An Author’s Guide to Using Twitter
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to write. Even as a child, I knew I wanted to be an author when I grew up. Of course things don’t always go as they’re planned. I grew up, got married, had children, built a business with my husband and made a home for my family.
I was happy, but my dream of being an author never left me. I decided to write a novel. Obviously, my situation would not allow me to be a full time author; I had too many other commitments. But I felt that I had to write that book! I decided to publish independently.
I wrote “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” and (feeling sure I had written the next bestseller, LOL) I published it on CreateSpace.com and Amazon’s KDP. I was an Indie Author! Imagine my surprise when I realized that my book was not going to sell itself! Indeed, as an Indie Author, I was ***gasp*** completely responsible for marketing! I don’t know a thing about marketing; nor can I afford to hire a publicist, pay for advertising… I didn’t even know where to start.
I had read several articles which suggested using Twitter, but I didn’t even have an account with Twitter. Realizing I had no choice, I visited the website. It seemed easy enough; just a box which said, ‘New to Twitter? Sign Up’. The box only asked for my email address (use a valid email address because they will verify it) and name (it’s important to use your real name here). It also wanted me to put in a password. I thought of a password which would be easy for me to remember, but which no one else could figure out and took the plunge. I clicked the ‘Sign Up For Twitter’ button and I was on my way. No turning back now.
Though I’m by no means an expert, I have learned a lot since that day. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned and hopefully spare you some of the time, mistakes and frustration I went through.
Starting out
After I hit the sign up button, I was taken to a screen which asked several questions. Most are self-explanatory, but one in particular I feel needs discussion. Twitter will suggest a “User Name” for you. Your user name is very important. It markets your product to your audience. If you are an author or an artist, YOU are your product. At first I was going to use the name of a character in my book, but I realized that if I did, I would need a new Twitter account for every book I wrote. I chose @shelleydterrell for my user name because as an Independent Author, Shelley D Terrell is my product.
Another noteworthy item in this section is the box which is automatically checked allowing the program to ‘Tailor Twitter based on my recent web searches.’ I chose to uncheck this box. I prefer to choose whom to follow. When you are satisfied with your answers, click the ‘Set Up My Twitter Account’ button at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to the ‘Twitter Teacher Preview’. You will see a box which says ’Get started in 60 seconds’. Click the box.
Build Your Timeline
Now it’s time to follow some people. You will need five people to start (hopefully @shelleydterrell will be one of your choices, LOL). Twitter will suggest people you can follow, or you can just enter the user names of people you want to follow (don’t forget to put the @ sign) and then click the magnifying glass in the search box. If the user name you have entered exists, the user’s profile picture will appear with a ‘Follow’ button next to it. Simply click ‘Follow’ and then either enter another user name or choose one of the user names suggested by Twitter. When you have followed five people, you will move to the next category.
Next you will be taken to a screen which suggests well known people you can follow. I chose to follow well known authors in my genre because if they follow me back, all of their followers will see me too. You can find well known authors by typing their name in the search box. You won’t need their user name.
Next Twitter will offer to find people you know by searching your email contacts. I chose not to import my email contacts. I clicked “skip” at the bottom of the search box.
Add Your Character
Personalize your account to increase your followers. Simply click ‘Upload Image’ and search for the picture which you want to represent you (your product). I chose to use the same picture of myself that I have used on all of my author pages to maintain consistency.
After you add the picture of your choice, you may type your bio in the box under the picture. Note: You have 160 characters with which to convey your message. For now, you can just put something like “building account” so people will know you are working on it, then go ahead and click ‘Done’. This will give you time to visit other Twitter accounts for ideas. At this point you will need to check your email to:
Verify Your Account
Visit your email inbox to find instructions on how to verify your Twitter account.
Read Twitter Rules
It is very important to familiarize yourself with Twitter’s rules. Violation of the rules can lead to suspension of your account!
You are now ready to use your Twitter account.
Setup your profile
In the upper right hand corner of your Twitter page, you will find a gear. Click on the gear and then click on ‘settings’. Now click on ‘design’ and upload your book cover or logo.
Gaining Followers
Remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
People are more likely to follow you if you are supportive of them. Now is not the time to be competitive. Support your fellow authors/artists with @replies, #MT’s, #RT’s, #FF’s (more about these below) and they will support you. The best way to get good followers is to be a good follower. If someone follows you, follow back! It’s just good manners; besides, when users realize that you follow back, they will follow you. Nothing appears more arrogant than a user who has thousands of followers but only follows a few hundred.
