Now that I've taken my shots at MySpace, let's move on to Facebook.

The site is great for networking, but the constant changes to the interface, privacy setting woes and Terms of Services scandals mean you should use extreme caution when using the site.

Last year, I blogged about an agent who wanted to do Facebook-only marketing for its author - and what a big mistake that would be long-term. The recent Facebook upset proves that fact.

While Facebook is a terrific site for networking, it is a private business. That means they control anything and everything that appears there. When Leo Laporte told listeners of his radio show about why he dumped Facebook, the site immediately removed links to his post and audio shared by fans of Laporte's show. One radio station's fan page was removed because of it, though Facebook has denied that was the reason. (See link to Mark Zuckerberg's column about Facebook privacy issues below.)

Facebook also has an identity crisis. The leadership cannot seem to determine exactly what the site is - and how users should access it. It's gone from a site for high school and college students, to a networking site, to a business model intent on grabbing big bucks from ads. It also wants everyone's information available to the public - something I really don't want. The privacy settings are a daily task now, because every time the site changes something, everything goes public.

And let's not forget the plethora of invites to third-party applications. Sheesh! What about all the security attacks, including the second appearance of smutware on profiles this week?

Don't get me wrong; I like Facebook. I book clients for Pop Syndicate there, network with friends and business colleagues, and also manage fan pages for clients. However, I recognize that, no matter what it feels like as a user, Facebook has total control over my content and pages. I also understand that Facebook is so integrated, once you get started, it is difficult to hop to another network with users

I'm too independent to like that - especially for marketing.

To have total control, you must pay for your own domain and hosting. Period. It isn't that expensive, and puts you in the driver's seat on your content. No one can censor you. No one can dictate which ads run on your pages. When you spend just a little money each month, you get to be the boss.

On the Web:

Rivals Seize on Troubles of Facebook (NY Times blog)

QuitFacebookDay.com

Facebook CEO Addresses Privacy Concerns (PCWorld.com)

For years, I've had a love-hate relationship with MySpace.

When it first launched, I thought it rocked. There really wasn't anything quite like it. I met some cool folks in publishing, learned about new writers and groups and was able to keep up with some good friends.

It didn't take long for the Dark Side of MySpace (I'm in a Star Wars mood.) to rear its ugly head and make the site a cesspool of raunchy, troll behavior and youthful goth idiocy. They started an area for books, but it never seemed to work like the music section - which boomed.

When I finally joined Facebook, I found my audience. 

After about five years on the site, with few contacts and a LOT of spam and creepy emails, I decided to delete my account.

This wasn't an overnight decision. As much as I don't like the site, I had several qualms about deleting that account. I asked myself:

• Am I going to miss out on contacts? 
• What if someone takes my name and makes it a porn site and I lose out on work?
• What if someone needs to touch base with me and they cannot find me because they aren't on any site but MySpace?
• What am I missing if I'm not on MySpace?

After a lot of (unnecessary) soul-searching, I wrote out a list of exactly how I use MySpace. What I found was that I didn't use it often enough and got nothing out of it when I did log in. I was also concerned about hacking. I logged in so little on the site, I was afraid someone could easily tap into it and add some photos of genitalia or other equally mortifying flare. 

Since I don't log in much, I obviously don't keep up with folks on MySpace. Plus, when I am on there, I notice that many use third-party applications to update their streams. It's not like they are "live" where we can chat.

Branding is a bit of a sticking point - one that I haven't completely resolved. Do I really want to give up the network name? For once, I was able to get my own name without any numbers or extra letters. What if another Angela Wilson takes it over and makes it a porn site?

I have to remind myself that there are hundreds of social networks out there and I am only on a handful of them. I cannot control branding on each network.

Reasons I'm just not that into MySpace:

Loaded. When MySpace started putting up homepage backgrounds with heavy graphics and movie clips, my Internet connection revolted. No way can the AT&T crapless wireless connect handle these graphics - even in a 3G network. The site is not designed for anyone with less than high speed DSL, which eliminates anyone in rural areas and the occasional urban dial up pockets. It has definitely streamlined from the last time I logged in, but it still slow. For the most part, Facebook moves quickly, unless I'm in the highly-addictive Movie quizzes section. Then, all bets are off.

