Tag: twitter authors

Author Tweets of the Week (2-3)

February 3, 2017 / danburi777 / 1 Comment

This is post 14 of 24 in the series “Author Tweets of the Week”

To start off this week’s Tweets of the Week, let’s have a little bit of motivation.

Believe in yourself is especially true if your goal is to become an author. If you don’t, no one else will. #amwriting 🙂

— Annie Acorn (@Annie_Acorn) February 3, 2017

Don’t forget this friends! Believe in yourself. Regardless of your walk of life, regardless of your goals in life, believe in yourself. It’s nice to have others that believe in you and support you, but you need to believe in yourself first.

There are constantly great #amwriting tweets from @noveliciouss. Here’s one:

#Metaphors have a way of holding the most #truth in the least #space.
~Orson Scott #Card #amwriting #Art Vladimir Kush pic.twitter.com/2JUjMyDTJy

— Novelicious (@noveliciouss) February 3, 2017

Great line, Orson Scott! I love that. If you don’t follow @noveliciouss yet, you should. Although with 165,000 followers, I’m guessing most of you already do.

This Margaret Atwood quote is pretty darn square on too.

"The complete frenzy and general shambles" from which all #writing emerges. #MargaretAtwood #writerslife pic.twitter.com/YQz9M6HJht

— Jeryn Alise Turner (@JerynTurner) January 29, 2017

It’s so true. Most good works of writing are going to come from complete chaos and a shamble of words.

That’s why it’s so wonderful when readers provide meaningful feedback. It is so satisfying to have a reader take in your words and to be impacted. These two tweets about Pieces Like Pottery were wonderfully humbling and satisfying.

@DanBuri777 pic.twitter.com/Tzpm3gyeeA

— Ebal (@jr_ebal) February 1, 2017

you took a path many fear to tread and succeeded. All the best!

— Ebal (@jr_ebal) February 2, 2017

Thank you @jr_ebal! I am grateful and humbled.

Speaking of paths many fear to tread, this is such a mindful quote from James Finley via my brother from a different mother (and cousin) Michael Paul.

Take a break today, friends. Count your breaths. Count your steps. Count your moments. Remember the preciousness of the present and embrace it. Embrace every wonderful and painful moment.

Did you take some time? Good, let’s huddle back up and have a chuckle.

Welcome back to our old friend and Tweets of the Week regular Tamara Thorne! Thanks for always making us laugh.

Now another from @noveliciouss:

If you write, someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.
~Stephen #King #amwriting #writerslife pic.twitter.com/cue8eM0nz2

— Novelicious (@noveliciouss) January 31, 2017

As I said on twitter, I don’t have enough hands to count the people that tried to make me feel lousy about my writing on one hand.

Don’t worry about the haters! You’ll never satisfy them!

I’ll leave you this week with two thoughts of focus and encouragement.

It's hard to get good at something you never do. Writing regularly is more important than word count.#writetip #writerslife #amwriting

— Kellie M. Parker/ VanHorn (@KellieMParker) February 1, 2017

Write! Write! Write! And then write again! (And write some more!)

Got that? Write!

I loved this last tweet.

Dear Writer,
There is someone out there who will be inspired by your story and characters. Keep Writing! #amwriting #writers #writingtips

— Rachna Chhabria (@RachnaChhabria1) February 3, 2017

Maybe it is because I have heard my father express similar sentiments about his own work, but I loved this tweet. My father has always said, “If there’s one person, just one person, that is changed for the better, than my effort has been worthwhile.”
Continue writing my friends.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Have a wonderful weekend!

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

Author Tweets of the Week (1-27)

January 27, 2017 / danburi777 / 2 Comments

This is post 13 of 24 in the series “Author Tweets of the Week”

Let’s not waste any time with the niceties and get right to it.

If you’ve read any of my stuff, you’re probably aware that I have two major pet peeves. One, I have a life goal of stopping people from incorrectly saying, “I could care less.” That makes no sense unless you’re trying to communicate that your feelings toward said item are lukewarm, which if that’s the case, then there are a hundred better ways to say that you feel so-so about something. The proper phrase is, “I couldn’t care less.”

Second, I hate, hate, hate when writers say they’re not reading anything right now because it distracts from their writing. Reading shouldn’t distract from writing anymore than your pen should distract you from writing.

Let’s begin…

“#Reading is the best education”
—Fran Lebowitz#writing #bookslover #writerslife #film #acting #Art by Karina Kiel pic.twitter.com/t9Fwl9hOwY

— Novelicious (@noveliciouss) January 26, 2017

Yes! Thank you! Agreed! 100%!

