One of the questions I’m constantly asked when leading workshops on social media for writers is how much is too much when it comes to promoting your book, CD, etc. on sites like Facebook and Twitter. I know some authors who tweet nothing but BUY MY BOOK on the hour. Chances are, those authors are losing the followers they have and surely aren’t gaining any new ones. When you turn Twitter or Facebook into a shill for a product, readers switch off.
The majority of my nearly 3,000 followers have found me not because I’m selling a book, but because I work diligently to build community, share links and re-tweet other writers. Of course, when I have an announcement about a new book, reading, etc. I will tweet it multiple times, but your status should not be a constant barrage of “me, me, me.”
I went back to my Twitter feed and picked a day of tweets to highlight what I’m tweeting about.
• Longtime LA beat poet Scott Wannberg dead at 58 http://ow.ly/6c6l0
• Error-Free E-books Will Come When Cars Can Drive Themselves | Publishing Perspectives http://ow.ly/6c673
• Booktrack Introduces E-Books With Soundtracks – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/6c0Se
• Amazon Begins Offering Daily Deals on Kindle Ebooks http://ow.ly/6bT8q
• RT @PublishersWkly: Slaughter Adds E-Original to Library Campaign bit.ly/r9i2Qh
• RT @GalleyCat: How to convert all your PDFs into Kindle or ePub files & edit out annoying headers: mbist.ro/nIIxOP
• The book trailer for “Remain in Light” is now at Book Trailer Central, too! http://ow.ly/6bBvb #mystery #suspense #thriller #crime
• RT @williamkenyon: Obstacle… Removed: You don’t need an e-reader to read e-books http://ow.ly/6bDHf
• The Red Clay Writing Conference returns to Kennesaw State University 11/12. Great panels & readings! http://ow.ly/6bBhj
• RT @HuffPostBooks: The future of writing and reading in the digital age huff.to/nZQj0O
I’m always on the lookout for articles and links related to poetry, fiction, social media, ebooks and music. All of those topics are in my wheelhouse of interests, so it helps make me a source and clearinghouse that people can come to for information. That’s what makes Twitter work – sharing the things that interest you so that others can share them, too. You’ll notice that only one tweet is directly related to my work. Some days, I never mention my work at all – and that’s okay.
If you want to “indirectly” tweet about your work, find links that have some connection. For instance, I always look for interesting art events, news and happenings connected to Paris, since both Remain In Light and Conquering Venus are set there. It’s subliminal advertising for your books. You can search keywords (called hashtags, which use the # symbol) to find topics of interest.
A few more tips: Make sure the bio section of your Twitter account is filled out and includes a link to your website, blog or Facebook fan page. Use appropriate hashtags to help other users find you. If you write mysteries, use the hashtag #mystery. Since you only have 140 characters, learn to write short because this allows other users to retweet you without having to shorten or edit your original message. You’ll notice in my sample tweets that all the URLs are shortened and you should always use a link shortener to make those long URLs manageable. You can also download a Twitter manager like Hootsuite, which has a built in URL shortener, lets you see multiple Twitter accounts on one screen and allows to you to schedule tweets a few hours, a few days or a few weeks ahead of schedule.
If you want more followers on Twitter, become a source for good links and information, retweet other followers, and let your interests and personality shine through. Social media is about building community – not the hard sell.
