Here are 5 easy items you won’t want to overlook. In fact, you can implement all of them this week (though I recommend you refill your coffee mug first).

1. Sign up for Amazon Author Central. In the last week, Amazon announced that it’s granting registered authors access to Nielsen Bookscan geographical data. Finally, you can see where in the world your customers are located, and when they’ve been buying. This is invaluable data for anyone running special promotions, appearing on regional TV or radio, or doing book signings or meetups. All you have to do to access this data is sign up for a free Author Central account. Click here for the FAQ.
2. Add your blog to your Facebook Page. Do you have a Facebook Page for Business? Log into your account, then go to Networked Blogs. Add Networked Blogs to your profile, then set the app to broadcast your blog’s RSS feed. Your Fans will be updated automatically whenever you publish a new post. You can also add a tab to your Page that will display your recent posts. Your Fans won’t have to leave Facebook to vote up your blog content or share it with their friends.
3. Participate in #FridayReads on Twitter. You’ll need a Twitter account for this one. #FridayReads is one of the hottest memes of 2010, probably because it’s so simple. Every Friday, Twitter users from around the world tweet what they’re reading, and tag their tweets with the hash tag #fridayreads. Participating in #FridayReads is an easy way to get your name in front of new people, show your Followers that you’re a real human (You read as well as write!), and support literacy and the book industry.
4. Set up a Goodreads Author Profile. Goodreads is one of the most popular book-related social networks on the internet. Sign up for its Author Program and you’ll have the opportunity to participate in official Book Giveaways, site-supported Q&As with readers, and possibly even the weekly newsletter. I recently ran a Book Giveaway on the site for an author client—and received 663 entries in 4 weeks. Hands down, this is the most efficient and cost-effective way I’ve found to get the word out about a book.
5. Schedule a day to stockpile your content. This is a challenge I’m issuing to myself, too. As critical as blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting and updating your LinkedIn accounts can be, when you’re under deadlines, self-promotional and marketing activities can fall to the bottom of the list. I recommend setting aside a single day to brainstorm a few months worth of content. “Impossible!,” you say. Not so. Go to a quiet place, away from distractions, and draft 30 titles for future blog posts. If you’re stuck for ideas, write in the form of Top 10 lists related to your area of expertise (e.g., Top 10 Exercise Trends for the New Year). Next, write down 30 one-line pieces of advice you’d love to pass along to others in your industry. Finally, reflect on 30 insights or accomplishments from 2010. When you’re done with this exercise, you’ll have 90 pieces of content. Some are already complete, and can be used as Tweets and Status Updates. Others are starting points for future blog posts. Get up, stretch, yawn, then write down 10 more thoughts for a nice, round 100. Congratulations! You have a Content Strategy for 2011. But don’t forget the first step: putting this mini writing retreat on your calendar.

These are my Top 5 suggestions for 2011. If you’ve found them helpful, please Like this post using the buttons below. Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

In the search for internet success, the same question always pops up, though it takes different forms: “How do you become famous on the internet?” (Also: “How do you drive traffic to your site?,” or “How do you make something go viral?”)

Unlike many other professional arenas, where you have to pay your dues, the internet moves fast. You could set up a blog in January, chat a few people up, publish a few interesting things, and be featured in major newspapers and radio outlets by March. Mainstream media continues to quote and link to bloggers and Twitter users on a daily basis in news stories on TV, radio, and in major papers.

So how can you get some of this coverage and run with it, becoming an internet sensation?

There’s no sure path or guarantee, but based on my personal experience as a blogger, I’m sharing 3 tips on how to maximize your chances at gaining—and running with—internet momentum. Look for Tip #2 next Friday.

Tip #1: Locate some influencers. Follow them on Twitter. Do what they do (and fast).

A couple of weeks ago, an influential personal blogger I follow on Twitter mentioned an essay series in which she’d participated. The blogger that created and hosted the series was not well known (yet). She was asking for additional essays. I liked the concept, so I wrote something in about 10 minutes. I left my last name off of it and asked the blogger not to link to me, because the topic was personal and I didn’t want it tied to me forever in the public sphere (but I did want to write something and contribute to the conversation).

Two weeks later, this blogger and her series was mentioned in The New York Times. Several of my co-contributors with blogs (there were about 8 of us total at the time) were excerpted and linked to by the paper. A few days after that, the series was covered by NPR. Additional bloggers and their blogs were named on the air and later on the website.

