Questions about Twitter

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Hello everyone! I have a few questions about Twitter and would really appreciate advice from anyone who is experienced with this social networking site.

How did you go about the process of gaining readers via Twitter? (I'm not very Twitter savvy at all and never have a clue where to start). How did you find the readers and how have you maintained your following? How has Twitter launched a platform for you and where did you find your connections? Is Twitter a good place for children's writers?

Thank you. :D
 

KTC

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Be leery of the get-followers-now!!! trap. You want quality over quantity. Interaction...the best advice to give to people about to take the Twitter plunge. Make sure you interact. It's not about gaining followers, it's about sharing ideas. Follow those you want to converse with. You can find writers in your genre/market...follow them, and engage.

Have fun. It's a lot of fun when you do it right.
 

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It's about participating in the conversation on Twitter, just as it is here or other forums, or on your blog or Web site.

Engage with people and topics you find interesting. Be real, be courteous and genuinely respond.

Don't go on Twitter with book/author promotion as your primary goal; you want back-and-forth interaction.

Create a profile; include a brief bio and a link to your Web site.

Follow topics/people you consider interesting. Engage with them. Re-tweet when you see something that merits it.
 
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jvc

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Twitter is a lot of fun. But Kevin is right. Interact with people, join in the conversations and start conversations of your own. Don't just spam people with adverts for your books, that's a turn off. Tweeting about your books is fine, so long as you're tweeting about other stuff, too. I've met some great people through twitter and have become very good friends with them.
 

jvc

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Oh, also, if you look in the sig line for Medievilist (the awesome poster right above me), you'll see a link for AWers on Twitter. It's a place to start. It contains a list of tweeters who are members of Absolute Write.

You can also search for topics about writing or books. For writers, a popular one is #amwriting
 

Wilde_at_heart

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TBH, I wouldn't try to gain readers on Twitter. As Medievalist already said, the purpose is to get engaged with others in a more active, two-way sense.

It also depends on what stage you are at - are you already published (either trade or self) or are you looking to get agented or published somewhere?

Twitter is great for research too, depending on what you're after.
 

SWest

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I've read books by people I've met on Twitter.

The operative word being people, not advertisements. :D

I think it's fine to tweet occasional links to books and other offerings of interest, but I don't click on anything by anyone who has not interested me first and foremost.
 

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The key to social media is interacting and engaging with people. Building up followers takes time--buying followers tends to be obvious and can hurt your reputation in the long run, so don't do that.

Start following people and getting involved in conversations, but also look to see if there are any Tweet Chats you're interested in. This is a great list of Tweet Chats and you can just search for topics that interest you. Jump in and start engaging with people :)
 

WhitePawn

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I did this recently because I started submitting and have been told for some time now that I need a Twitter. Honestly, I never understood it, but I did it anyway.

I followed about 50 to get a feed, a couple publishers/advice, the rest authors at the helms of their own twitter feeds (vs. some dude paid to promo books on occasion). First post was that I wanted to touch base with the writing community. Twenty people starting following me in 2 days, half of which are authors. And so it goes.

My impressions?

-A place where writers go to procrastinate...or write something angsty while on a plane/tour.
-Conversations akin to those you have in MMOs (private, raid, guild, doesn't matter...it's exactly the same), but with the pressure on to sound witty since (potentially) everyone's watching this time, not just you're gaming group.

That's all I've got. Twitter is weird.
 

itsmary

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I joined twitter years ago, back when it was first getting popular. I didn't even see it as a networking tool or something I needed to do; I thought it looked like fun. And it has been. Most of the people I'm following are people I "met" elsewhere; on message boards or through writing contests and the like. Just like with any social media, the trick is to see it not as a business or marketing tool, but to have fun with it and use it like a normal person. Only about 1/3 of the people I'm following are "writing" buddies, and I rarely even tweet about writing. I suggest finding people who have similar hobbies or interests as you, whether it's writing or something else.