Pre-Published Twitter

On the side, let me tell you something. A lot of people get caught up in the whole building a platform before publishing because they heard it can work, and they are right. In a way. There's been several writers who have gotten a lot of their success built on the platform that they had created before their work was put out, and so a lot of people want that same success. But many don't find it because it worked very rarely in the past, and will work less and less as more try to do this.

So, I say don't force yourself into this if you don't want to or if you don't know what to do with it all. If you have a reason for creating a Twitter/Facebook account outside of marketing yourself, do so, otherwise why bother? Just the same with starting a blog, if you don't know what to use it for, don't use it.

I use Twitter and Blogs to connect with other writers. I don't know the first thing about building a platform and I don't care. There are groups you can find on Twitter and you can tweet stuff at them. That's pretty much all I do other than retweeting random stuff from time to time. I mostly just talk about writing with other writers who may or may not ever read anything I ever put out there. There are a lot of people on Twitter trying to build a platform to promote their work on and you can tell who they are. I can't say I pay too much attention to them, if I'm being honest. When too many people start doing it, you just end up with a lot of clutter.

It may be a good reason to get on one or a few social network sites to learn the basic functioning (of course), but also to learn the conventions, etiquette, etc. of each site, and just "hang out" a little. If you later end up published and it's strongly suggested that "you must have a presence on social media" then at least you'll be knowledgeable about what you should and shouldn't do as far as promoting your book so you don't look like an online klutz. Also, people will see that you've been around a while, but just now have a book out, as opposed to just got a shiny new account on some social media AND just got a shiny new book out (suggesting your only reason for being there is to promote your book).

You don't have to be "actively developing your platform," but it can't hurt to get on a site, poke around a little and learn the ropes. No pressure.

Look in AW sigs (like mine, though I don't much post or tweet about writing) and in threads like this one to find people to friend/follow/whatever the terminology is. Don't worry, if you get bored you can abandon it and maybe come back to it months or years later.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109507&page=29

I joined Twitter because I realized I was reading a lot of people's twitter and it just seemed to easier to join and see it all on a timeline.

A writer platform...yeah, it seems like there's plenty of contradictory stuff out there about platform and how to form one and what a platform is. I use my Twitter to go on about my own ideas or tweet friends or tweet writer friends. My blog basically runs on the principal that it's my space to write what I want, separate from my fiction. I enjoy many of the links to articles and websites I see on Twitter and I like being able to connect, in a tiny little way, to authors I enjoy on Twitter.

I agree with katci though---don't join Twitter simply because someone told you to build a platform. And when you do have something to promote, don't drown Twitter in it.

Don't focus on "building a platform." Don't focus on promoting anything. People don't want to be promoted to.

When it comes to social media, focus instead on being part of the conversation. Have interesting things to say and listen and respond to the interesting things that other people say. It must be a two way conversation.

When you do that, be it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other social networking service, you will gain followers, friends, and whatnots. Before you know it, you have the beginnings of a platform.

There are no cheats to make this magically happen. It will and can only occur organically, and it is predicated entirely on how much work you put into it.

GeekTells said:

Don't focus on "building a platform. Don't focus on promoting anything. People don't want to be promoted to.

When it comes to social media, focus instead on being part of the conversation. Have interesting things to say and listen and respond to the interesting things that other people say. It must be a two way conversation.

When you do that, be it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other social networking service, you will gain followers, friends, and whatnots. Before you know it, you have the beginnings of a platform.

There are no cheats to make this magically happen. It will and can only occur organically, and it is predicated entirely on how much work you put into it.

Click to expand...

This! Social media is a way for people to connect. That's how you build followers and that's how you get your name out there. Get involved in conversations, participate in any Tweet Chats that interest you, follow and engage with other people.
Tweet your experiences and things that catch your eye or inspire you in everyday life.

Definitely stay away from the paid followers, though. It takes a while to build up an audience and buying fans can hurt you a lot more than it can help. You can always tell when someone you've never heard of has 10 tweets and 24K followers. It's tempting because you want to see results quickly, but that can hurt your image and make people distrust you.