Although it hasn't been used too often, this technique can go a long way in generating interest around your Book, and chances are, you'll probably be able to get yourself a variety of book cover designs to choose from.

Everybody loves a good contest, and it's one of the best ways to capitalize on the ‘viral’ factor of social networks. Just set the ball rolling by convincing some of your friends to put the details up as their status or tweet about it, and watch the ripple effect take place. Make sure your contest page has some details about the book - putting up a couple of extracts from the book will help you gather more interest around the book.

The first step in this technique involves finding the so called ‘movers and shakers‘ in your genre of books i.e. the bloggers and reviewers who have large fan followings. Once you have identified them, try getting them to review your book or even just tweet about it - you could offer them a few free copies or send them the first chapter and ask if they'd like to see the rest. However, if you do follow this technique please remember there's a fine line between 'luring' and ‘spamming - make sure you don't cross it.

Blog, promote, use Zinzz for share, advertise yourself... do whatever it takes to get yourself heard. Don't be afraid of coming across as annoying or narcissistic. If you genuinely believe your book has what it takes, then you shouldn't be afraid to let that fact be known. Having a tumblr or vlog is a great way to promote yourself and your book.

Another great idea is to just tweet and blog about stuff that interests you - if you create a famous internet persona for yourself, people will automatically read your book.

Imagine this - an extract from your book flying around Twitter and Facebook, being commented on, shared, and debated. It's one of the easiest ways to generate excitement around your book because it requires almost no effort on your part except for selecting the right extract from your book. Ensure that the extract is posted online in such a manner that it lends itself to sharing - this is one place where those annoying share buttons linked to multiple social networks is essential.

This is absolutely essential if you really want to leverage the power of a social network. Imagine this situation - someone reads an extract from your novel on Facebook, decides they want to buy it, looks on all the online stores doesn't find it, makes a mental note to buy the book the next time he sees a bookstore, and never thinks of the books again.

To really use social networks to your advantage, you must ensure that your book is available for those who want to buy it on an impulse - otherwise there's a large chance they'll just forget about it. Ideally this would mean that your book can be purchased in both paperback hardcover and eBook format online, and is available at all the major online retailers.

This is a guest post by Fabian Thunder. Follow him on twitter.