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Twitter Account for Characters
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I've seen a few authors use it. To what end, I don't know, but it is fun to interact, especially if you've read the book or are familiar with the character. I have one character who may get his own Twitter account one day (I actually want to wait until my series is over and pick out the best bits of 'advice' he gives). At the moment, I've got a literal bot account in that I set up a Twitter account for my blog using the robot mascot. Most of his tweets are automated, though I occasionally go in and have him give robo-commentary on things he retweets.
Kevin Hearne has a Twitter account for two of his Iron Druid characters and they are fun to follow (Oberon, the Irish wolfhound and Owen, a druid that was just awakened in the 21st century). It's a clever idea, but one I think would be hard to maintain on top of everything else you might do on social media. It makes more sense if you have a series with multiple books out already, I think.
Christina wrote: "I've seen a few authors use it. To what end, I don't know, but it is fun to interact, especially if you've read the book or are familiar with the character. I have one character who may get his own..."A robot mascot is still a solid idea. I think it would be hard to manage more than one but I know there's programs that help with social media and scheduling. Plus I can always put one account on my tablet.
Lisa wrote: "Kevin Hearne has a Twitter account for two of his Iron Druid characters and they are fun to follow (Oberon, the Irish wolfhound and Owen, a druid that was just awakened in the 21st century). It's a..."Just checked his out. Very impressive, he has over 1000 followers! Also it looks like he gets a lot of likes and retweets so this guy definitely knows what hes doing.
I struggle to know what to say on twitter as myself. Actually, it might be easier as my character, but even so it would be a lot of work. Plus sooner or later I know I'll move on to different characters and a different series.
Seriously...who's got that kind of time!?
I follow a character. It's good fun. If you have the time to commit to it, I say why not?
Justin wrote: "I think it would be hard to manage more than one but I know there's programs that help with social media and scheduling. Plus I can always put one account on my tablet."Most of the robot is set up through Hootsuite to auto-tweet, but the Twitter app actually makes it really easy to switch between accounts without logging in or out. I found out today that if I use the 'share' feature to share a link, all I need to do is tap the picture in the corner to switch accounts to share from.
Sometime ago, an excerpt from my book (HnH) about Lucy, a feral cat mom who adopted my house, got quite some attention in a readers/writers group...might start tweeting her adventures, which I do blog about sometimes.
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I just created character accounts for three of my characters, at the insistence of my sister -turned - assistant. She actually created them and email me their links and email. Just got started, but it seems fun so far.
Emma wrote: "I just created character accounts for three of my characters, at the insistence of my sister -turned - assistant. She actually created them and email me their links and email. Just got started, but..."For 3 characters?! oh my. Well best of luck and let us know how it goes.
Okay so I am obviously considering it but I am considering it for my antagonist and not my main character/protagonist. I feel the antagonist is a lot more entertaining and if I do decide on making a twitter account for a character I'm going with him. I'd like to check out a few more character accounts before deciding. So if anyone knows of any or has some please feel free to share.
Here is a character from Chess Desalls' Travel Glasses: https://mobile.twitter.com/EdgarHallLiveHere's the MC from David Kelly's Dead Reckoning:
https://mobile.twitter.com/HectorTren...
And here's Vlad, my robot:
https://mobile.twitter.com/VladtheRobot
Christina wrote: "Here is a character from Chess Desalls' Travel Glasses: https://mobile.twitter.com/EdgarHallLiveHere's the MC from David Kelly's Dead Reckoning:
https://mobile.twitter.com/HectorTren...
An..."
Sweet thanks Christina! #RobotsSuckAtMarketing, priceless!
If one can get a large following for a character account, its value is obvious. I myself can't even get a particularly large following for myself, so I don't see me trying it for one of my characters any time soon, if ever.Popularity aside, as a reader, I tend to prefer characters in their stories. When a character becomes "interactive" it loses something to me.
I agree with Ty.
I've considered doing this, but haven't yet. Not enough time in the day. :(
That is a hilarious idea! Personally, I have so much trouble thinking of things to say on my own twitter account, I don't know that I would want to take on a second,lol, but that is an awesome suggestion.
I think that the value of this May vary by genre.... If your readers are more on FB, say, then it might not work. My genre is YA, so I try to 'be' places they are. I mentioned I have one set up For a few characters, but right now it's purely for my fun and I may not do too much with them now, but when the time comes to be more interactive with my audience, the accounts are already established.
I'm conflicted that's why I wanted to see how others have done with it. I haven't really established a big enough following for this book so while this may be a reason I shouldn't it may also serve as the reason I should. I think I'll attempt it at the very least and give it a shot, you don't know till you try!
