Well, books started arriving in people's hands this week, as Amazon received their stock and started shipping out to everyone who pre-ordered. (While incredibly exciting, it also makes me a little woozy. Oh God, people are actually going to read it now!)

The news (via Twitter and Facebook) that people are getting books inspired a new idea yesterday: It was exciting to see the book in my own hands, and now I want to see it in other people's hands. So! I'm asking people, when they report in that they've received a copy, to take a picture of themselves holding it. So far, my friends Kyra and Ben have taken pictures.

On the game front, we've nailed down at least the schematic of what we want the online game to be. Tentatively called "What kind of social networker are you?," it'll be styled like those paper fortune tellers from childhood, as I'd hoped. There will be a series of questions that the player will be lead through, eventually revealing their personality. To add to the iconic feeling of the results, we're using famous people from throughout history to represent each type. ("You're Cleopatra!" etc.)

Over in publicity land, I'm working on arranging a virtual book tour. What is this, you ask? I had the same question! Jaclyn Friedman, co-editor of Yes Means Yes!, explained it to me: you set aside a specific period of time and ask different blogs to publish a piece related to your book: it can be an interview, review, a scheduled live chat or whatever else you can think of. I'm going to do a week in June, and so far I've booked June 27 to be on Firedoglake's book salon. Still deciding whether that will kick off the virtual tour, or wrap it up.

This week's plan also includes catching up with the publicist at Berrett-Koehler to see who we've sent review copies to, and who can follow up with whom. Because a lot of my clients are media organizations, I have relationships that I can poke at to hopefully get a few reviews. That's one thing that I've learned so far is that when it comes to books, relationships are everything. Asking people for help has been at times a bit squicky (I'm the "I can do everything!" grrl), but has returned amazing results: people offering to help book gigs, sponsor launch parties, promote the book at their workplace, and more.

I've also got to figure out a way to carve out time to blog more. I'm well aware of the bump in traffic and sales rank the book gets every time I publish even a glancing post somewhere, so I know I need to do this more. Especially around timely news-- with the Facebook brouhaha that's been happening, a few posts have garnered me placements in the New York Times, on CNN.com, and then appearances on CNN International. Trouble is, having a book coming out is like having a second full-time job. No joke. People tell you this, and you think, "Ah yes, I'm sure it's quite hectic." But no, hectic doesn't describe the word. As someone who already works 10-12 hours a day as a consultant, it's been all-consuming. I've got to figure out how to allocate my time more appropriately in the coming weeks, especially once I start traveling.

That's it for now! If you're interested in a review copy of the book, by the way, don't hesitate to get in touch.