“In only a few short years, the ability to use social networking as a literary megaphone has gone from an afterthought to the focus of most marketing and image shaping…’Everyone is now focused on it, because when it works, it can be a runaway train.'” -WSJ

This morning’s Wall Street Journal featured an article about YA author John Green, whose novel-in-progress just hit #1 on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists. The Fault in Our Stars is outselling The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Go the F*** to Sleep.

Yep, I said novel-in-progress. It’s not even finished yet. Won’t be published until 2012.

Say what? How did he pull that off? Green and his publisher, Dutton, give full credit to social networking. Green has developed a fiercely loyal fan base, including 1.1 million followers on Twitter and tens of thousands on sites like Facebook. Oh, and he’s posted 900 videos on YouTube. Nope, not a typo: 900.

Feeling intimidated yet? I am. Sheesh, I was excited last week when my Twitter following made it into triple digits. How can any author manage to be successful at social networking and still find time to, you know, write books?

Fortunately, I was able to find the answer to that question right here in Minneapolis. One of the many things I love about living in the Twin Cities is The Loft, a literary mecca that offers classes and networking opportunities for authors of all kinds. This summer, I’m taking a workshop series with editor and author Jacquelyn Fletcher about successful social networking for writers.

Here are the 9 best tips I’ve learned so far. These may not turn you into the next John Green, but they might help you gain a little confidence and begin building your own fiercely loyal fan base — without giving up all your writing time.

1. Support your fellow authors. If you’re just starting out, one of the easiest ways to build a following quickly is to find authors in your genre who already have large followings, then make friends. Support their books with Tweets and Likes, comment on their Facebook pages, interview them on your blog. Their followers will notice you, and some of them might become your followers, too.

2. Set a schedule. You don’t need to Tweet, Blog, and dazzle your Facebook friends every single day. Few authors (never mind Mr. Green) do it all daily. Try creating a weekly schedule, with each site assigned to a time slot: you might visit your Facebook page on Mondays and Wednesdays, Tweet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and write a new blog post every Friday. Give yourself room to breathe — and time to write.

3. Link, link, link. Each of your sites should display eye-catching links to all of your other sites. Some fans will follow you everywhere, but others might only hang out with you in one place. Be easy to find. Give readers lots of different ways to connect, hear what you have to say today — and discover your books. Wherever they go, there you are.

4. Dress down for your photo. In years past, writers — especially romance writers — were advised to wear a suit when posing for author photos. It conveyed professionalism and showed that we wanted to be taken seriously. Today, that advice has changed. Readers in the Facebook era expect authors to be friendly, open and approachable. If you wear a suit in your author photo, you risk being viewed as old-fashioned and out-of-touch. Go casual.

5. Skip the hard sell. If all you ever say is, “Check out my book!” “Buy my book!” “Hey, have you heard about my book?” you won’t build a following; you’ll make people nauseous. Social networking is all about creating community. It’s the 21st-century equivalent of becoming pen pals. So chat back and forth. Get to know people. In other words, be social. Act like a friend, not a used-car salesman.

6. Be generous. The most successful social networkers add value to the conversation. They share opinions, personal experiences, information. When you’re hanging around the watercooler — or the bar at a writer’s conference — what do people come up and talk to you about? You’ve just found a good topic to share with your followers.

7. Don’t react to criticism. You will get negative comments. It’s the nature of the ‘Net. Anonymity has conditioned people to let loose — and sling mud — much more freely. By all means, correct mistaken information and delete personal attacks, but don’t let minor disagreements make you crazy. The community of fiercely loyal fans you’re creating will give a virtual smackdown to anyone who needs it.

8. Get creative. View social networking as a creative challenge. Jacquelyn Fletcher gains more followers from her podcast (created via PodBean.com) than from any other source. Author Kelly Corrigan helped boost her memoir onto the New York Times list by holding readings in friends’ homes and posting the videos on YouTube. Brainstorm ideas. Try something new and different…maybe even a little crazy.