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I think it could be fun but it would only really work if character was very popular. Also there's the time. I'm always playing catch up with my own social media as it is ^^;;
Funny that this comes into my feed today, as I just started a campaign on Twitter. As I was writing my book, I needed a way for two characters (Nietzsche and Mazda) to communicate between Heaven Inc. and Earth. I finally settled on using Twitter as their means of communicating, partly so I could use them on Twitter.After I post their conversations on Twitter, though, I wondered what to do. So, when I get to that point, I've decided that their story will continue as a kind of "social media book project". I have no idea how this is going to go. :)
Well best of luck Dylan and let us know how it goes.
I used twitter for the thoughts of a character. The posts were from her diary. I had to stop when I ran out of calendar (books). I may pick it up again, now that she's had more time/experiences. Don't know what I'd do if a discussion erupted. Nice way to give depth to a character, if your readers are interested. I see it as a gimmick, not a great communications tool.Now twitter for the author is a different matter.
Ty wrote: "Popularity aside, as a reader, I tend to prefer characters in their stories. When a character becomes "interactive" it loses something to me. "We're looking at a new generation that wants to feel connected with everyone and everything in their lives. Movies and TV shows create websites to provide a more interactive experience. Food companies have twitter accounts for you to tell them what a great pasta dish you made last night and some guy from their Indian tech center tweets you back thanking you for enjoying their food. I've even seen where qr codes are placed on gravestones so you can connect to a memorial website next time you're in the cemetery.
I'm with whoever said they don't know what to do with their own Twitter account, but one for a character actually sounds more interesting and useful from a marketing perspective. maybe I'll give it a try sometime...
J.J. wrote: "I'm with whoever said they don't know what to do with their own Twitter account, but one for a character actually sounds more interesting and useful from a marketing perspective. maybe I'll give it a try sometime..."I don't know what to do with my twitter account either. I retweet other's tweet here and there and that's it. Using one of my characters to do it would make things so much easier. True, I also find character interview easier to do than author ones and I love to use my character to answer questions addressed to me. So yeah, I'd like to try it some day. It sounds like it would be a fun thing to do.
G.G. wrote: "J.J. wrote: "I'm with whoever said they don't know what to do with their own Twitter account, but one for a character actually sounds more interesting and useful from a marketing perspective. maybe..."I was using it post the occasional ad, but given most of your followers tend to be other authors, it doesn't seem like the right audience to advertise to.
Another strategy along those lines was to reply to advertised tweets with those same ads. Figuring a broader audience was seeing those, and seeing others replying as well, it was clear people outside my circle would see them. The only downside is I have no idea ho effective they are.
About a month ago I started pulling out of Select and enrolling my books with smashwords. One of the things I like about them is I get to see how many people are viewing my books on their page. I've been rather quiet on my account for a few weeks now, so when I saw someone retweet a Donald Trump tweet, I decided to reply with an ad linking to the smashwords page instead of the Amazon page. For good measure, I sought out Marco Rubio with a reply/ad to one of his as well. Just visiting my dashboard, my page views jumped since posting the ads. Though it didn't translate to actual sales, I now know how much attention that kind of advertising gets me. I figure if I ramp it up with political season in full force, I'll get the kind of exposure paid advertising will get me, and eventually those views should translate to sales.
J.J. wrote: "Ty wrote: "Popularity aside, as a reader, I tend to prefer characters in their stories. When a character becomes "interactive" it loses something to me. "We're looking at a new generation that wa..."
No doubt the generation is different in regards to such things, and keeping the audience in mind is not a bad idea. But in the end, the author has to do what interests them. Plus, Harry Potter is doing quite well without an official Rowling sanctioned Harry Twitter account, as far as I can tell.
Ty wrote: "J.J. wrote: "Ty wrote: "Popularity aside, as a reader, I tend to prefer characters in their stories. When a character becomes "interactive" it loses something to me. "We're looking at a new gener..."
True, but readers are finding other ways to connect with her stories, forming their own quidditch leagues.
Yes they are. But I was speaking as to official Twitter accounts for characters.
Ty wrote: "Yes they are. But I was speaking as to official Twitter accounts for characters."Well I mean it's not like J.K Rowling needed to or has to create a Twitter account for Harry Potter anyways. I feel it might be more beneficial to those of us Indie Authors or even traditional who are not as widely known as Rowling and Harry Potter.
I hate to think how much more dough she'd bring in if he did..
Ty wrote: "Popularity aside, as a reader, I tend to prefer characters in their stories. When a character becomes "interactive" it loses something to me. "I totally agree.
I've pondered the idea on and off for a while now but feel I should at least get some feedback and see how its worked for others before I go ahead and decide to do it for myself.
*I apologize if I put this in the wrong spot, please feel free to move it.