Social media is vital to spreading the word about your writing across the Web. People aren’t going to magically happen upon your website, so you have to find them where they hang out and tell them about it.

Think of an author platform as a living, breathing thing. So breathe some life into yours! Here’s our latest links roundup with a bunch of helpful hints about social media for writers.

Enjoy.

The World is my Platform via A Writer’s Tale—Straight from the author’s mouth! Scarlett Van Dijk discusses the necessities for creating an online author platform. Your author website is your own piece of Web property; use it to showcase your very best talents. And don’t forget that social media isn’t just fun and games—it’s a powerful tool that can help build your reputation across the Web!

10 Author Websites You Should Check Out via The Savvy Reader—Feeling a little uninspired? When creating your author website, try seeking out design or content inspiration from other writers. Whether you want a simplistic design or a hi-tech feel, see how those before you did it best, and put your own unique spin on it. 

Top 10 Tips to a Great Web Page via About.com—Your author website doesn’t need to be fancy, but it does need to be appealing. Jennifer Kyrnin provides helpful tips for raising your odds of hosting repeat visitors. Short pages, enticing colors, current links, etc.: Do it all to make the best first impression.

26 Social Media Marketing Tips from the Pros via SocialMediaExaminer—Your author website is complete, and you understand how important social media is to promoting your author brand. Now what? After attending the 2013 Social Media Marketing World conference, Debbie Hemly recounts the best tips she learned from the social media pros.

Self-Promotion is Not a Dirty Word: Six Tips For Writers via Nancy Stohlman—Writing is often a solitary experience: It’s just you and your keyboard. But some writers have a hard time breaking out of their cocoon once that process is done in order to share their awesome results with the world. In this article, Nancy Stohlman assures writers that’s it’s not only okay to promote your own writing, but it’s absolutely necessary.

Photo by Tattooed JJ