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Twitter
thanks for the twitter help, I appreciate itI am @mjccnevertool8
Hi Morris. I have built a solid following in the past few months. My handle is @nikolebloom. I use Hootsuite and Tweet Jukebox for automation. Feel free to message me with any questions. I would be happy to help. Good luck and happy tweeting!
I use Twitter as my primary method of marketing and find it very effective (if you know how to use it right). Join me if you want: @AprilWroteIt
I'm not Twitter expert but I can tell you a few things I've learned about it in the last few weeks.If you have books to promote consider creating your own hashtag when talking about it. This. way you create your own board of posts where when people want to check out stuff about your book all they have to do is type in or click on the hashtag.
Follow people who follow you and be weary of who to follow if they don't follow you. Don't follow people who don't have a picture and don't follow people who have more followers then people who are following them, these are spammers and those who tend to boost for no reason.
Finally, Retweet often if you find others content to be useful. It may not seem like much but it's a nice gesture that goes along way.
I use it to very good effect. Make sure you tweet interesting, amusing posts. Don't just constantly post spam about your books.
Been out of pocket all day. See a lot of answers. Thanks, guys and gals. Will try to digest and act on this this weekend. be expecting if you invited me to ask questions that I will. Oh, I am @MorrisEGraham
Thanks again.
Morris
Thanks again.
Morris
Thank you for your input on the use of twitter. Although I have had a twitter account for a couple of years, I have only begun using it in earnest since August. I can't really tell if it has helped with my book marketing.I have learned a few things that have proved helpful:
(1) I use lists to follow the few accounts that I would like to keep track of on a regular basis. This eliminates a lot of spam.
(2) If one receives really objectionable tweets, one can block the sender. These can come by retweet and so I'm not even a follower of the originator.
(3) In my limited experience, tweets are most useful for guiding interested subscribers to other content such as a blog.
Thank you for your twitter handles. I think I managed to follow everyone on this thread so far. Mine is @PeterKazmaier
I also recommend using https://hootsuite.com/ to do your twitter posts. It allows you to easily shrink links and post to several places all at once link Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. My twitter handle is: @martin_wilseyThanks!
Martin wrote: "I also recommend using https://hootsuite.com/ to do your twitter posts. It allows you to easily shrink links and post to several places all at once link Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. My tw..."
I tried that for Facebook and Twitter, but found it didn't do so well for Google+, which is the main reason I wanted it.
I tried that for Facebook and Twitter, but found it didn't do so well for Google+, which is the main reason I wanted it.
Hey, lets use this for a follow for follow thread. I'll follow everyone tomorrow.
I know I followed a bunch of you last night. ( @ajdarcywrites by the way) I think I missed one or two...
One more Twitter newbie, @riannejar...my experiences this far haven't been too positive. I've had a few accounts follow me - GoodKindles, AmazingAuthors, and SweetFreeBooks etc. - and inundate my home page with tweets that are marketing blasts. Bordering on SPAM, was compelled to 'unfollow' such...
Okay, now following everyone on this page. Will digest information in the posts this week,; I've been crazy-buzy lately, but am taking this subject/post very seriously.
Rian wrote: "One more Twitter newbie, @riannejar...my experiences this far haven't been too positive. I've had a few accounts follow me - GoodKindles, AmazingAuthors, and SweetFreeBooks etc. - and inundate my h..."Follow other authors. RT for RT...it helps spread your marketing posts further. Follow, find, but check out people without blindly following.
And somebody somewhere said tweet about more than just your book. Tweet the process. Watching something on TV? Live tweet. I do that with my etsy twitter with cooking competition shows.
It will start off slow but will mushroom out. I'm balancing 2 twitter accounts and sometimes followers for both interlap.
Somebody might argue with this one but if you feel like taking a social media break one day, take it. It's better, in my opinion, to take a break than get boggled down, frustrated, and annoyed at the sytem.
A.J., I imagine you are right, that such enhanced connectivity does increase information dispersal and activity (talking like a neural researcher!)...
I use MetroTwit, but I don't think you can use more than one account. It's easy and unobtrusive. With Twitter, I primarily retweet interesting things that relate to my interests and brand (science-y stuff, mostly) and I mention blog posts, etc that may be interesting. Occasionally I'll tweet mundane stuff, but I try not to do that too frequently.
Participate, tweet daily, preferably several times a day, be friendly, be involved! Find other authors, readers, and creative types, participate, follow legit people who follow you first (not spammers). Post a few tweets about your own books each day, post about other peoples' books, RT inspiration tweets about writing, reading, or any old thing. Just be there, show up, participate, and be nice. Reciprocate when someone does something nice for you. I have gained over 1500 followers in less than four months. I find Twitter a great way to promote and market oneself, if you do it right.
Hiya. Great idea on the reciprocal following Morris. I think I got everyone. shout if I missed anyone @sjhiggins7
Work gets in my way sometimes, but I try my best to stay as active as I can. @KelseyJAuthor
I added everyone to my Twitter that posted, and issued a friend request to all here.
Hi all, I am fairly new to twitter too, and have gained a small following. @ceanmohrlass is mine. I have followed all on this thread. :)
Small following. you have over 1,000. I'd like to see what a big following is.