Trashy. Too many ads, worse "come-on" emails than lines I'd hear in a bar, few groups I like and too many nasty commenters. MySpace is bad about not patrolling profiles for inappropriate content, or managing bad comments. 

Unfriendly. On MySpace, I had 167 friends, many of them true friends and not just network contacts.  I have more than 800 on Facebook, many in publishing. Obviously, this is highly important for me personally and professionally. Also, several business clients are on Facebook and I can easily connect with them. I've sent pitches to reporters, responded to urgent questions, requested books and interviews and attended events on Facebook. I've had no luck with any of those things on MySpace.

Are you on MySpace? How has it worked for you? Share your thoughts and your handles in the comments.

You can find me on Facebook, or email

I constantly check reviews on Amazon sites for reviews of products I want to buy. The star rating is what I look at first, then the reviews.

One thing I've noticed recently, though, is how people misuse the review area of Amazon - and, ultimately, skew the star rating system.

If you look through product reviews, you will find people who actually review the seller, rather than the item. On Amazon, you have the opportunity to review the seller in a different area of the site. Typically, customers receive an email that asks them to rate the transaction.

Unfortunately, comments like, "Fast shipping. Thanks!" along with a five-star rating now end up in the product review section. That means the star rating is for the seller, instead of the product.

As customer, this really stinks. I have to be much more vigilant about ratings and thoroughly read reviews before I make a purchase.

As an author, however, this can be a good and bad situation. If reviewers had a great experience with the seller, it will help your star rating. If they had a really bad experience, however, it could hurt it. 

This is another reason a great reason to patrol sites like Amazon for reviews. See what people are saying and how they rate your work. If they comment on the seller, gently point them to the seller review area, or simply ask them what they thought of the book itself.

Other reasons people give a bad rating:

• They don't like the cover art. 
• They wish it was offered on Kindle instead.
• They wish it was in hard copy instead of on Kindle.
• They don't like the author's Web site.
• They haven't liked anything else from the author and don't bother to read the book, just give it a bad rating. 

Related news:

This Amazon Sales Rank is Not Revolutionary (wickedly funny post)

One-Star Ratings on Amazon for Book without Kindle Version (GREAT post from Publishing Perspectives)

 I am in love with blogsites.

These nifty online venues are a combination of a blog and Web site. Typically, they are created in the Typepad or WordPress platforms, which allow you to create pages with your blog.

Why do I love them? Because I only have to go one place to find all the information I need about a person, product, company, book, or whatever I happen to be searching for.

Blogsites have (obviously) a blog, but they also include static pages that you usually find on Web sites, like the About and Contact pages. 

As a consumer, this is incredibly convenient. I don't have to search for - and visit - several sites to find what I need. I can get it all in one place. 

As a blogger and freelancer who frequently posts to the Web (and who is addicted to creating new blogs), I love blogsites for a few other reasons:

One program to update. I don't have to spend time updating several programs to make changes. Everything is in one program. I also don't have to spend a lot of time tracking down a Web designer to make costly static page changes. I can save cash by doing it myself. (This seems to be easier in Typepad - especially when dealing with photos and audio clips.)

One hosting fee. This is a biggie for my cheap Irish/German soul. For WordPress, I have one host that is extremely reliable. I keep all of my blogs with this one host for a reasonable monthly fee of $15. I don't have to pay a design company for hosting a product they created, which can run into some serious cost if you don't read your contract closely.

SEO. The more you post, the higher your search engine rankings on Bing, Google and the like. I find with some Web sites, it is tougher to fight for top rank positioning. However, blogs are updated frequently, which means they go higher in rank sometimes than a Web site for the same company. I have seen company blogs in the top five search results, while the static Web site appeared on the second page. If you combine your static pages with your blog, you don't have to spend time fighting for Web site rank; it is all tied up with your blog. (Of course, blogging frequently is a necessity.)

For authors on limited budgets, these are the perfect way to offer readers, reviewers and publishers all the information they need - and not bust the marketing budget. They are incredibly easy to set up and maintain in both Typepad and WordPress. (While I have fallen hard for WordPress, I still believe Typepad is a much more user-friendly system for busy professionals.)

