Authors: Jump-Start Your Social Media with Twitter

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With 2014 just beginning, now is a great time to begin using social media or to improve the social media platforms you already have.

Twitter continues to become more popular. It has become THE place to connect with others of similar interests and share your thoughts.

As an author, effective use of Twitter can be an important part of promoting yourself and your book. Twitter is a platform through which you can both promote your book and reveal your personality.

Here are a few tips to consider when using Twitter:

1.    Understand the Twitter lingo

Twitter has a language all its own. Some examples are:

  • Reply: answering someone who has tweeted to you using the “@” symbol
  • Direct Message (DM): directly contacting someone on Twitter—only you and the other person can view the conversation
  • Follower: a person who has an interest in what you have to say, and will see everything you Tweet
  • Hash-tag: using the pound symbol (#) or hash-tag before a word or phrase. By using the hash-tag the word/phrase you become more searchable on Twitter
  • Retweet (RT): sharing someone else’s Tweet with all of your followers
  • Trending Topic: topics that are the most talked about in a specific area. Becoming involved with a trending topic conversation may allow more people to see your Tweets and for you to gain more followers

2.    Follow people with similar interest to your own

As an author, following other authors and publishers can help you gain ideas for tweets of your own. Twitter is a customizable social media platform where you follow only people you want to follow. Following people you think would be your audience is a great way to actually grow your audience.

3.    Grow your following

There are a few ways to grow your following:

  • You can try following people you want to follow you back.
  • Use hash-tags for important keywords, so if people search for those words your Twitter will be a part of the result
  • Retweet interesting Tweets from people you follow—so that they may follow you back
  • Participate in Follow Friday (#FF).  Follow Friday is when you give recognition to your followers and use the #FF hash-tag.  When you recommend people to follow they may recommend you to their followers.

4.    Don’t be too promotional

Even though you are using your Twitter to promote yourself as an author and your book—don’t be too promotional.  People do not want to read Tweets only about your book.  Find other things to post about, tips, fun facts or other tidbits of information you think your followers might like.

5.    Keep at it

Be sure to post daily.  It is acceptable on Twitter to post multiple times a day. The more you post the more likely your Twitter handle (name) is likely to be seen.

by: Brittney Karpovich, Marketing/Social Media Strategist, Smith Publicity