Twitter for Writers

I joined Twitter June of 2015. Sort of a late comer. I did that though because I was focused on building my blog and Facebook page. Once I got to a place I was happy with for those, I decided to make the Twitter plunge. Before I did, though, I read "The Tao of Twitter" by Mark W. Schaefer. This book really gave me a leg up so I highly recommend it if you’re new to Twitter. I will be mentioning what I learned in that book and on my own in this post.

1. Join! 

Use your name/pen name when you sign up and create an easy Twitter handle. Some people’s Twitter handles are complicated and I could never remember them, but if you can use your name as your handle (if it’s not already taken) then use it! If it is taken, add “author” or a dash (like this _ or like this -) between your first and last name or before “author). You can even add a number, but remember simpler is better.

I was lucky that my pen name is unique, so my Twitter handle is @ChrysFey

TIP 1: Add your Twitter link to all social media profiles, your email signature and to your business cards.

2. Upload your author photo and a short bio to say who you are.

This is mine: ~ Thrilling & Romantic with Heroines of Steel. ~  Disaster Crimes Series. Write with Fey. Newsletter Sign-Up: https://bit.ly/2rcnWUv #SPARKS #HeroinesofSteel

3. Follow, follow, follow!

Twitter will find email contacts for you, follow all them who are on Twitter and you are acquainted with. Twitter will also recommend a bunch of people based off those contacts and the people you follow. (You can find the recommendations on the left. It’s always there.) You will find many people you know this way. Follow them! Then refresh this page and check again. Repeat.

4. Stalk lists and follow more!

Go to a few people you follow who know a lot of people. Check their “lists.” This is a page you can click on; every Twitter profile has one at the top. A list is an easy way to keep people grouped together. Explore their lists and follow the people you recognize.

5. Did I not say follow?

Go to your other social media profiles and hunt down the people you have connected with there. Who have you added to your circles on Google +? Who have you liked on Facebook? Who is in your blog feed? Follow them!

TIP 2: Aim to follow 200 then 500 followers. The more people you follow, the more followers you will get and the more often you’ll get noticed. 

TIP 3: After a while, people you don’t know will start following you. Follow back those who are interested in the same thing you are and have a lot of people in common with you. Don’t be stingy with your follows!

6. Make your own lists.

Go to the “lists” page on your own profile and click “Create a List.” Give it a name, decide if you want it public, and then go to your “Following” page to find the people you want to add to your list. Click the tool symbol next to the “Following” button and select “Add or Remove from Lists.” Then check the list you want to add that person to.

You can make as many lists as you want.

FYI: the people you add to a list will be notified if it’s public.

I have lists for Awesome Bloggers/Writers and TWRP (The Wild Rose Press) Authors.

7. Send out your first tweet. It can be a simple, “Hello, Twitter!”

This was mine: I wish I had something funny or witty to post as my first tweet, but this is it: Hello, Twitter! :D #myfirsttweet

8. Get to know the people you’re following by sending them tweets and retweeting them. You can do both when you see their tweet in your feed. To tweet, click the single arrow. To retweet, click the two arrows that are in a circle. You can also “Favorite” tweets by clicking the heart.

TIP 4: Try to do at least one tweet a day when you first join, and 1-3 retweets. After a while, when you get the hang of Twitter, you’ll tweet more often.

TIP 5: Check in on Twitter every day to see any tweets and followers you’ve received. If you click on “Followers” on your page, you’ll see all of the accounts for the people who have followed you. Do this every time so you can follow back as needed.

9. Unfollow

After you’ve been on Twitter for 1-2 months, it’s time to unfollow some of those people you followed who haven’t reciprocated. Use ManageFilter. This website will examine your Twitter profile and show you all the people who haven’t followed you. Do this periodically. 

TIP 6: Before you unfollow, go to their pages and check them out. If they’ve tweeted recently, they most likely won’t follow you back if you followed them weeks ago. If you know this person pretty well, try to tweet them and retweet them to go noticed. If they still ignore you while they are active on Twitter, it’s time to unfollow. Don’t feel guilty about this!

10. Tweet Trending Topics

Check out the trending topics, this is always located on the left. See something that interests you or is in your niche? Check out the activity under that topic and send out your own tweet with the hashtag.

11. #

That’s not called a pound symbol on Twitter. That is a hashtag. As in #WritingLife. Use one or two relevant hashtags when you tweet. As soon as you put the # symbol in a tweet and start typing, Twitter will offer suggestions. These suggestions are the most used hashtags. Use them!

Some hashtags you can use:

#FollowFriday or #FF (This is used only on Fridays to give shout outs to people you think are worthy of more followers.)

#MondayBlogs (Do you post a blog on Monday? Share a link on Twitter and add this hashtag.) 

#amblogging #amwriting #amediting

12. Join Twitter Chats.

There are chats that happen weekly and monthly on Twitter. Ask some people what chats they recommend you get involved in.

#1LineWed is a fun chat that happens every Wednesday. The purpose is to share one sentence from a WIP that fits the theme of that week. You can search #1LineWed to find out what the next theme will be.

#StoryDam is an online writing community that chats every Thursday at 8pm ET. Check out the StoryDam website for info on what the chat that Thursday will be about. There are questions you can answer about your own writing process and books.

#WedWrant occurs every Wednesday from 7:30pm EST - 8:30 EST. The moderator posts questions for writers to answer.

There's also #KidLitChat and #K8Chat.

QUESTION: What are you favorite hashtags and Twitter chats?