Posted by Donna on May 24, 2009 under Twitter for Writers, articles | 
Mashable released a list of 100+ writers using Twitter earlier this month. It was a hugely comprehensive list of writers using the social media site, but Mashable on Friday released a new list, Nonfiction Tweets: 70+ Authors to Follow on Twitter. The list is broken down by categories, ranging from creative nonfiction to science and technology to hobbies & crafts to career and business and more. Once again, it’s a great list compiled by Mashable with not just links to the @usernames, but a small paragraph, a sample tweet and link to the user profile page.
The list of writers on using Twitter to promote their works is growing everyday. Check out the list for some people you are personally interested in and see what they are tweeting about. Get some ideas on how you, as a writer, can use Twitter, too!
Posted by Donna on May 11, 2009 under Twitter for Writers, publishers |
I may not have found this article if it wasn’t for Twitter, so I guess that’s one example why…. I followed a link from user @carrieberryo to a Publisher’s Weekly article, “To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Twitter Basics for Publishers and Authors– Promoting Books 140 Characters at a Time.”
The article gives a basic overview of Twitter, and ends with a success story about publisher Chelsea Green (@chelseagreen), who has managed to use Twitter to get authors press coverage on various blogs and publications through Twitter, as well as running Twitter-exclusive contests to engage readers.
Great article from a trusted industry source!
Posted by Donna on May 10, 2009 under Twitter for Writers |
A week or so ago, I used Twitter search to locate literary agents and book publishers on Twitter, which was great. I located a lot of literary people who Tweet. Had I know this comprehensive directory from HighSpot, Inc. existed though, I would have been spared all those man hours!
HighSpot, Inc. offers what they dub the “#1 Resource for Non-Fiction Authors”- a variety of services for authors. On their blog, they posted a definitive directory of people in the publishing industry that are on Twitter, and they are also actively updating that list. To be added to the list (self-publishers not included), you can send an @message via Twitter to HighSpot’s Jennifer Tribe (@jennifertribe).
The HighSpot book publishing Twitter directory includes:
- Book publisher company accounts
- Individual accounts for people who work at book publishers
- Literary agents
- Book sellers
- Libraries
- book industry services
- Author services
- Literary organizations
- Book reviewers
- Book bloggers
This list looks like it was painstaking to put together since it is so comprehensive! Kudos to HighSpot, Inc. This is such a wonderful directory to connect writers with those in the industry through Twitter. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by Donna on May 8, 2009 under Twitter for Writers |
My daily e-mail newsletter from Mashable.com (barnone the best social media blog there is) had a headline for an article that fits perfectly with Social-Media-For-Writers.com: Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter, by Cameron Chapman.
The number of published authors using Twitter is growing every day– and, the number of authors using Twitter definitely gives validation that Twitter is a worthwhile time investment to consider as a part of both your daily routine and overall marketing strategy.
Chapman went as far to break these Twittering authors down by genre, providing a short paragraph of what they tweet about, even providing screen shots of sample Tweets. Is your favorite author on the list? Are YOU on the list?
Some notables include @ChuckPalahniuk, @HarlanCoben and @MeganCabot.
Be sure to check out this amazing list compiled by Chapman. And, judging from the 50 or so comments her post has received from Mashable readers, (at the time this blog post was published), there were several prominent writers on Twitter that were left out.
Posted by Donna on May 7, 2009 under publishers |
In my trek across the Twittersphere to find publishing houses that are using social media, I came across HarperStudio, billed as an experimental imprint of HarperCollins. HarperStudio, likely because they are embracing all that is new with technology, has all social media aspects covered.
Harper Studio On Top of Social Media Game
Check out their The Team page. They have social media splattered everywhere! Twitter. Flickr. YouTube. Facebook. A blogroll to other exciting literary type blogs. This makes me incredibly happy! (And it should make you feel the same way!)
HarperStudio is a great example and a true testament that while traditional marketing is still viable, that social media has become an important factor in today’s publishing world.
As an aside, as someone who works by day in e-commerce- who strives to make sure my clients follow best practices on usability- the website of publisher tells me a lot. No matter how much I would love to be published, I know that I would only want to be represented by a house that ‘gets it’ when it comes to both a web presence and within the social media sphere– a publisher who knows the online precense completely matters.
Kudos to you, HarperStudio! Well done!
Posted by Donna on under Twitter for Writers |
Who’s tweeting these days? Literary agents sure are!
Now, we don’t recommend that writers follow literary agents with the sole intention of sending pitches 140 characters at a time through @replies or direct messages. However, following literary agents on Twitter can be of great value to published authors and writers looking to be published for many reasons– seeing what agents are talking about, what news and trends they are paying attention to, getting tips and advice through shared links, hearing industry news and perhaps just getting to know literary agents on a more candid level. Additionally, following literary agents on Twitter may lead to connecting with other writers in the same genre. You never know what connections could be made!
There’s a few way to find literary agents on Twitter. Here are some ideas:
Twitter Search: Twitter’s search function, located right in the right navigation column, allows users to look for keywords. A quick search for “literary agent” shows many conversations about agents and the process of finding an agent.
WeFollow.com: WeFollow.com is a great directory built around Twitter. Registered Twitter users, or Tweeters (or Tweeple) can classify themselves under three categories using hashtags (#). Visitors to WeFollow.com can then search for hashtags, or look directly in categories. WeFollow.com’s homepage lists the most popular categories, but using its search function or alphabetical list, drill down to the specific categories of interest. In the case of this blog post, it’d be #agent or something of that nature.
Literary Agent Websites and Blogs: the more up-and-up a particular literary agency is, the more likely they are to have officially branded themselves on the social media sphere. A quick look at literary agents websites (and publishing houses, which will be discussed in another upcoming post), will show the “Follow Us” or “Follow Me” icon right on their sites.
Who are some tweeting literary agents? As of this posting, here are some that we follow:
Laurie Abkemeier
Nathan Bransford
Janet Reid
Holly Bemiss
…and many more!
Important Note: Many literary agents, of course due to the influx of messages they could get being on such a public platform, often list on their Twitter page their policies about following and replying on Twitter. Please be respectful of these wishes and requests.
Happy Twittering!
Posted by Donna on May 1, 2009 under Twitter for Writers |
Consider using Twitter to not only promote any appearances, but you can also tweet from these events. Take my night last Tuesday….
I recently attended an open mic night at the Barnes & Noble in downtown Wilkes-Barre. I tweeted about the event earlier in the day, but decided that I was also going to read. So, I tweeted about that, too.
Had a few Twitter ‘friends’ who work downtown reply saying they’d try to make it out, and one friend who ended up coming out. There were a few retweets (RTs) about the open mic night, as well. This viral marketing allows for some last minute excitement- whether or not people attended the event, it showed my involvement in the local arts scene which was pretty cool. So, this is certainly a great way to spark some interest and get some people out to hear you.
As an added bonus, during the event, I twitpic’d a few photos of poets and musicians doing their thing.
I actually had a little snafu during my reading, so I was able to do some play-by-play via tweets and engage in some Twitter conversation. Let’s just say I said an inappropriate word… or two.
Twitter is a valuable tool to spread the word about events like this to your followers. But, to go even further, use hashtags like #writer, #poetry, #openmic, #yourlocalarea, etc. so that interested people may find your tweets, too.
