I have to admit: When I first started researching this self-publishing thing, I was very suspicious when they suggested I use Twitter. I didn't like the idea of my psychobabble being limited to 140 characters, hashtags and all, and besides, Twitter seemed boring to me. Do I have to? I moaned to myself. But I decided not to dismiss it entirely-after all, there are 232 million active users, and authors everywhere are singing its praises. So I decided to do an experiment. I got a Twitter account and followed several authors. Every day, I would scroll through my Twitter feed, observing different tactics in use while reading up on Twitter guides. Based from both sources, I compiled a list of best strategies.
Hope this was helpful. :)
- Use hashtags. Though Facebook has hashtags as well, hashtags are far more popular and conventional on Twitter because that’s where they first became popular. Hashtags such as #writer, #amwriting, and #IndieAuthor can present your tweets to fellow authors-or interested readers.
- Tweet about what your book’s about. This will attract people who are interested in said topic to your Twitter feed, and, by connection, to your book.
- I must reiterate, don't resort to begging or any outrageous threats. I got a personal taste of this when one author who I followed direct messaged me, saying that they would drink bleach to get me to read a sample of their book. You may get more views on your sample or downloads on your book, but it's not because people are genuinely interested in your book. I'd rather people read my sample because they want to, not because people are worried about my mental health.
- Retweet things! People like being retweeted, and your followers get to see a cool tweet they might not have seen before.
- Interact with other authors. You can do this by using hashtags, following other authors, or Tweeting directly at them. Making friends helps a lot in the self-publishing world.
- Tweet when you’ve written a new blog post, published a new book, or are hosting a giveaway. Keeping your fans in the loops keeps them interested.
Hope this was helpful. :)