NOTE: You may be approached to ‘buy’ followers. I strongly advise against this. Your goal is not to gain thousands of followers. Your goal is to gain good followers. Many of these ‘purchased followers’ are ‘bots’ or fake accounts. They are easy to identify if you click on their user name and see that they follow many users but have very few followers.
Noteworthy Twitter has rules about follow/follower ratio. You can’t follow thousands of people and have no followers. Besides, its rude not to follow back. If I follow someone who does not follow me back within 72 hours, I unfollow. I don’t want them taking up space in my ratio counts.
#Hashtags and Their Use
A hash tag (#) is similar to an address for a particular discussion group. For example if I tweet something and I want everyone who is discussing fiction novels to see my tweet, I would put #fictionnovels at the end of my tweet. Hash tags are very useful to make sure your tweet gets to your audience instead of getting lost in cyberspace. If you put two hash tags in one tweet, your tweet will go to both places.
Another function for the hash tag is when you want to search. For example, if I want to find a discussion about fiction novels, I can either click on #fictionnovels in any tweet or I can type in #fictionnovels in the search box. I will be taken to the discussion about fiction novels. If I see a hash tag with a word, and wonder what the discussion is about, I simply click on it and I am taken to the discussion.
The most wonderful use of the hash tag is when it is used to honor one of your friends or followers. For example, one of my friends is @sharnbuz. I could tweet #FF @sharnbuz. This suggests to my followers that @sharnbuz is worth following. If I tweet “Thanks for the #RT” I am thanking @sharnbuz (or whomever) for retweeting me. The use of the hash tag lets other users know that @sharnbuz is one who will retweet, so they are likely to follow her. If I tweet ‘Thanks for the #MT, I am thanking @Sharnbuz (or whomever) for mentioning my name. The important thing to remember is that when you mention someone, they will usually return the favor. This will get your product (you) in front of their followers. If a user mentions you, it is customary to return the favor.
Retweeting
Retweeting a user is very possibly the best way to gain followers. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by clicking ‘retweet.’
Replying to a tweet
When someone ‘tweets’ you, simply click ‘reply’ below the tweet. A box will pop up which will allow you to respond to the person who addressed you.
Just as you are expected to reply when someone speaks to you in person, it is common courtesy to reply to someone who ‘tweets’ to you. You will know you have been addressed because any time your user name is tweeted, it will show up under your ‘Notifications’ screen. As a Twitter user, you should consider checking your notifications a responsibility.
A strong word of caution!
Sometimes when a person ‘tweets’ you, he or she may tweet several others at the same time. When you click reply and the reply box pops up, make sure you delete every user name except for the person who initiated the tweet! Failure to do this will result in account suspension for ‘unsolicited mentions’; a violation of Twitter rules. While it’s ok to #RT a person who has listed several user names, it is NOT OK to reply to all user names.
It is considered kind, and not against the rules to initiate a tweet which says something like:
#FF_VIP @user1 @user2 @user3 @user4
This tweet tells your followers that they should follow these very important users (all of your followers are important so all can be called VIP). In turn the users you list will often tweet the same about you. This will gain followers for your friends and for you.
Tweeting
“Why,” you may be asking yourself, “has Shelley waited until the end of the blog to discuss tweeting? She must be saving the most important part for last,” you may reason.
You would be reasoning incorrectly. Tweeting (unless you are mentioning another user) is the least important thing you will ever do on Twitter. No one wants to hear you talk about yourself. Let them talk about you! That said, you are in this to gain exposure for your product.
To tweet simply look for the small square box with a feather quill in the upper right hand corner of your Twitter page. Click on it and the box will open. Now you are ready to tweet.
When you tweet, you are allowed only 140 characters with which to get your point across. Choose your words wisely and try to use only about 120 characters. This will leave room for you to post a link to your website or book at the end of each tweet. Don’t worry about shortening your links; Twitter will do that for you. People are hesitant to click on links which have been shortened by programs like tinyurl.com or others.
When you log on to Twitter, you will notice a list of items on the left hand side of the page. The list is marked ‘Trending’. Occasionally you may find a subject is trending which relates directly to your book. If you do, and you find a way to use the word in a sentence, make a tweet, use the ‘Trending’ topic in a sentence with a hash tag. Caution: DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE IF IT DOES NOT RELATE DIRECTLY TO YOUR BOOK! TO DO SO IS CONSIDERED BAD MANNERS AND MAY BE CONSIDERED SPAM!
This blog is intended only to help you get started. I hope you will gain something useful from it.
Your email:
