A partner of mine told me about one of his “friends” on MySpace that has written the following status update: “Trying to figure out which networking sites are better for authors! Grrr! So many!”

I am sure she is not the only one that feels this way. I have had this conversation with other people before. Social Media can be overwhelming. It can be addictive. It can take a long time to master. It is also a great way to connect with others. Social Media is the platform to use to create an online presence. It is possible to connect with thousands of people worldwide that are interested in what you have to say and want to buy your book.

However, which one is best? The answer is - it depends. What are you trying to accomplish? With whom do you want to network? Are you trying to network with other authors? Fans? Do you have a product to sell? You need to know with whom you want to connect.

Sites to connect with other authors: We’ll begin with the newest site for authors – http://simplieindie.net. As the Founder of Simplie Indie it was important to me to have a networking site specifically for authors, musicians and other industry professionals. The purpose is to support and learn from each other as well as to connect with other industry professionals. This is done with the purpose of helping you realize your creative dreams.

There are several other networking sites out there for authors. I like http://bookmarket.ning.com and http://publishedauthors.ning.com. (a lot of the same people on both sites)

For connecting with fans, I like Facebook and Twitter the best. A couple of other sites that I like are Authorsden and Goodreads. Goodreads allows people to recommend other books the their "friends". Authorsden is an online community for authors to connect with fans. Check them both out.

Here comes a shameless plug for our online store http://simplieindie.com - While we don’t have any social networking yet on the Simplie Indie store, I think it’s the best online store to connect with your fans in a purchasing situation. In addition to a normal product page, we provide authors with a dedicated artist page, the opportunity to sell all products on one store (books, CDs, t-shirts, bookmarks, posters, etc.), and the ability to have YouTube videos on both the product page and the artist page. Video is a great way to connect with potential fans.

There are hundreds of social networking sites on the internet with new ones being created every day. Different people use different sites. That requires you to have a profile on many different sites. I have profiles on about 25 different sites. I don't always do a good job staying on top of all my profiles. I find that I can only really work with 4-5 sites at a time. It takes time to build relationships with people. It's important to be focused when on social media sites. Time goes by fast when "socializing".

Here is a list of the top 10 social media sites in the United States according to their Alexa ranking and does not include any blogging sites:

1. Facebook - #2
2. YouTube – #4
3. MySpace - #5
4. Twitter – #13
5. LinkedIn – #19
6. Flickr – #23
7. Photobucket – #28
8. Hulu - #33
9. Digg – #42
10. Ning (Create your own social network) – #76

Data from Alexa.com – top sites: United States

No matter which site(s) you choose it’s important to have a strategy and to connect with people. Having a profile isn’t enough. You have to interact with other people. Comment on other people’s profiles. Provide good content on your page. Write a blog and have it feed into all your social media sites.

What are your favorite social media sites?