Twitter is about real-time connection. For authors this means connecting with other authors and figures in the literary world, and of course, your readers. It’s a great way to build a fanbase and engage with your fans, and not just during the promotional window for your next book. Using Twitter also helps you stay up on news in the publishing world and stay connected to other writers you admire.
Today Twitter has more than 140 million active users. People tweet in more than 28 languages and send over 340 million Tweets per day. Since we began in 2006, Twitter has become a crucial platform for breaking news, live television and story-telling. Here are a few things to know:
The basics
@YourName: A Twitter user goes by their “username” or “handle”. This is always preceded by the “@” character with no space between the symbol and the word. This could be your real name or any nickname of your choosing. For example, our Twitter Books team’s username is @twitterbooks.
#Hashtags: You’ll see hashtags in Tweets from time to time. This is a word or phrase preceded by the “#” character, with no space between the word and the symbol. Hashtags are a way of grouping Twitter conversations around a specific topic. Click on one to see all the Tweets that include that hashtag. For example, #longreads is a hashtag people use on Twitter to share great examples of long-form journalism.
Following: On Twitter, you follow users you’re interested in, and people will find and follow you too. But following does not have to be a two-way street; you don’t need to follow someone who follows you (or vice versa).
Communicating: If you include another user’s @-handle, they’ll see your tweet. It’s like sending a message to them that the whole world will see.
Direct Message: You can send direct messages to those Twitter users you follow who are also following you. Use this feature to contact someone privately — your exchanges will not appear in either timeline.
Be authentic, be yourself
If you want to build a following and engage with your readers, the best way to do that is to be authentic. Twitter offers a direct, instant connection between you and your readers — they want to know what you’re up to. An idea: Pick one thing in your daily routine and Tweet about it: a word you love (or hate), the weather, the first sentence you write each day.
Share your process
Twitter is a place where fans get a deeper connection to artists, performers, scholars....and authors. Your readers are interested in your process. Tweet a bit about how you work. Invite your followers to a local book signing. An idea: Take a photo of the view out your window or of your work space and describe it to your followers.
Engage with your readers
Twitter is also a place where your fans can directly engage with you, however much you want (it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time). You can see messages from other users in the “Connect” tab on your Twitter homepage. Is there a question in there for you? Answer it. If you want to spend a little more time with your fans, hold a live Twitter Q&A.; An idea: For a Q&A;, tweet that you’re accepting questions for the next hour, day or another short period, and then answer a few as you see them appear in your timeline. When you’re done, tweet again to say that the session is over, and be sure to thank everyone who participated.
Find influencers
Twitter allows you to send a public message (via the @reply) to anyone else using Twitter. These can be your fans, or people for whom you are a fan. Just use the Search section on Twitter’s homepage to find other users. An idea: Who is your favorite living author? See if they’re on Twitter and tweet a ‘hello’ to them. Or find your favorite athlete, performer, or artist.
Search Twitter
Make sure that you’re regularly searching Twitter to find people with similar interests, those talking about you or your work, or new ideas you want to explore. Just type what you’re looking for into the search tab to see what people are tweeting about right now. An idea: Is anyone tweeting about a book you wrote? Type the title into Search and find out.
Above all, have fun
Twitter is an exceptionally flexible platform that is ripe for creative use. Play around with it. You can live-tweet an event as it happens, or live-tweet a fictional world. You can interview another author or create a completely fictional account based on a character you dream up. An idea: What’s your favorite live sport or TV show to watch? Tweet along while it airs and engage with others doing the same.
Twitter is a powerful platform that can connect you to individuals across the world. It’s also very flexible and creative. Have fun with it, take advantage of its flexibility and the wide audience you can build just 140 characters at a time.