So you've probably heard the phrase co-op here on the blog before, and if you're new to the industry, wondered just what the heck I'm talking about: a pc health-store where everyone pitches in? A preschool where the parents work in shifts?

Nope, I'm talking about the space at the front of the store that publishers pay for.  Kristy Kiernan tweeted this Fast Company article about co-op last night that I wanted to pass along to you - it's a very good explanation of what it is and why it's important, and while I don't share the author's relative dislike of BN, I think it's a great behind-the-scenes explanation. Co-op is arguably THE MOST important element a book's success, so it's always good to understand the machinations behind it.

Read the article here. 

Question of the day: I was wondering how you deal with social media sites like Facebook. I'm trying to establish a platform for myself and am wondering if I should have two FB profiles - one for personal, one for professional - or if that's overkill. But I like to keep these factions separate, and I don't know how to go about doing that.

This is a GREAT question and one that I see discussed often on writer's forums: Facebook is the greatest way to get back in touch with old friends, catch up with current ones and swap stores about, well, just about everything, but that doesn't mean that you want your work colleagues having access to all of this info. Not because you don't like them - of course! - but because, well, it seems wise to keep certain parts of your life separate.

I don't know if I have the best answer because how I deal with this great divide is sort of murky, but I'll try. I, too, had similar questions as you do, back before Time of My Life launched. I was getting a lot of friend requests from people I didn't know, so I asked my marketing manager at my publisher how to deal with it. I figured the best thing to do would be what you suggest in your question - set up two profiles - but she instead recommended setting up a Fan page, saying that most people would friend BOTH profiles anyway. So I did. And when I thought about it, this sort of made sense. I mean, to be honest, if I had a strictly-business profile, I'm not sure how often I'd update it or even check in on it. What I love about Facebook is that it's an amazing way for me to keep up with my friends - I'm so busy these days that it's sort of a catch-all, where I can log on, see what people are up to, then log off and go about my day. I likely wouldn't bother taking the time to do this on my professional page because again, FOR ME, Facebook is a friendship/personal space...and I don't use it to connect with people I don't know, even if they had friended my professional page.

So now I have a Fan page (which sounds ridiculously narcissistic, but it's their title, not mine), and I DO use it to post professional updates and keep in touch with readers. Do some of them still friend me? Sure. But I really, really try to stick to my rule that Facebook is for people with whom I have at least one real conversation in my life - we didn't have to be best friends in high school, but I should be able to pick your name out of a line-up as someone I know. I don't use it for networking, and I really don't use it for promotion - except to let my friends know if something exciting is happening....It's weird. I hate it (not Facebook, the weirdness). I always feel sooooooo badly if I feel like I have to draw that line and keep it personal BUT, here's the thing: I put up a lot of pictures of my kids, a lot of silly ridiculous status updates, etc, and to be honest, if I don't know who is really reading/seeing this stuff, I would start to monitor/edit what I write/post...and that goes against what I enjoy most about Facebook.

I don't know. It's a tricky thing. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND why people friend folks who they don't know. Totally. But - as you intimated in your question - some people like to keep things separate, and I guess I'm one of those people. I also feel like there are enough places online that you can find me and network - and maybe I'd suggest this for you as well - Twitter, my blog, Linked In, my website, etc - where I AM happy to engage with you, that if I want this small sliver to myself, well, then I'm going to take it. 

So...that's how I deal with it. I know other writers struggle with this as well - anyone care to chime in on how you deal?

Because, I know, you're all sitting around dying to hear me chat on the radio...

For your Friday pleasure, I'm posting a fun interview I did last week - all about Time of My Life, marriage, personal responsibility, ex-boyfriends...:) As I said, fun stuff.

Check it out here!

Okay, so by now, I'm sure that you're sick of my interviews, but they keep a-comin', so I'm going to keep a-postin' 'em. (That is waaaaay too many apostrophes for one post, no?) Anyhoo, today I'm over at Gadling.com talking with the wonderful Heather Poole about the inspiration behind the book and lots of other fun things, like where I like to travel, how I cope with my fear of flying, and what I like to pack in my carry-on.

