Rise of the Machines-Human Authors in a digital World by Kristen Lamb.  Published June 27 2013 by WANA International.  CDN $7.26 Kindle Edition.

Here we are—the future is now. The machines have taken over. Everything is computerized. People no longer talk, they text. What number do we have to press to get a flesh and blood HUMAN?

It’s easy to feel like we’re losing our humanity when surrounded by computers, cell phones, and text messaging, but I’m here to bring you the good news. The same machines that seem to be stealing our humanity also have the power to restore it. Yes, you read correctly. The more we embrace technology, the more distinctly human we can become.

The new author is a cyborg of sorts—part human, part machine. The machine part allows us to compose series of words, copy them, email them, and then send them across the globe with a push of a button. We can research faster and more accurately than ever before. We can communicate with people all over the planet real-time and virtually for free. The new power technology has given writers has made us, in effect, superhuman.

Branding has broken free of marketing’s shackles and merged with personal identity. If we want to thrive in our new environment, we need to adapt, to apply technology as an extension of our humanness.

This is not a book to teach you 1,000 ways to blast people with advertising. The WANA Way is different than anything you’ve likely encountered. It is constructed using the timelessness of art, blended with the strength of human relationships. Platforms are more than a zillion ways to try to part readers from money; they are living works of art and meshed with the soul of the writer-artist.

The machines are rising, but humans were here first. (Goodreads Excerpt)

Kristen Lamb is absolutely amazing.  I published my first book without a clue as to what I was doing in terms of marketing and social media.  My publisher told me to make a facebook author page.  Ok done.  My family and friends ‘liked’ my page.  Now what?  Get a website.  Ok done.  Then I found Kristen Lamb’s blog and thankfully I did.  She knows everything about social media and what not to do on it.  Then I read her book.  Holy cow the lights come on and I have to hand-slap my forehead.  Talk about doing things backwards and the hard way.

I won’t go into too much detail but Kristen takes you on a step by step of how to make your author platform, how to do it the easy way and shows us that we all need a little help. In her words the WANA way – We are not alone.  She stands by her word and offers help and insight in her book, on her blog, on twitter and anywhere else.

Point in fact!  I am now addicted to twitter.  I can’t believe that.  I regularly chat on facebook.  My website domain actually contains my full name now…lol  who knew? I have met lots of people on line that I love chatting with and have made many new friends.

A must read for any serious writer looking to figure out the scary world of social media.

5 stars!