The First Five Things You'll Want to do on AuthorAdvance

Now that AuthorAdvance is finally up and running, you may be asking yourself where to start. The new site has lots to do, and it's easy to lose yourself in all the options. Here are five suggestions for things you can do right out of the gate to get up-and-running with AuthorAdvance...

1) Update Your Profile
Your profile tells others who you are and what you're interested in. It's also a vital tool for letting others know what your areas of expertise are, so that they can contact you about specific topics related to their work. Your first step should be updating your profile (or creating one if you're a new user). You can visit your profile by clicking on "My Account" in the left navigation, or by clicking here.

2) Introduce Yourself on Our Forums
Our forums are a great place to meet fellow writers, compare ideas, and discuss the craft and the business of writing. So, drop in and introduce yourself in the Greetings and Introductions Forum. Then take a look around at the other forums, and start some conversations of your own.

3) Create Something
AuthorAdvance allows you to post your own writing-related articles. Every user also gets his own blog that can be cross-posted on LiveJournal and Twitter. Our listings are also user-maintained, which means that any user can add new markets, publishers, resources, and more! AuthorAdvance is your site, and the more you contribute, the more you help other wirters to grow and succeed!

4) Rate Something
Every listing, blog and article on AuthorAdvance has a place where you can add comments and a rating. Have you had a great experience with an agency? Post a comment to share your experience. Had a bad experience? You can comment on that too, or just post a rating to let others know how you feel.

5) Start a Group
You can create a group on just about anything that's related to writing, literature, or the publishing industry. So why not start one now? Stuck for ideas for what kind of group to create? Visit our Groups Getting Started Guide for ideas!

Bonus Round
After you've had a chance to get acclimated and make yourself at home, there's no end to what you can do with AuthorAdvance. You can...

• Spread the word about us on sites like Twitter and Facebook.
• Post ideas for making the site even better in our Support Forums.
• Start conversations with your fellow users through private messages.
• ...and much, much more!

I'm looking forward to watching AuthorAdvance evolve as our community grows. Thank you for being a part of that community!

Sincerely,

Chris Hawkins