:) I have of late, been trying to seek out authors and follow them and have been fortunate enough for them to follow me in return. I also follow a few of my fav tv / movie stars etc for fun :) I am more than happy to follow indie authors such as myself :)
Does anyone know the reason for using "true twit" validation? I see that on a few of the people I follow, I just realized I had to go and prove I'm not a robot. Is this something we should be doing for our accounts?
@micah_r_siskI've truly got a small following. Like 40 people or something.
But the thought of having to interact with it all the time just really wearies me. If I tweeted much about my non-books stuff it would be:
"Woke up, cycled to work, labored over dumb databases, came home, ate dinner, thought about writing. #AmBored"
Repeat every day.
{:S
Okay that's something a newbie would be interested in... What is the function of the hash tag?
:) LOL It's overwhelming sometimes, I miss so much because there are so many tweets and I write most of the day. Mostly just my blog posts go there is all I have done so far. I started with my post about publishing my book then attached my blog to post there.
Oh man, I forgot to add my username when I posted. @MarkG_77 Have followed a few here so far, will get on it :)
Oh man, I forgot to add my username when I posted. @MarkG_77 Have followed a few here so far, will get on it :)
Mine (at least my book one) is @Jacq_Of_Spades I have a bunch of twitter accounts and I love TweetDeck, it keeps me somewhat sane ... LOL
To answer the questions: I don't follow people who do that true twit thing.
Hashtags are a way to group posts with the same tag. It's sort of like a keyword. I've found the best use for these is to make a hashtag for your book title. That way, anyone who's interested in your book will see what's going on with it.
I'll go add everyone now. :)
Hi all.You can find me on twitter at #Thevoiceinmyhead. My twitter handle is SBHartSmith.
I would love to connect.
I am @mjccnevertool8I don't know anything about twitter. I started using hootsuite, which I loved, then they wanted $, which I don't have :-( I am not using Tweetdeck and like it BUT I don't know what the heck I'm doing there. Help me be witty and charming! What am I supposed to do??
Mary wrote: "I am @mjccnevertool8I don't know anything about twitter. I started using hootsuite, which I loved, then they wanted $, which I don't have :-( I am not using Tweetdeck and like it BUT I don't know..."
Mary I have been using Hootsuite for years and I also love them. I have never paid a dime. I know some of their features require a paid version but I have managed make the free version work great for my needs. Do you remember what feature you wanted that only came with the paid version? Maybe I can help.
Greetings, all! I love Twitter. I have a lot of crossover between GR and Twitter b/c I used GR's invitation feature to invite my Twitter followers to my GR. But I am double-checking this thread to make sure I haven't overlooked anyone. My Twitter is @Lissa_Johnston. Appreciate the follow backs!
Ceanmohrlass wrote: "Does anyone know the reason for using "true twit" validation? I see that on a few of the people I follow, I just realized I had to go and prove I'm not a robot. Is this something we should be doing..."For the love of all that is holy, NO. Whenever I get that auto response from someone I requested to follow, I delete and walk away. Google this and you will see many people feel the same way. I think you lose more potential followers than you gain.
Hello folks! What advice can you give a newbie author and a rookie self publishing twit on Twitter? Where do I start after setting up an account? And what are the most effective ways and sites to boost book exposure to a targeted audience? @CobberBill
AJ, from what I am seeing you need to keep your followers engaged. Tweet them something interesting to read, or funny. Don't wait until you have a book launch to bomb them with a "Hey guys, notice my new book." Develop a relationship with them. Your presence on the internet is called your "author's platform." It takes years to build.
Sometimes just asking questions is the best way to get people engaged.
I joined a Tweet group a couple of months ago, which means my daily tweets are retweeted by between 20 and 30 other authors (we all tweet each other). I use humor and a different picture with each tweet and I'm happy with the results so far. I'm getting a lot more traffic to my website and sales are picking up. Not sure if Twitter is responsible as I promote all over the place, but I'm sure it helps and it's fun!
Okay. Since this thread was started as sort of a teaching thing, how do you join/start a group?
Wow, it seems like rocket science to me. I think I'll treat it like algebra, which I did manage to master once upon a time.Question: can you change your twitter handle if you want? and should it include your name so it relates to you as an author, or does it matter?
Thanks.
Victoria wrote: "Wow, it seems like rocket science to me. I think I'll treat it like algebra, which I did manage to master once upon a time.Question: can you change your twitter handle if you want? and should it i..."
Yes and yes. I recently changed my Twitter name based on the advice in an article about platform/branding. Initially I had it some random thing but changed it to my name @Lissa_Johnston. I had to insert an underscore since someone else was already using my name as their account. But their account is inactive so I sure wish they would close it so I could have my name back LOL. So learn my lesson and grab your name ASAP. Oh and btw changing it was a snap. Didn't have to migrate followers over or anything like that.
I just set one up, @MLRobertswriter. It's actually a fun thing to do!
Lissa wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Wow, it seems like rocket science to me. I think I'll treat it like algebra, which I did manage to master once upon a time.Question: can you change your twitter handle if you want..."
Thanks for this little tidbit ... just getting started and every tip helps ... really appreciate your sharing ...
Morris