So, you finally did it. You got your book published and you are preparing for sales, promotions and author visits. You're getting materials ready, thimking of that next book and making sure all your contracts are signed.
It is an exciting time. As the weeks and months go by you'll be following your book and probably (if you are anything like me) checking your book's stats. But there's one thing I've discovered you might want to add to your list of things to do. Check up on your book - not just with the stats, but google your book's title or even your name for that matter. You may be surprised what you come up with.
Authors have reported finding their books in illegal markets, or worse, pirated. I recently did a Google search on my name and was surprised to see it for sale on e-bay for double the publisher's price. I've assumed being signed up for Google Alerts would let me know of new internet activity in my name or my books' names. Howevere, when I did an actual Google search, I found out much more.
Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of good news to find out about your work by doing a search every now and then, In fact you'll probably find much more good internet activity than bad. I've found blogs about my work or my magazine that I didn't know about before. I've seen how authors and illustrators are supporting one another.
So, no matter what your motive, it's always good to check out your platform every now and then to see what others see if they were to search for your name or book title. After all, it's your baby we're talking about here.
