Here, Stuart Little, the anthropomorphic mouse who found himself living in a human family, offers suggestions on how to make new friends. If you’ve ever wondered how you would ever sell a book out there in the big world where no one has ever heard of you, Stuart Little has the answers. He walks us through the secrets of using social media, blogging, and fellow writers to open those scary closed doors.

Do you remember Aesop’s Fable about the Country Mouse and the City Mouse? This chapter takes us step by step through descriptions of some of the software programs that make life easier for an independent writer—and some of the alternatives that the Second Mouse has discovered to be faulty. The lesson to be learned? Look carefully before you choose.

This cautionary tale uses two of the mice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland to destroy the myth that you can write a book in a single try. The Second Mouse provides examples of what happened when she experimented with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  We explore the difference between Pantsers and Planners. And then we find out why producing (and then discarding) a first draft is a painful but necessary first step in learning to write a book.

Author Carolyn Schriber takes a closer look at recent self-publishing innovations that have opened the gates to mainstream book publication. Pre-Orders available now, with Kindle release date: Wednesday, November 15.

As a former teacher, I always expected a standard reaction when someone asked me what I did. I got one of those just last week. A woman was doing her best to connect with me at a stand-up cocktail party. She herself was new in town, managing a small office that provided business services to other businesses. She finally quit talking about her company and asked me what I did. I told her I was a writer, and she looked puzzled. "What do you write?" she asked. "Novels," I replied. The look on her face said it all. She might as well have just stepped in a nasty sidewalk doggy mess. "Oh," she said, and then she was gone -- abruptly, without a word of transition. She had just marked me as an untouchable. OK. I guess she wasn't much of a reader. But she was also an exception.

One of the hardest things I have had to learn since I started writing was that most readers really like writers. Real readers get excited when they find out that I'm an author.  They want to ready my books. They want to know how I do what I do. They want to talk about characters as if they are our mutual friends. Bu there's still a problem--a barrier to be overcome. I don't want to be the obnoxious character who walks into a room saying, "Here I am -- an author -- please come do me homage." And making those connections is even harder in social media situations.So how do you turn a stranger into an adoring fan, or at least into "someone who knows your name"? Here are a few tips  I picked up at a recent writers' conference.

1. Be friendly. Show that stranger that you are interested in her, no matter how odd she is. After all, she might give you the seed from which to grow a new character.

2. Be willing to work with others who love and write books. Share your readers with other authors and help publicize their books. Mutual interests make good friends.

3. Keep your personal troubles and traumas out of your internet posts, or at least use two accounts, one for personal life, another for the business of writing. Whatever you do, don't whine!

4. But do share the fun things that happen to you--not how much money you just made, but the strange red chicken that wandered into your yard. Talk about the activities that give you pleasure, the kind deed you observed someone else do, or a particularly lovely moment. Let readers see your personality.

5. Encourage your readers to weigh in on a controversial issue, but avoid taking a stance that will alienate some part of them. I wouldn't endorse a political figure, for example, but I would speak out about the need to have a public vote on an issue that people care about. Here, we recently had a controversy over whether wine should be sold in grocery stores. Getting the question on the ballot was a tough fight, so I was comfortable urging people to sign that petition without telling them which side I would support.

6. On Twitter, try using a robot to schedule your postings. That will let you make sure you are not saying the same old thing to the same few people over and over again. Bookbuzzr.com is good for this because you can see a list of your posts, and schedule them so that they do not repeat at the same time or on the same day.

7. If you're trying to encourage people to buy your book, use your blog or facebook post to talk about the writing process, the problems you have had with the story, or the research you have done to make the setting come alive. Sell yourself, not your book.

We've already talked about book marketing as part of the preparation for writing  your book. Now that the book is ready to meet its public, the same social media sites will be even more important to your efforts. If  you've followed this plan, you've already started to build a platform of followers and readers. Now it's time to expand your efforts.

Once you've created a publishing company and have the books ready for purchase, a website is a prime requirement.  It should serve many functions -- introducing your area of expertise, talking about your book, providing a detailed biography so that readers feel they really know you, allowing readers to contact you, and making book ordering easy.  Articles on how to build your website are found elsewhere.  Just be sure you do it.

A word of caution about the usual social media sites may be necessary here.  Readers turn to Twitter for pithy sayings, not to be told to "Go buy my book." Facebook provides enough ads as it is.  Don't make it worse by using your status updates as just another ad. Your readers are probably interested in your signings, your awards, your public speeches -- but don't beat them over the head with flat demands for their money.

YouTube videos can reach huge audiences, but don't post something unless it makes  you look like a professional, not a silly amateur turned loose for the first time with a cellphone. And LinkedIn audiences are even tougher.  The participants there are usually serious business people.  Give them information they can use, not blatant self-promotion.

A Virtual Book Tour is a wonderful device for building your following.  Every time you visit the blog of someone new and post an interesting article, you get a chance to add that person's followers to your own. So look for people with interests similar to your own, read their blogs until you are sure you like them (and their audiences), and then ask politely if you can do a guest post for them.  If  you offer their readers some information of value. you may create a long-term relationship that works for both of  you.  As an example, just last week I made my second appearance on a blog managed by a woman who wrote an article for my own book launch. Our interests jibe, and we easily fill in for one another when we need a fresh voice.

The final item on this chart talks about press releases -- which sound serious and mysterious but are easy to do because there is a standard format. Everything must fit on a single page.  Forget about fancy fonts, pictures, clever little sketches -- just get the facts out there, with no grammatical errors or typos.

Start with the words "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE"

Follow that with your contact information.

Write a short catchy headline.  Look at your local newspaper for examples.

Write a two-sentence description of your book.

Provide a synopsis, similar to the one on the back of the book jacket.

Include a brief biography, with pertinent qualifications, other publications, and any awards.

Add a quote or two from any reviews you may have

Provide book details -- ISBN, publisher, ordering information

Repeat author contact information

Finish with that useful printers mark --  ###

Once you have a good press release, you can send it to local news media, give it to people who will be hosting  your book signings, and use it to introduce yourself to potential customers.  Consider it your own personal Town Crier, going out ahead of you to announce your presence.

Finally, let's add one more item: PERSEVERANCE.  Success in the book publishing world does not come easily or quickly .  It just seems that way when you look at it from the outside, because readers don't see the agent turndowns, the rejections from publishing houses, the low sales figures, the negative balance in your business ledger.  Your book will not be an overnight phenomenon.  Accept that, and keep marketing, keep talking about your interests, and keep writing.  Really, which would you rather have -- a one-night stand with an Amazon "best-seller of the day" or a steady, growing relationship with your readership?