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Best methods to use Twitter to market books
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DON'T tweet 'buy my book' or 'my book this or that'! I keep seeing that on my Twitter feed and that's the surest way to get me to unfollow an author or else just blip their tweets out!
Contacted and re-tweeted your book, Graeme.I'm a tweeter rookie myself, but my impression it's the game of numbers as tweets are buried almost immediately under newer ones. There are sites like AskDavid that offer tweeting to 50K and more followers and some report some (decent) downloads/sales thereafter..
The first step would be to figure out what you want to tweet about. Ideally, you would think of something that people want to read. For example, if you're writing books set in a specific country, you could tweet articles and opinions relevant to that country. The crucial point is that it has to be engaging. I 100% agree with Zee that if you just tweet about your book, people will tune you out.The next step, as with all social media, is to get followers. Without them, you're basically tweeting into a black hole, even if what you write is engaging. This can take a while, but with some patience you can slowly build a strong following. There are a few ways to do it once you've figured out your content strategy. Go to the places on the internet where people that are interested in your content congregate. Or get your current readers to follow you and take advantage of the network effect. You could also boost your tweets, but I'm not sure how effective that actually is.
The bottom line is that you're not using your twitter feed to market your books. You're using your twitter feed to market your ideas. Once people get familiar with you and are engaged by what you say, they are more likely to buy what you have to offer. You may not see an huge impact with your current book, but you will with your second book.
Good luck!
for me, twitter is about engaging and chatting with folks. I use keywords to determine who to follow or reply to their requests for help. eg recommend a fiction book is one of my fave search terms
Gee thanks everyone.Great thoughts and much appreciated.
Cheers Graeme
Graeme wrote: "what would be the best things to do on twitter to market books there?"Be engaging. Be interesting. Be available.
Tweet about interesting things. No one cares what you had for breakfast, unless breakfast was on the Champs de Elysee. Tweet photos. Dont tweet inspiration quotes from your favorite authors. Every author does that.
Have pets ? Tweet cute pet stuff. My most looked at and retweeted tweets are my dog. Women love him.
And do not tweet about controversial subjects if you are trying to sell books. Twitter isnt about your personal thoughts or feelings, it advertising.
I am even newer with twitter than Graeme. I don't even know how to follow people, or to invite them to follow me. I tried uploading contacts, but it only gives 2 options: gmail and outlook and I don't use either.anyway, I am now @bobswriting whatever that's worth.
:)
Bob
Hi Michael,Class advice (as always).
I know, it's a popularity contest. :-).
And that's the game.
Thanks Nik for following me. I tried to send you a message with twitter, but didn't know how to do it.:)
I am not stupid, but my common sense is extremely uncommon.
Bob wrote: "Thanks Nik for following me. I tried to send you a message with twitter, but didn't know how to do it.:)"
Welcome, no problem. We have enough messaging opportunities regardless of Twitter -:)
Very interesting tips! Bob, Graeme, Michael and Mehreen, I just followed you on Twitter as well. ( @JSAauthor )
Have been following and commenting on posts, yet just realized I haven't introduced myself in this group, so will go and do that...
I'm fairly active on Twitter so I can tell you what works and what doesn't. Most have covered what doesn't work such as the biggest of all, don't spam your books. You want people to interact with you not be annoyed and un-follow you. A book post every once in a while is fine and also pin a book promo to your page. You'll find that people will re-tweet and like it from time to time. Do's and Don'ts For Twitter:
Do:
-Take part in Twitter chats
-RT and like if something interests you
-Respond to messages tweeted to you.
-Make use of Twitter lists
-Follow people who follow you and if what they do is in the same interest and work as you.
-Check out SocialRank and see who your top followers are, make a list for them so you know if you want to do something big, they are the people to talk with.
-Clean out your followers every once in a while so it's refreshed and your following the right people
-Use hashtags effectively and whenever you can
Don'ts:
-Do Not Spam at anytime: Books, talking about your books, gloating about yourself,etc.
-Follow someone with no info or no pic- they are likely a bot or just not someone you need to follow back
-Certain Businesses- It's fine to follow publishers, book marketers and such but if they are in a business that doesn't relate to you, just let them follow you.
-Have Auto DM set up- This is a biggy. I've heard countless people say the minute someone automatically direct messages them they get unfollowed. Don't set up auto DM, If you want to message someone, Tweet to them or message them yourself and act human!
Justin wrote: "I'm fairly active on Twitter so I can tell you what works and what doesn't. Most have covered what doesn't work such as the biggest of all, don't spam your books. You want people to interact with y..."Thanks Justin. So, to summarize, be decent, be polite, be helpful. Same as anywhere else. My problem at the moment is contacting people I want to follow. I've searched for names, found them, then couldn't find where to write a personal message, or to follow.
:)
Jennifer wrote: "Very interesting tips! Bob, Graeme, Michael and Mehreen, I just followed you on Twitter as well. ( @JSAauthor )
Have been following and commenting on posts, yet just realized I haven't introduced..."
RT your book yesterday. Thanks for the follow.
So now I'm on Twitter at Graeme Rodaughan
I'm a total twitter newbie - what would be the best things to do on twitter to market books there?