1. What? Still No Gravatar?

Have you ever visited a blog, scrolled through the Comments and noticed that most of them don't include photos of the commenters?

Instead of someone's smiling face, you see a generic photo of what looks like a pawn on a chess board.

No self-respecting Publicity Hound would ever overlook the incredibly easy task of creating a gravatar.

A gravatar is a globally recognized avatar, an image that follows you from site to site and appears beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. Your face might be the first thing that catches a reader's attention. So why not use it?

I first wrote about gravatars here four years ago, and I'm amazed at the number of people who still don't use them.

Create your own gravatar in a few minutes here 

This is one of several tasks you can do quickly to start the new year on the right foot. You'll find many more publicity and social media tips in my ebook, "The Best of The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week of 2012," my end-of-the-year gift to you. Download the book and read about the 12 ways to use it. 



2. A Must-read for Authors

Few industries have undergone as many changes as the publishing industry.

That's why if you're writing a book, or thinking of writing one, you must read Get Published Today, the 364-page ebook by publicist Penny Sansevieri. Penny walks you through the major changes in book publishing and tells you exactly what to expect when publishing your next book.

For example, if you're looking for a publisher, you must be willing to do almost all the book marketing and publicity yourself, or outsource the work. Gone are the days when authors were automatically assigned a publicist.

Beginning authors will love the fill-in-the-blank templates, work sheets and checklists.

She explains the entire book publishing experience, from deciding exactly what you want to accomplish with a book, to a fun chapter called "Fifty Things Under 50 Bucks to Promote Your Book."

The ebook is part of the huge package of bonuses that accompany the video replay of a webinar I hosted with Penny earlier this month on "How to Launch a Book, Promote It and Sell a Truckload--Without an Expensive Publicist."

You can read more about it and order the replay and the bonuses 

Penny spends a significant amount of time teaching you how to promote your books on Amazon.com and shows you many marketing features that many authors don't even know about.

3. New Posts at My Blog

How to check references if you're hiring a publicist

Dog Tweets--Facebook: Are the good times really over for good?  

4. Hound Joke of the Week

When dog food is "new and improved" and better tasting, who tests it?

Dog Jokes & Quotes Ebook: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes, perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few good laughs:

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Joan Stewart The Publicity Hound