This is my second post on Twitter for beginning author marketers for Books Go Social.
Last month, I gave you some Tips on using Twitter.
I confess to NOT using Twitter much yet except I periodically purchase promos for my books from Books Go Social which sends tweets of it to 750,000 (or so) people.
I have no time to troll Twitter. I go there only when I see a special note from someone I want to hear from on a topic of interest. I’m alerted to many of those on my Email feed.
I DO investigate others’ Tweets on the days I am reposting tweets of promos, my own, and from Books Go Social, and to help promote fellow writers.
Then I take some time to check any new followers and reciprocate or ask some people to follow me and begin to follow new people. I also retweet other people’s notices if appropriate. Especially authors and more particularly, authors in the genres I write in (historical fiction and self-knowledge in the self-development arena).
I should probably do more than this but so far for me, it has been a question of time.
This piece references a report by Grub Street from a conference in Boston called Muse & the Marketplace where authors, agents, and editors hosted talks and panels on craft, the publishing process, and book promotion strategies.
Much of this advice is excerpted from their conference with their permission and course citation. “We are excited to share some of these tips with our readers who couldn’t attend, and hope you find these takeaways useful.”
How to use Twitter more effectively
Twitter can seem like an overwhelming platform at times, but it’s a great way to connect with readers and participate in the writing community — and it can even help you do research for your next book. Author Mitali Perkins shared some excellent pro tips for making the most of Twitter as an author:
- Optimize your header image. Include some of your published books, or the book you’re working on now, so people correlate your books with you.
- List your location. Even if you choose a state or broad region, this can help event coordinators know you live nearby when looking for speakers” if that is a possibility for you.
- Pin a tweet. Choose a tweet that you want to use as a banner tweet at the top of your profile.”
This could be a tweet including links to purchase your new release. A specific current tweet lends itself better for reposting than a general one.
“Create a Twitter Moment for each book launch. Create a hashtag for your book to follow the conversation and add individual tweets about your new book to this Twitter Moment.”
This is a great idea. It is more specific than a normal promo and it will have more direct impact, especially regarding other people retweeting your current offering.
- “Build Twitter Lists. Lists let you follow subsegments of the community — this can also be a great research tool. For example, you can create lists for comparable authors, editors in your genre, art historians, and so on.”
Another good idea. I have not done that yet myself, but I am going to. It is also smart to list those authors in your genre(s) with whom you might be able to do cross promotions.
- “Take regular breaks. Set periods in the morning and at night when you aren’t connected and take regular hiatuses from the platform when necessary. You can also mute words and phrases to protect yourself from content you don’t want to see.”
It is wise on Twitter and Facebook to space your promos throughout the day if possible, otherwise they all jam up together, and only those on-line see them.
Twitter can be complicated, and it changes frequently. I hope these tips help you.
Frank Daley writes fiction and nonfiction in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Get his short, paranormal urban-legend story here, free. https://goo.gl/SrCUxe
