Adventures in Self Publishing - Twitter

            Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Argh. I wrote an earlier post called “My Take on Twitter.” Going back and reading it I realize how quickly things can change. I have become more forgiving on Twitter. Some things I considered impersonal are really done in the interest of time and efficiency. For example, it bothered me when someone’s first tweet to me was about reading their blog or book. I thought that was pushy. I know now that that may be the only encounter I have with that person, so they are taking advantage of that opportunity. They are using Twitter to help market their product. Isn’t that what I’m there to do as well?

 My Twitter follows are exploding. I will soon have over 1000 followers; a feat that seemed impossible when I wrote that blog post in September. I had no idea it would take off that fast. I used to follow everyone back, but I’ve learned that I need to stay focused, and I have to be picky with my follows. I thought that was mean at first. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I am out there to make connections with other authors and readers. I don’t need break up advice, not talking politics, and I don’t want to see your naked pictures. Sorry.

            Even though tweets are limited to 140 characters, it’s amazing how much personality can shine through in so few words. I have met some amazing people on Twitter. They make recommendations for follows, retweet, make fun comments, ask how I’m doing, help push my blog and book, and I do the same for them. However, that hasn’t necessarily translated into direct sales of my book. I think that’s mostly my fault. I honestly don’t send out many tweets about my book, and I don’t push my book and blog the way others do. Mostly because I don’t have time to be on Twitter that often.

Enter tweet generator. In my previous Twitter post, I said that I didn’t like tweet generators because it made my Twitter feed look like one long infomercial, and I didn’t want to be a part of that. I’ve had to change my views. Now that I am following more people, the Twitter feed goes by so fast, that one or two book tweets a day just won’t cut it. Even if they are retweeted, they can easily be overlooked in a sea of tweets. When I was only following a few people, I could get on Twitter and go back in time and see all the tweets for the day. Now, I’m lucky if I can cover a few hours of tweets. In an attempt to get some control back, I recently downloaded TweetDeck to help manage my Twitter account. I’m going to set up scheduled tweets about my book and blog and join the infomercial. Stay focused – promotion and making contacts.

While Twitter has not translated into a lot of book sales for me, it has generated a lot of buzz about my blog. Honestly, this blog, which I got dragged into kicking and screaming, has been more fun than I thought it would be. I’ve been surprised to see the number of page views I’ve been getting and the majority of them are from Twitter. So the potential is there. I just have to find a way to tap into it. I would love to hear any comments or suggestions you may have. Thanks!