By Eric Ralph

I tend to fall in the middle on the techie scale. Non-technical people sometimes mistake me for a techie, while real techies know I am not. The real techies probably have better ways of getting things done.  This post is for my fellow non-techies trying to get things done a little better or a little faster.

1. Zemanta makes adding relevant links and pictures so much easier than tracking them down yourself. I use the WordPress plugin, and it automatically finds great photos and links to include based on what I write about. Just type howler monkey, and boom.
   

   these guys (well, guy and lady friend) are unbelievably loud. of course with a name like howler monkey you’d have to be 🙂 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. MailChimp I just started using MailChimp to manage the mailing list I send short stories to each month. It’s super-easy, particularly once you get going. It also has a great mobile app so you can obsessively check on how many people really open your emails. Not that I ever do that.
3. VistaPrint I print business cards with my info and the cover of my book. I pass them out when people ask about my book so they have a physical reminder (and can find me later if they need to yell at me for writing a book where God retires).
4. Square is a great tool for an author on the go to accept credit cards. If you publish print books, you can keep them on hand in case someone wants to buy them. No cash is no problem. Just have them swipe and sign. Plus you get to carry around a cool dongle with you, which in turn allows you to use the word ‘dongle’ without getting weird looks or getting fired.

There you go. I hope you find them helpful. Let me know of any great tools I might not be using, but should.