TIP: Your Google Alerts whisper secrets

Many authors seek that standard measure of success: a media hit. An article in a major magazine, spot on a TV show, or radio interview. Fine and well, just don't forget the other media: online. As in online content, and online references to mainstream media.

To see who's telling your secrets, of course, Google Alerts is your best tool.

A wonderful measure of success is how often your book, your name, or your attachment to an issue appears in Google Alerts. Particularly in the midst of a push for media, online and otherwise.

Google Alerts can be a bit messy, and to avoid flooding your in-mailbox, Ms. Obie Joe recommends:
• Sign up
• With each sign-up, make each term as specific as possible, and with quotation marks:
-- Book title
-- Your name, particularly with initials
-- Title of an article relevant to your book
-- The name of your site and/or blog.

Also, make sure to choose "comprehensive" for the type of Alerts; you never know if a media hit will come from news, blogs, sites, or groups.

Most of us choose once-a-day Alerts; but if you know you won't respond to a Alert frequently, set aside a time once a week to go through the Alerts to see which ones need a response.

Blog hunting

One of Mr. Obie Joe's favorite features of Google Alerts is the blog section. After the news stories on a particular topic, there is a listing of blogs commenting on the same. Many of the blogs are worthwhile -- meaning the writers are real, and not phishers.

Plus, many of the blogs are ones not easily found through technorati and other engines, so that's another reason why Google Alerts, e-mailed daily, are a great resource for putting together your own blog book tour.