Do you know the size of the image you want? Are you printing it or only sending it over the Internet? Here’s a guide for choosing the resolution (dpi = dots per inch):

640 dpi – for Internet use only
1024 dpi – Internet, as well as wallet-size prints
1280 dpi – Internet and any size up to and including 4 x 6 prints
1600 dpi – Internet and prints as large as 8 x 12

We didn’t get a chance to talk about how important it is to back up your photos. Remember there are no negatives to hang on to for safe keeping. Take a look at Picture This (Chapter 18 p. 251) for all of the nitty gritty on camera settings and backing up your photos.

Say CHEESE!

I love this list for authors! “50 Things Under $50 To Promote Your Book”:
http://amarketingexpert.com/ameblog/uncategorized/fifty-things-under-50-bucks-to-promote-your-book/comment-page-1/

Brace yourself for some straight talk…Sonia Simone’s “7 Harsh Realities of Social Media Marketing”:
http://www.copyblogger.com/harsh-social-media-marketing/

Here are several links specific to Twitter…

J.S. McDougall’s “10 Tweetable Twitter Tips for Book Publishers”:
http://www.jsmcdougall.com/2009/12/ten-tweetable-twitter-tips-for-book-publishers/

Dan Blank, from Digital Book World, “How To Leverage Twitter When You Have Little Time”:
http://digitalbookworld.com/2010/how-to-leverage-twitter-when-you-have-little-time/

Mashable, as mentioned on the panel. Read about all things twitter and more:
http://mashable.com/category/twitter-lists/

Intended for college students, but helpful to all using Twitter “100 Twitter Tools To Help You Meet Your Goals”:
http://www.onlinebestcolleges.com/blog/2009/100-twitter-tools-to-help-you-achieve-all-your-goals/

Recommended by Kelly Leonard, one of tonight’s panelists, “How To Quantify The Reach Of Your Tweet”:
http://tweetreach.com/

About blogging…

Michael Hyatt’s “Do You Make These 10 Mistakes When You Blog?”:
http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/11/do-you-make-these-10-mistakes-when-you-blog.html

Jason Baer’s “How To Match 10 Key Success Metrics To Your Blogging Strategy”:
http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/179256?utm_source=smt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

Sage advice about what not to so with your blog from Jane Friedman “5 Things That Make Me Stop Reading Websites and Blogs”:
http://writerunboxed.com/2009/12/18/5-things-that-make-me-stop-reading-websites-blogs/

Miscellaneous…

Galley Cat’s “Podcasting Tips for Authors”:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/web_tech/podcasting_tips_for_authors_153628.asp

Planning your own publicity? This calendar is an amazing resource to make a plan:
http://www.directcontactpr.com/files/files/Publicityplan2010.pdf

Helpful sites mentioned at tonight’s WNBA event…

Yen Cheong’s blog on “news, trends, and tips for book publicists” is a great resource for anyone in the book business:
http://yodiwan.wordpress.com/

Social Network for books. music, movies, and more on the web:
http://getglue.com/

MeetUp “helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities”:
http://www.meetup.com/

Book Movement “serves over 21,000 book clubs”:
http://bookmovement.com/

Good luck to all of you and your book projects!

YouTube is a website that allows anyone with a computer and access to the Internet to upload and share a video for all to see. (Re-read my blog on the FlipVideo, if you’re looking to buy a video camera – Something To Really Flip Over) In turn, anyone visiting the web can watch videos that are posted on YouTube to catch up on current events, learn how to fix a sink, see their grandchild’s first steps, or watch a cat play the piano. “Why YouTube?” you might ask. I guess “Why not YouTube?” is the answer.

When my nephew, Nic, recently rode a horse, for the first time, I sang the theme song from “Mr. Ed” The Talking Horse. Nic, 6 years old, looked at me as though I might have fallen off a horse and hit my head. I was determined to prove my sanity and, thank goodness, I found validation on YouTube…Here’s a little flashback for those of you who’ve forgotten the lyrics: (Turn on your speakers and click on the play arrow.)

To see YouTube firsthand, click on www.youtube.com or, better yet, type the website address in yourself for practice. (My vote is that you practice typing it yourself. Practice, practice, practice.)

Once you get on the website, you’ll notice that YouTube has an internal search engine, as many other websites do. To search, click in the text box, type in key words, and then click on Search to find what you seek.

Below are suggestions of phrases for you to search for when you get a chance to visit YouTube:

“birks organ” (Birk Petersen e-mailed me, after reading my book, and sent the link to this amazing hand crank organ that he designed and built.)

“sand drawing” (Kseniya Simonoya’s sand art is extraordinary.)

“famous failures” (If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived. This video reminds us that failure is just a stepping stone to success.

You don’t always have to have your key words in quotes. Review how to get the most out of your searches on page 295 in “Is This Thing On?”. If you can’t come up with any topics on your own, click on Videos, near the top of YouTube’s window, and a list of categories appears on the left for you to choose from.

And, if you feel so inclined, search for “abby stokes” and take a peek at my posted videos or click on www.youtube.com/abbystokes.

Let me know when you’ve posted a video. I’d love to see it!

To recap:

Online dating advice

• Decipher the lingo
• Be honest
• Throw a wide net
• Have courage
• Get to the date

Safety tips

• Don’t be too polite
• Have a secondary e-mail address
• Do not divulge personal information
• Meet in a public place and tell a friend
• Listen to your instincts and your head

Now go out there and find yourself some lovin’. Get back to me and let me know how it goes.

Over the next few weeks I’ll share TV clips from tour interviews. If your computer uses a dial-up connection to connect to the Internet, these video clips may not be accessible. Feel free to contact me and we’ll see if we can sort it out together.

Today’s video clip is from KUTV in Salt Lake City. First there will be a commercial and then the interview begins. If you want to pause the video, click on  in the bottom left of the video window. If you want to play the video, click on . Don’t forget to turn on your speakers. To adjust the volume, use the volume control at the bottom of the video window . Click and drag the circle in the center to the left for quieter or to the right for louder. If you want to watch the video again, click on the refresh button in the tool bar at the top of the window.

Next blog you and I will play with YouTube videos. If you feel adventurous, visit my YouTube page (www.youtube.com/abbystokes) to see more videos on your own.

Back soon!