A milestone. A watershed. A landmark. Call it what you will, The Gullwing Odyssey has reached another.

Back on December 17 of last year, I was ecstatic to share with you the news that my novel broke into Amazon's top ten list, peaking out at #7. Have a look at the screenshot below. As of 3:45 p.m. this past Wednesday, the novel has jumped up another rung to #6.

Once again, I'm flattered and honored. This all wouldn't have been possible without you, the readers, and I sincerely appreciate your support. I'm also a bit intimidated -- though just a bit -- as you've set the bar pretty high. Now worries, though. I won't let you down.

Let's say you've just penned the next worldwide bestseller. Great as it may be, your readers can't want what they don't know exists. Your job as a writer isn't over once your fingers complete the last keystroke. Your audience is out there, eager to read what you've written, but you need to find each other first. And while some of you may cringe at the prospect of posting on Facebook or Twitter, the fact is it's an unwritten rule of the game that you'll have to promote yourself if you are to achieve any success.

This article isn't like others you may have read about author social media and SEO (search engine optimization). Unlike those, I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to do to help get your message out.

Writing is a highly personal activity. Your work speaks for you and reflects on you. Therefore, you are your own brand. Your first task is to identify your brand name. Will it be your name or your pen name? The title of your book or that of the series? Decide on a brand name so your readers -- new and returning -- know what to expect.

Pick a good name -- one that uniquely identifies you and your work, and more importantly, one you can live with. Reputations aren't made overnight, and you'll be working under this name for a long time.

Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens famously stated that the Internet is "not a big truck. It's a series of tubes." I'd say he's only partly right. Social media itself is like a truck. Your message is its load. You want to get as much of your message across while making the least number of trips. Naturally, the bigger the truck, the more it can carry and the fewer trips it has to make. More efficiency means more time you can devote to writing.

First things first: start a blog. You need one. Not only will it help keep your writing sharp, it is also a tool for getting your message across. I can't stress this enough: your blog is your message. Social media is how you get that message out. Post frequently and regularly. You want to garner a following, but that's not all -- you want interaction too. Be sure to respond to your audience's blog comments promptly and thoughtfully. After all, no one likes to be ignored.

Limiting yourself to one or two social media accounts is like using a wheelbarrow when you've got a big rig truck parked in your front lawn. Do not limit yourself to just a few social media outlets. Open accounts with Twitter, Goodreads, and LinkedIn. Then open Facebook and Google+ accounts, and make pages on both. The aim is to make it easy for your audience to find you. Your readers might have Facebook but not Twitter accounts, or LinkedIn and Goodreads but not Google+, and so on. Don't have them chase you down, because in many cases they won't. You need to go to them.

For each of your social media accounts, assign the same brand-name you devised earlier in this exercise. Your goal here is to have consistency across all accounts so that your readers can find you on several outlets.

Now that your truck is loaded up, you need to get that message out. By now you might be thinking: "I just opened five social media accounts; how on earth am I going to make time to post to all is them?" Simple. Integration.

You don't have to post to each account individually, as that would cut into your writing time. Remember, you are an author first, and a social media wizard second. Writing is the end in itself. Social media is a tool for successful writing.

First, sign up for Buffer. It's a free social media integration app that will save you loads of time. Make an account with Buffer and link your social media profiles to it. All social media posts you draft in Buffer will be disseminated to all your accounts at once. Alternatively, you can schedule your posts for a future time.

Next step: syndicate your blog. This means setting up your other accounts to update every time you post a new blog entry. Sites like Goodreads and others allow you to syndicate your blog. When you syndicate, each time you post to your blog, the message can reach several outlets in the time it takes you to post to one.

...And not the other way around. Social media can be loads of fun, but it's also a tremendous time sink if you're not careful. I reiterate: you are an author first, and a social media wizard second. Don't get your priorities crossed.

Writing is a conversation. Your words speak to your readers, and your readers respond. Don't speak to an empty room. Get out there and be heard.

Best of luck, and happy writing!

Some of you have asked: "Why is it called The Gullwing Odyssey?" The short answer is that it's the odyssey undertaken by the main character, Marco Gullwing. But there's more to it than just that.

We'll start with the "Odyssey" part. An odyssey is a long journey full of adventures from which one derives knowledge or wisdom. The word and its meaning come from Homer's Odyssey, that piece of classical Greek literature about an ill-fated sea voyage.

It's axiomatic for odysseys that things not go as expected. If everything had happened as Marco had hoped, we wouldn't have much of a story. Nor would Marco (and we, the readers) have learned anything from the experience. What's more, the adventure sure wouldn't have been as funny, if at all. Thus, throughout Marco's journey, everything that can go wrong often does.

The "Gullwing" part is a bit harder to explain. Marco's surname is unorthodox for his ancestry, but it's entirely fitting. His surname is meant to evoke seagulls. Seagulls are coastal birds, keeping with the book's nautical theme. They are capable of soaring for large distances at a time. By comparison, Marco's travels involve long stints of ocean voyages to far-flung locales.

Moreover, seagulls are particularly good at flying, as was famously pointed out by Richard Bach in his classic novella, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Bach's novella is about Jonathan, a seagull who strives to be so good at what seagulls do best (flying) that he transcends his physical nature to become the perfect seagull. To quote Bach's work:

Marco is like Jonathan Seagull, but in reverse. He claims he's only good at delivering letters because that's all he wants to do for the rest of his life, and he doesn't think he's terribly good at that, even. He doesn't want to be a world-traveler, or a fighter, and least of all a hero, but he becomes all these things quite by accident, and much to his chagrin.

It isn't until Marco's misadventures are foisted upon him that he realizes he has a lot to learn about the world, and perhaps most of all, about himself, which brings us full circle back around to the odyssey theme.

Don't jump to conclusions -- the sequel to The Gullwing Odyssey isn't ready yet (working on that). I figured I'd share this info with you since I'm collaborating with Darkwater Syndicate on a brand new project that's in the works.

Things have been pretty hectic around here, which is why my Twitter account has been so quiet lately. Darkwater Syndicate is gearing up to introduce a new fantasy author and publish his debut novel, a traditional sword and sorcery fantasy with an ironic twist.

The  new project is unrelated to the Gullwing series, but from what I've seen so far, it's a great read. Needless to say, Darkwater Syndicate and I are really excited, and pretty exhausted, over the project. It's still under wraps, but rumors from within Darkwater Syndicate's offices tell of a sneak-peek later this month on their website. The book will be out in late February or early March.

See you at the launch party!