Several savvy authors on the Affiliated Authors and Books & Writers groups at LinkedIn recently suggested that authors could help each other spread the news of their books.

The challenge: To give each other their Facebook Fan page links and Twitter handles so we could all exchange “likes” and “follows.”

The advantage: To gain more followers and fans – but in the process, to get to know other promotionally minded authors out there and, most important, to find some great new books to read!

We all love a win-win, so it didn’t take long for our inbox to become stuffed with responses. That’s when we decided to take this great cross-promotional concept to the next level and launch a Google docs page. The Author Social Media Exchange was born.

Here’s how it works:

1. If you’re an author, plug in your name, website, Twitter handle (i.e. @johndoe) and your Facebook fan page link, plus there’s room for other links, i.e. Smashwords or Goodreads.

2. By putting yourself on this list, you’re letting other authors on the list know they should come like your FB page and/or follow you on Twitter.

3. Reciprocate! Spend a few minutes a day checking the list and liking/following the other authors here!

4. If you’re a reader — we’ve now given you a great source to find some fabulous new books and authors with whom to connect.

We look forward to liking and following lots more of you at the Author Social Media Exchange! Write on…