Does this mean you should not have a devoted Web site and separate blog? Not at all. However, I think as communication streamlines online, these types of sites will become the norm.

Not exactly sure what I mean? Check out author M.B. Weston's site, which is hosted at Typepad. She also uses that platform for her media blog - which I found incredibly helpful when I hosted her last year at Pop Syndicate.

Late last year, I requested an interview from someone about their community book drive project.

I didn't get the interview, but I did get signed up for their email list - one that shoots out updates faster than the broken Xerox on 9 to 5. 

This year, others were kind enough to automatically sign me up for their personal musing blogs - online diaries that also flood my Inbox with information that would be interesting - if I had asked to read it.

Another person who is launching a new "professional blog" signed me up for that publications email RSS as well. 

Some of these emails don't have an opt out option, so they continue to flood my Inbox.

Every morning when I get up, I have a hundreds of messages just waiting to be read among the plethora of junk and digests that I just could not resist signing up for.

These unwanted missives clutter up an already clutter space and go straight to the trash can.

Not only is this poor etiquette, it is against the law. You cannot sign up people randomly for emails if they do not request it. You also must give anyone on your list an opt-out option.

Whenever I see one of these messages, I just want to scream, "Who do you think you are? My email address is not for your spamming pleasure!" (This is usually when the chocolate comes out.)

There is nothing more frustrating than spam. It is even more frustrating - and maddening - when you know who signed you up without your permission - especially if you cannot unsubscribe. I am an extremely blunt person and have a hard time trying to find the right, tactful words to tell these folks they screwed up and made me angry - and likely angered other folks as well.

Tony Eldridge did a fantastic post about the CAN-SPAM law at his blog, Marketing Tips for Authors.

If you want people to subscribe to your RSS, or sign up for your newsletter, there are ways to do it that would make Emily Post proud - and not break the law:

Sign up sheets. At book signings, conferences or other events, have a clipboard with a sign up sheet where fans and fellow authors can sign up for your newsletter or RSS. Be sure to keep these sheets for future reference.

Online sign up. You can add an email subscription or RSS via Feedburner to your Web site. This gives readers the option to sign up on their own.

Ask them. On social networks and in blog posts, you can ask them to sign up. This method works great for newsletters. Don't do this so frequently that people get tired of hearing it. 

Recently, I've received an influx of invites on Facebook from people who enjoy showing off their body parts.

Typically, I just ignore them until they go away. While I'm not a prude, I'm also not interested in networking with folks who cannot have some sense of decorum in a network I use for both personal and professional reasons. 

Last week, though, I received an invite from a woman who thought her breasts were her greatest asset. They spilled out of a teenie tank for all the world to see - including me, someone who does NOT know her.

I'd finally had enough. Who were these these people sending me friend requests? Was there something in my profile sending them my way? How could I make it stop? Were they following me from MySpace, which I dumped for this very reason?

I decided to check out this person's profile. Can you guess?

She was an author searching for an agent.

I was blown away. This sort of drunken-looking pose was supposed to make her a literary catch? I could not help but ask myself, What was she thinking?!?

For some, photos like this might be fun to take at parties and share later - privately - with friends, but to make it public for the viewing pleasure of millions is, in many instances, career suicide. Even if your profile is private, the profile photo is still available on most networks.

If you are serious about your craft,  think about your image with everything you post - especially photos.

If photos speak a thousand words, what do your public photos say about YOU?

Suck it up, cupcake.

It was a tie for the top marketing challenge of 2009: Nearly 38 percent of authors authors found it difficult to find the money for promotions and balancing family with writing and marketing.

While nearly 70 percent of authors created marketing plans, 63 percent of respondents said they thought their marketing efforts were only somewhat effective.

Nearly 90 percent y of authors listed Facebook as their top network. Seventy-five percent also used Twitter and half of respondents used GoodReads.

Sixty percent did not hire a PR firm or virtual book tour company for promotions. Nearly half said their publishers did not provide financial assistance for marketing. Only seven percent received financial help from their publishers, which 20 percent had a publisher that actively marketed their books.

Book tour expenses were the top expenses, followed closely by time spent on marketing.

Half of authors said some marketing efforts were worth it, but others were not. Only a quarter of respondents said their efforts were worth it.