9. Get help. If social networking truly makes you miserable, don’t do it. There are plenty of people around these days who are good at it, and some of them are available for a fee. Hire a publicist, a virtual assistant (you’ll find a growing list of resources right here), or the Twitter-savvy teen next door.

Seen any cool, creative or super-successful social networking by authors? Feel free to share examples in the Comments.

I just got the final drafts of my first three covers from the amazing Kim Killion of Hot DAMN! Designs. I’m madly in love with these and excited to hear what everyone thinks.

This is one of those nerve-wracking indie author moments: I have no editor, agent, or sales department to offer input, so it’s all up to me. Which is incredibly cool. And incredibly scary.

I had originally planned to upload all three books this month, but I’m behind schedule because I’m revising FALCON ON THE WIND from start to finish. (The hero, Connor, doesn’t wanna be revised and is giving me all kinds of headaches.) Watch for these in July, just in time to heat up your mid-summer reading!

I know, I know, I’m behind on blogging. Things may be quiet around here, but trust me, there’s a flurry of activity going on behind the scenes.

I’m in the middle of a massive revision of FALCON ON THE WIND, my first published novel. I just did a light edit on HIS FORBIDDEN TOUCH, and FOREVER HIS will be up next. My formatter is scanning and proofing like crazy. I have a top artist working on a trio of gorgeous covers. And my new website designer is creating an all-new shellythacker.com that I think readers are going to love. So “Team Shelly” is crazy-busy right now.

But in the middle of all this madness, I got some amazing news today that I just had to share right away.

That WAHOOOOOO you heard this afternoon? It came from the direction of Minneapolis. When I went to the mailbox to get my People magazine, there was a skinny little envelope from Random House on top.

As I mentioned in my last post, I already own the rights to all seven of my Avon books. When I decided to launch this new indie adventure, I sent a letter to Random House to try and reclaim my two Dell books. To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes. My Dell books were lead titles, and fellow authors warned me that Random House is taking a tough stance on this issue. Writer Beware just reported that Random is in a bare-knuckled brawl with agents over backlist rights. Plus, they’re planning to launch RomanceAtRandom this summer to promote their romance novels directly to consumers.

All in all, I thought Random House would put up more of a fight than Avon did. Still, it was worth a shot, so I mailed my letter April 7. I figured it would take months to get a reply, if they bothered to reply at all.

But I’m holding in my hands right now a letter from an Executive VP at Random House, who has signed over all rights to my two Dell books. No fuss, no fighting, just a simple little one-paragraph letter saying the rights “are hereby reverted to you.”

I got tears in my eyes when I read those words. TIMELESS and INTO THE SUNSET are all mine. They’re two of my personal favorites, and it would have killed me to lose them.

But this letter makes it official: I now own 100% of my backlist. Every published novel I ever wrote belongs entirely to me. This is rather rare among traditionally published authors, so I’m astonished and overjoyed by my good fortune.

I’m free. Completely free. This will most likely be the last letter I ever receive from a New York publisher — because I’m done with New York. I no longer care what New York wants, what New York thinks, or what New York does. The traditional New York publishing industry broke my heart, kicked me in the teeth, and left me in a ditch.

If any man ever treated me that way, I’d get a restraining order.

But for years, I kept signing contracts and accepting this treatment as “normal.” Because there was no alternative.

Now there’s an alternative. Maybe going indie isn’t for everyone, but it fits me like a custom-knit sweater. Zero deadlines plus total creative control is an intoxicating combination. At this point, I have no idea if I’ll make one dime from this new career. I haven’t even uploaded my first backlist books yet.

All I know right now is that I wake up happy, every single day. I’m eager to get to the keyboard. I’m ready to tackle whatever challenges come my way. Writing hasn’t made me feel this good in years.

I’m not sure why Random House let me go so easily. My guess is that I’m a has-been with a capital “H” in their eyes. They probably thought, “Meh, she’s been out of print for years. Let her have her books back. She’ll never amount to anything.”

I hope to prove them wrong about that.

I certainly wouldn’t be the first.