To Tweet or Not To Tweet

~ American Writers Exposed

Social media is one of the biggest questions writers seem to be asking…Should I?  How necessary is it?  What are the steps?  After Oregon’s largest writers’ conference last summer the answer could not be clearer – an online presence is a must.

I, personally, did not even have a Facebook account and that quickly changed.  There is so much support for writers through communities and groups that your experience will be everything you put into it, within sane reason.  To be successful is not an illusion it takes time, effort and energy.  To have a following, you must be an involved follower, an active participant in building your platform.

If you don’t know how to put it all together; Google it, the needed information is out there if you are willing to look.  WordPress has blogging courses for beginners or freshen it uppers.  Do not be afraid.   Work for the recognition you deserve and have labored for.  But, you must be mindful.  You will no longer be anonymous.

The most beneficial information for me has come from; Twitter.

My favorite widget application on WordPress is About Me.

I have Pinterest, LinkedIn and Tumblr accounts but do not spend the necessary allotted time to make these equally successful.  Reddit is my biggest mystery.  And this, for now, is okay with me.

These entities link together and before you know it the magic slowly becomes reality.  I attended a webinar recently where a traditionally published author explained she became solely independent.  All marketing while being represented was her exclusive responsibility.

The course also mentioned in the next 10 years the industry will be called “publishing,” period.  We must get comfortable with the notion of being “Hybrid” if anything, a bit of both, traditional and self-published and get over the misplaced idea of being One or the Other.

If we want to be read, we must not only put our professionally polished work out there, but be willing to step forward on the internet stage and take a bow.  One year ago I would have never been able to do this…Hi, my name is Jessica Edouard and I write historical romance novels.

Much <3!  Keep writing!  Jessica

52 thoughts on “To Tweet or Not To Tweet”

  1. Hi,
    I teach history. I tried reading Outlanders but never finished.
    I’m Janice. Thank you for visiting my site Reflections. I’m glad you liked my post “9 Proven Ways to Skyrocket Your Traffic.”
    Nice to meet you.
    Janice

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  2. Great post! I’ve just opened accounts on everything but Facebook. I’ve looked at it and simply don’t like it. I’m glad that Reddit is a mystery to someone else. My general attitude regarding social media platforms is to move slowly, learn the culture and participate as I can. In the meantime I’m having fun, especially with twitter which is almost like being at a party to which everyone is invited.

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  3. I’ve had technical problems with every social platform that I have signed up for: Pinterest (I gave up on that one), Goodreads, Facebook and WordPress. I’m working on it so I haven’t given up. Twitter is my next step once I get the others straightened out.

    Great post. Very helpful.

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  4. Great thought provoking post this one. I have a strange theory about social media like Twitter and Facebook and even WordPress.There are now so many online ways to communicate I sometimes wonder how much real communication is going on. So many millions of bloggers and tweeter and emails and God only knows what … we may soon have to visit a museum to see what a hardcopy letter looks like. If everybody has an online presence then we’ll be flooded out with gazillions of author websites.
    All the best.
    Mind you … it has just occurred to me that you really have a look at my online presence and follow of course!!!
    Kris
    http://www..awritersden.wordpress.com
    http://www.the1951club.org

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  6. I thank God that I didn’t know about social media until after I wrote a novel! I think I would have spent hours obsessing over other people’s extremely well-written posts. I would have thought I couldn’t write a novel unless I followed the many useful suggestions online, etc.

    Now I enjoy blogging, but I try not to let social media take over. I remind myself that even with a great publicist many authors never become stars. Many famous writers of a few decades back are already forgotten. I do my best and let go of what I can’t control–luck.

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      2. I, Jessica, post there and occasionally get a new follower to add me in their circle. But, if you look at views alone at your profile you will be surprised how many people are checking your work out. My oldest daughter who is a part of this internet generation constantly reminds me; people scroll, read, move on. So don’t get disappointed in actual followers, etc. You are being seen and read whether you recognize it or not and you are taking all the right steps! 🙂 I say bravo!

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  8. Very good advice. When I started I had no social media accounts at all – not even Facebook! Then I joined WordPress and found lots of wonderful writers and readers. But when I started getting reviews of my stories and mentions of my blog, I realised I had no way of telling anyone outside WordPress! I have just joined Twitter and things are coming together.

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  9. I love Twitter! It was the first social media platform I was on. I originally started on Twitter for fun but when I started tweeting I was writing a book, many followers wanted to know more. So I started my WordPress blog. It all snowballed from there.

    The key to social media for writers and authors is to pick a few you enjoy and stay consistent. Connect with your followers. Be genuine, be fun.

    What I love most about Twitter is that it is like a big social club. People from all over the world are on there at any given moment. Follow hashtags you are interested in and tweet about what you enjoy. I tell my author promotion clients all the time to be real. If you like baking, tweet some creations. If you follow a sports team, tweet about it. People tend to follow interesting people with many interests.

    A word of caution, though. Do not bash anyone on social media. Contrary to popular belief, you can never delete something once it’s out there. It’s out there forever. A writer’s reputation, once sullied, can never be restored.

    The world’s a smaller place thanks to social media but that can be a great thing for a writer. You get to reach people all over the world and trust me, it expands your followers.

    I’m so glad I happened across this blog and this post! Have a great weekend all! 🙂

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  14. Two years ago I published my first children’s book and did virtually no publicity. Result: virtually no sales. Having just published my second, I’m doing all I can to publicize it online – I’ll be interested to see if it makes any difference. It’s a steep learning curve!

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  15. Excellent! This is exactly why I’ve stopped writing and started assisting other authors. Social Media can quickly become a “chore” and stops being fun. I’ve met many authors who need a presence and have no idea where to start, and some are quite surprised to learn that deciding to self-publish means they must take on the additional role of PR if they want book sales.

    All the hard work becomes worth it when you finally reach that shining moment and can say truthfully, from heart & Soul: I am an Author. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I just updated with links for help on each platform. If you follow twitter like your Facebook feed it can be quick and easy and you may stumble into some great information if you are following publishers, agents, etc. You may learn to love it equally! 🙂

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