post a blog that is helpful to other writers, and just generally be helpful. The idea is that when we help others, they just naturally will want to review our books and help us in return. It’s an idea making its way around the Internet, but I still feel that outright promotion on the Web is viable and can be put to good use on YouTube, You Publish, Author Nation, Writing, Best Seller Bound and of course we can’t leave out the groups on Yahoo and Google. Sure, there you’re promoting to other writers, but hey, we’re all avid readers and it can’t hurt to have a following of writers who read our books.
There are tons of other sites where writers can promote their work. Some don’t get enough hits to be worth your while, so check them out, then take some time each day for a week or two to get involved on those you like, posting a profile and information about your writing and your books. Another one that gets lots of hits each day is Authors Den. I’ve been a member there for many years. This could be your first website if you don’t already have one. There you can easily set up a newsletter, a news page, pages for your books, etc. Check it out.
Now, I’ll leave you to begin your promotional walk on the Internet. If you’ve already begun, then add some more. Google Writer’s sites for your particular genre too. And while you’re there, Google yourself. See what postings by you or about you are showing up on the search engine. Investigate the sites when others mention you and link to them on your blog or website.
Promoting online has the potential to reach millions of people. By the way, don’t forget to share your blog postings on Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz. Blogger has a share button at the top to help with this.
Velda Brotherton 
Velda, not only do I admire your writing, I admire your "trailblazing." You have shared so much of the knowledge you've gained with all of us, and I appreciate you!