Here's one reason why I love this interview - it really demonstrates how and why authors need to market themselves online. I actually "met" Heather at some point on Twitter. I can't remember how - I think she followed me, and I checked out her tweets a couple of times and found them interesting, and thus followed her back. She's a flight attendant - careerwise, we don't have that much in common - but via the power of Twitter, I learned that she has kids the same age as I do, that we share the same sense of humor, and that she's actually a damn good writer and has a huge following on her travel blog, Gossip Galley. Who knew? Not me. I thought I was just following her because I'm scared of flying and her tweets (in all seriousness) somehow reassure me about stepping onto a tin can with wings. So now, thanks to Twitter, not only have we become friendly, and not only did she pick up my book because of this, but it turns out that she's interviewing me for her blog.

It's connections like these (and yesterday's with Debra Schubert) that make online social networking invaluable. If you're not tweeting yet, what are you waiting for? :)

In the meantime, don't forget to head over to Gadling.com and check out my interview!

Question of the day: Looking back, what helped your books become so popular? 

Ha ha! Well, first of all, let's be clear (and the reason behind my giggling): there are a lot of writers out there whose books are far more popular than mine and for whom I hold the utmost respect/reverence. I just wanted to say that up front because there are still a lot of milestones that I'd like to clear, sales-wise! But thank you very much for the compliment! Truly. It feels impossible to answer this question without coming off like an egomaniac, so again, PLEASE know that I'm just answering the question - NOT buying into the "popular" adjective being used above.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way - to answer your question - a few things helped, I think. Well, one - which is probably something you can't control all that much - is that the book (Time of My Life) seemed to resonate with the collective consciousness of where we are as a society today. What I mean by that is that Time of My Life came out right when things really started to implode economically in our country, and people were looking for an escape. You saw this in box office receipts, you saw with with television ratings and you saw it with book sales. Downers didn't go anywhere - fun escapism did. So that was one thing, and obviously, I had no control over that. For two - I think (and some people will disagree with this, and that's totally cool) that Time of My Life tapped into what a lot of women feel but don't often say. (This previous statement sounds totally narcissistic - I don't mean it THAT WAY AT ALL. Read on to see what I mean! I promise!) Sort of like when you go on an anonymous message boards, and think, "Aha, someone out there feels like I do!" I tried to write as honest a book as I knew possible, even if it meant that people would judge me (and my marriage and my life) because of it. That's the risk you take - that people will look at your picture on the back cover and think that everything inside the pages is autobiographical - but I wanted to write that book - the one that gave voice to what a lot of us can't (and don't) say out loud...what if I'd made different choices? And it seems to have paid off. So, I think, in that sense, this one IS under an author's control: be as emotionally truthful as possible in your writing, whatever your subject. 

Another thing that helped me, I think, is that I've made myself pretty accessible to readers, not just because it helps with book sales but because I truly enjoy it. I love twittering with people I don't know, replying to emails here on the blog, posting things to my Facebook fan page. Writing is a solitary life, which very much suits my personality, but that doesn't mean that you don't want to have connections with the world out there. And when authors connect with readers, I dunno, I think they sort of root for you - are more likely to pick up your book or spread the word about it...sort of like how we find certain actors more appealing when we know that they're accessible/nice/easy-going/could be our friend. (I'm not equating myself with a celebrity, btw! Just trying to explain why I think this has helped.)

And yet another factor was that I surrounded myself with people whom I trusted inherently. I've mentioned here before that book publishing is a TEAM effort, and after my debut, my agent and I sat down, collected our thoughts, and tried to map out our career-long strategy. This meant changing publishers, turning down a few so-so advances, ditching a book that I was half-way through but totally uninspired by. I trusted my agent to guide me, and she trusted me by asking what imprints I'd like to work with, which editors were my dream. We landed at one of those, and the wise and smart people at Shaye Areheart/Crown were certainly a BIG factor in Time of My Life's success.

Finally, I got lucky. Yup, really. My book happened to get picked from many, many good books to be featured on The Today Show and in People Magazine in the same week. That this happened was fortuitous...it propelled the book onto the Times list, and from there, buzz kept going. Never in a million years could I have controlled that factor, which is what makes one aspect of this industry so random. 

The bottom line: write the best book you can, market yourself in a way that your readers will respond to, and then, hope for the best. I really think that's all you can do. Readers - agree/disagree? Any other tips for success?