#Authors #Indie #Twitter Twitter Hashtags for Authors

Many writers ask about marketing their books on Twitter. I’m not a Twitter expert, but I’ve enjoyed mild success by marketing by books on Twitter. How? It’s simple. It’s about good manners and hashtags.

I try to tweet once every day or so; I don’t overdo it. That’s my biggest challenge, as I don’t like moderation. “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right, and worth doing BIG–to the max, to the limit, over the limit!” is one of my many “patisms.” If you can’t, or won’t, give something 250%, 500% of the time, then don’t do it! Okay, enough. But I digress….

One day, I’ll tweet about the weather; the next day, a fellow author’s book; and the next, my writing progress. Then, about once every week or so, I will tweet to people that one of my books is currently on sale (which it is). I’ve tweet-promoted my books more frequently, but with no results. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that while people love to hear about good books, they don’t like having books shoved down their throats. “Buy my book!” “Buy my book!” tweeted 30 times daily, by the same author, not only makes an ass of the author, but also irritates his or her soon-to-be unfollowers. Be humble. Be nice. Remember that Twitter is a social interaction tool, and should be used to SOCIALIZE with people. There’s nothing wrong with advertising your books, but a little moderation and more socialization–personal socialization–go a long way. And, so do hashtags.

I’ll spare you from my long, ad-nauseous definition of a hashtag, and say, simply, go check out http://www.hashtags.org . You’ll learn what a hashtag is, why it’s important, which hashtags are “trending,” which hashtags have the most activity, and a thousand other points to consider when hashtagging your tweets. Once you’ve learned what hashtags are (assuming you don’t already know), see my list, below, which can be helpful to authors.

PLEASE consult hashtags.org and RESEARCH any hashtag you plan to use. Understand what it is, what it isn’t, and when, and when not, to use it. If you misuse a hashtag, you’re subject to embarrassment and ridicule from the Twitter gods.

Basic Book Stuff –
#novel #new #paperbacks #short #story #greatread #whattoread #books #nonfiction #storytelling #book #mustread #writers #pubwrite #writetip #fridayreads

Indie and eBook Stuff –

#ebooks #epublishing #epublishers #epub #digitalpublishing #selfpub #readanindiefriday #indieauthor & #indieauthors #indiepublishing #indiepub

Authors to Authors (shop talk) –

#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#WordCount
#WriterWednesday
#WritersLife
#YALitChat
#LitChat
#MemoirChat
#BookMarket
#WritingParty
#IndieAuthors
#WriteChat
#epubchat:
#kindlechat:
#vss
#webfic
#weblit
#wip
#wordcount
#writegoal
#writequote

Quote from your book-
#Novelines

Genre Stuff –
#RomanceWriter
#SciFiChat
#KidLitChat
#RWA (Romance Writers of America)
#ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)
#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)
#MemoirChat
#LitFic
#HistFic
#HistNovel
#ShortStories
#WomensFiction
#Science
#Futuristic
#Crime
#SciFi

The Book Industry –
#WritingTip
#WriteTip
#GetPublished
#PromoTip
#SelfPublishing
#Publishing
#AskAgent
#AskAuthor
#AskEditor
#EBooks
#IndiePub
#BookMarketing

Creativity-
#WritingPrompt
#StoryStarter
#WordAThon
#Creativity
#WIP

Reach out to Readers (IMPORTANT!!!!!!)-
#FridayReads
#BookGiveaway
#MustRead
#LitChat
#StoryFriday
#MustRead

Online Booksellers-
#smashwords
#bookbuzzr
#fReadO
#amazon
#kobo
#nook

Marketing-
#bookmarketing
#bookbuzz
#special
#free
#freebie
#FictionFriday
#FlashFriday

eBook Formats-
#kindle
#sony
#nook
#ebooks
#kobo
#ipad
#ereaders
#ebook
#kpd

Ok, I’ve let the cat out of the bag and given you my secret. Again, PLEASE consult hashtags.org and RESEARCH any hashtag you plan to use. Understand what it is, what it isn’t, and when, and when not, to use it.