does twitter help you sell your books?

[Idav]

Honestly, I've never benefitted from twitter in any way, but some other authors have. I think twitter's kind of a hit and miss.

[Luciana]

Maymunah wrote: "Did anyone else get that feeling of:
"Ahhhhhh!!! Oh my gosh, I'm so confused right now!"
when they first started Twitter????"

I'm sure we are not the only ones ;(

[[deleted user]]

Luciana wrote: "Maymunah wrote: "Did anyone else get that feeling of:
"Ahhhhhh!!! Oh my gosh, I'm so confused right now!"
when they first started Twitter????"

I'm sure we are not the only ones ;("

Yes, we've all been there. A real great book is, "Twitter for Authors" by Rayne Hall. It has a lot of things in it for production use of Twitter, and what not to do.

I would estimate that about 85% of all tweets is someone trying to get people to buy something. I, myself, also drown in the Twitter ads. Most people's approach is "Look at Me, buy my book." This rarely works. People look at it and tune you out. Use Twitter to build relationships. Gather followers that are real people. Robot accounts and accounts that are businesses trying to sell something are not the kind of followers you want.

I don't follow everyone who follows me. I check out there timeline, and see who they are, first. If I have nothing in common with them, or they spam people with ads and they don't even have people names, I don't follow them.

I will say that I follow and solicit following by authors, because of my editing business, but I try to be a real person. I filled my April editing slot with an author I never met before that I met on Twitter, from New Zealand, so for me, it is starting to pay off. But, I greeted the author as a real person, let them know what I do, and said "If you ever need anything."

[Nicole]

Andy wrote: "Hi Nicloe, you can get around the word restriction by commenting on your own tweets. You can add more verbage that way. I hope that helps."

Thanks Andy! That does help. I haven't been doing that.

[Nicole]

Riley wrote: "Twitter in a nutshell: 140 characters to get your thoughts out.
#QuickTwitterHacks-Hashtags can connect your tweets to similar content.
#QuickTwitterHack2-Pictures are a great way to get around the..."

These are good! I've read recently that pictures increase the likelihood of engagements as well. Personally, I can see the appeal (I think I do tend to notice pictures more in my feed), but I also tune in to relevant/thoughtful/humorous comments also.

[[deleted user]]

I use Twitter like a normal person would, but I tweet relevant promotional stuff and pin a link to my book on my timeline. I've met and connected with people who have bought my books because they were interested in my tweets. I've created some great relationships with fans, too. I don't know if it helps sell books, but more expands the potential viewer base and such. I think it is fun too-one of the few social media sites I have.

[David]

I use twitter, but quite frankly I still find it confusing along with the advice on how to use it. I post occasional tweets about my books and retweet other people's tweets similarly. I tweet about blog posts I make and also various science related stories. Is that being a "good" tweeter? I have no idea.

Lots of people say tweet original content and so on, but to be honest I don't really have much to say in general. I dislike talking about things prematurely and building up expectations, I'm not good at "blowing my own trumpet" and to be honest there's just me and this word processor thing - we do stuff together. That's it.

I do know that it can be an incredible time sink if you let it be.

P.S. Same with FB for that matter on all counts.

[Shoshanah]

I did a scientific study once. I posted funny quotes from my comedy books on twitter for a month, with links to my books on Amazon. My book sales actually went DOWN significantly. Now I just put free promos and contests on Twitter, and my art for sale.

[[deleted user]]

I saw something in Rayne Hall's book "Twitter for Authors" that bears some investigation. She had an artist create a cartoon series of her and her book-reading cat. Sometimes the cartoons were just funny things an author experiences, other times her and her cat would be side-by side reading one of her books, the book covers showing, sort of a subliminal suggestion in a humorous way to get your attention. One thing for sure is that twitter is loaded with book covers screaming, "Buy me." I ignore them all. Best to take a more subtle approach. Build relationships with your readers in a non-threatening way and don't be pushy.

[Colin]

I have 2 Twitter accounts, one for fiction, one for non-fiction. They work in very different ways. The fiction account is heavy with promotion material. To try & engage people I put up odd words (with pics) for people to guess their meaning. On occasion I do a Twitterfiction exercise & I also post quotes & advice about writing from famous authors. I get little or no feedback but as an exercise in developing my own writing techniques & ideas I am making it work for me. The non-fiction is education based & I spend some time coming up with ideas to promote visual along with catchy phrases (eg educational eugenics) to try and attract attention. There are always links to my books & websites (thanks Alp for the heads up on this idea). I do getting retweets & dialogue on occasion & I managed to match some book sales to heavy promotion using Twitter, albeit not enough to retire on! I think it was Alp that said you have to work with this type of media. It takes time and energy. It is also important not to market to the point where you stop writing. I am on the road but I am sure there is still a long way to go before I reach my writing Nirvana. Enjoying the journey

[M.]

I find personally interacting with people on Twitter worthwhile. It has led to sales. I've also met some really lovely people whom I've enjoyed chatting with.

I try to stay away from anything too pushy. I do have my book info on the pinned tweet though.

[Bekka]

To summarize again, the general theme that seems to be coming through is that:

1) Some authors see an increase in sales as a result of tweeting on Twitter.

2) Many of the authors who see an increase in book sales through using Twitter do so by "using Twitter to "build relationships" rather than through direct sales. In other words, posting engaging tweets about the subject you write on to provide relevant content to your followers and connecting with your potential reader base to build potential readers for your books and maintain interest in your books through sustained interaction with your existing customers.

3) Do "direct pitching" of one's books on Twitter as a periodic "aside" rather than as a regular focus of one's tweets.

Bekka

[Mark]

It's just a giant cocktail party. You have to be at your most charming, witty and engaging - and the good thing is you don't actually have to dress up or set foot outside the door to go there. But the etiquette is the same. You wouldn't run up to anyone at a party and tell them to buy all your things, would you? It doesn't work. You have to get the others interested in you as a person before they're interested in what you write. Twitter for authors is a long game and you have to keep turning up, being consistent, and above all patient.

And like many others here, if I ever get a DM that tells me about someone's book, I ignore it.

Play the long game. Be charming.

[Bekka]

Mark wrote: "It's just a giant cocktail party. You have to be at your most charming, witty and engaging - and the good thing is you don't actually have to dress up or set foot outside the door to go there. But ..."

Amen. I've been tweeting as an author for awhile now. Posting primarily about the subject I write on, liking other author's posts, paying them compliments, etc. Occasionally mentioning my books. Now that I've been tweeting for awhile, a few folks on Twitter are starting to DM me about my subject matter. Starting to pay off, it's taken a bit.