Imagine if I’d wanted my name and URL on my essay? That’s a possible free shout-out in two national outlets. And because I acted fast and was one of the few contributors on the list at the time, my chances of being mentioned were pretty good.

Do This: Find people whose endorsements make things take off. Follow those people on Twitter, Facebook, and/or the RSS to their blogs, and act quickly if they name opportunities that suit you. If you need or want PR, use your full name and always provide a link to your site.

Next week… Get Yourself a Gimmick.

1. Write or Die software, by Dr. Wicked’s Writing Lab

The concept is simple. Set a timer and a word count, then enter your text in a box. If you don’t reach your writing quota by deadline, suffer the consequences—a loud, unpleasant alarm prodding at you, or worse—your writing being erased whenever your fingers stop moving. Your choice.

I love the simplicity. Great for when I need a little extra prod or the pressure of a deadline.

The downside: there’s no way to auto-save while you’re writing. There’s always the chance your browser will freeze up or quit while you’re writing. This is less likely if you have a newer computer and a stable browser, and no other windows open at the time.

2. Scrivener, from Literature and Latte (for Macs only)

Scrivener is a text editing program that’s designed to help writers organize large, unwieldy projects, like books. The interface is simple—a series of individual text documents are organized in panes so that you can see Chapters or project headings as you write. This is indispensable when writing multi-page documents that require significant sequencing.

I use Scrivener all the time for organizing web content projects, because it helps me “see” the web site, even if it hasn’t yet been designed. I also love that Scrivener docs are stripped of virtually all auto-formatting distractions (goodbye, MS Word!). This keeps the editing process 100% separate from the writing, enabling me to be purely creative in the space instead of getting bogged down by spelling, fonts, margins, and inappropriate or unwelcome grammar guidance.

3. Google Docs

Google Docs are simple text editing equivalents of Word, Excel and PowerPoint that one can open, edit and share from within a Google account.

I was resistant at first to using Google’s stripped-down documents programs, but I became a convert in the middle of a large contract writing job. With deadlines every two days and dozens of revisions, after a while it became easier to open and review work in my web browser.

This is Google Docs’ real strength: fast access to working documents that change frequently. There’s no opening a new Finder window or waiting for Word or Excel to load. If you’re a user of Gmail, creating a new document and capturing a thought takes about five seconds.

I use Google Docs for everyday project management: keeping track of ongoing tasks via to do lists and content inventories. Keeping project information close to my email program instead of hidden in the depths of a forgotten folder is a nice convenience. It’s also nice knowing this fleeting, ever-changeable data isn’t sucking up valuable hard drive space.

4. Twitter

Yes, Twitter can be useful for something other than micro-blogging and promoting products. Three practical, everyday uses of Twitter for writers:

1. Reminding oneself of things to do/investigate/write about/read later
2. Collecting observations
3. Fine-tuning the art of brevity

With only 140 characters of allotted space, Twitter is a fantastic tool for improving one’s ability to share information in a clear and concise manner: a skill set that’s increasingly important in this digital age.

5. Blogs

Blogging doesn’t need to be public; you can use your blog like I do, as a digital notebook. I use mine as a scratch pad for writing ideas and reactions to my reading. I find a blog is easier to skim and search than my own handwriting in a paper notebook. Capturing creative impulses digitally, then reviewing them once a week or so, allows me to get an overview of my thought process, so that I can identify persistent themes or ideas that might make for good future projects.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a plain, simple blog in whatever blogging program feels most intuitive to you (I like Typepad). Don’t worry about design.
2. Opt not to include your blog in search engine results.
3. Put a password on it, making it visible only to you.
4. Set up post-by-email, so you can compose new posts in your email program and fire them off quickly.
5. Later, when you have the time, log into your blog account and organize your posts by tag or category if you wish.

Regarding #5: I find simpler is better. Lately, the bulk of my posts fall into four categories: Ideas, Observations, Reading, and Brain Dumps. I think of the blog as a notebook where I store insights and inspiration, rather than actual writing; but you can use it in whatever manner works best for you.

So there they are: 5 tools I use regularly to organize my writing practice and keep my projects moving forward. What tools do you use, and how do you use them?