Now a little Friday wisdom for you.

When you speak, you are only repeating what you know. But if you #listen, you may learn something new @DalaiLama #quotes #peace #gratitude pic.twitter.com/5nFXtM6951

— EmbracingMyself (@LauriDMeizler) January 26, 2017

Listen. Listen to others and listen to yourself, friends. You would be surprised how poorly most of us listen to our own minds and bodies.

This next one seems particularly relevant for the times.

Speaking of libraries…

Chicago Ridge public library now has #PiecesLikePottery! Picturing some kid stumbling upon my book… that's cool.#wirterslife #amwriting pic.twitter.com/n8sIlCw6oB

— Dan Buri (@DanBuri777) January 27, 2017

Would you look at that?! I’m at the Chicago Ridge public library. You know what they say. You know you’ve made it once you’re in the Chicago Ridge public library.

Here’s a piece of inspiration from Leonard Cohen via @david_glinski:

https://twitter.com/david_glinski/status/797005956668334080

That’s a great line. It’s so true. You can be the person you want to be, friends, whoever that may be. The only thing stopping you is the box you and those around you put you in. Learn to climb out of that box and be the way you want to be, eventually that’s what you’ll be.

The next post is actually a screenshot. How many times will I have to complain about Facebook’s embedding feature before they fix it and it actually works smoothly? Anyway, these next two posts both gave me a chuckle.

https://twitter.com/Sunlikeme/status/815809932641660928

Who wouldn’t want a bookmark like that?!?! Look at how cute!

Let’s hear some writing advice from one of the greatest American poets.

https://twitter.com/davedoran192/status/823957627138875392

Great quote. If you want your readers to feel something, you must feel it first, and usually 100 times more than your readers will.

In case you don’t want tears and you just want a laugh, though…

Stay true to your writing goals. Learn. Progress. Write More.#amwriting #amediting Then repeat. #writerslife Writing. pic.twitter.com/bVW111ENhJ

— Writing & Editing (@WrtrStat) January 24, 2017

Why don’t people say, “Tut Tut,” anymore? Did they ever? They should have. Seems fun.

How long did it take you to write your first book? It took me 7 years. Hopefully it doesn’t take me 7 to write my second. In case you’re wondering, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 6.

Days, that is. 6 days?!?!

Some of these are quite surprising; others not so much. #amwriting #amreading https://t.co/M000k6iqnX

— Kadaxis (@kadaxis) January 25, 2017

Welp, I better get cracking I guess.

You can't use up #creativity. The more you use, the more you have.- Maya Angelou #artist #writer #quote

— TheWritingReader (@WritingReader) January 26, 2017

Write away friends! Then where you’re done writing, write some more!

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Have a wonderful weekend!

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

Twitter Hashtags for Indie Authors

February 25, 2016 / danburi777 / 3 Comments

If you’re like every indie author on my Twitter timeline, you’re trying to sell your book. I have my own opinion on the success of just screaming out to everyone and anyone to buy your book, but I’ll let @Gavrusik do it for me this time.

Dear God, we've just met, never spoken and now you're sending me DMs asking me to buy your book.

Ever heard of foreplay?#amwriting

— Gary Rutherford (@Gavrusik) February 23, 2016

Get the picture? As I’ve said before, you’re not going to walk into a coffee shop and scream out to everyone there to buy your book. Why do you do it online?

However, you have a twitter account to meet other authors and readers with similar interests. That’s great. There are simple #hashtags that every indie author should know to help their tweets be seen. This list is not exhaustive, but it is some of the most important ones.

The Core #Hashtags:

These are about as basic as it gets, but you should know these:

#AmWriting
#AmReading
#WritersLife
#IndieAuthors

Reach Readers:

There are times when you want to reach readers–any and all of them. These hashtags will help you shout into the void with just a little bit more purpose.

#BookGiveaway
#FridayReads
#MustRead
#GoodRead

Reach Specific Readers:

Sometimes, you want to find those readers that have the highest likelihood of having interest in your book, not just anyone who’s ever read something in their life. Try sending tweets with targeted hashtags. These are some of the top genre-targeted #hashtags:

#SciFiChat
#YALitChat
#YA
#FlashFic
#Romance
#Horror
#FanFic
#History
#Biopic
#RWA (Romance Writers of America)
#MemoirChat
#RomanceWriter
#KidLitChat
#PoetTues
#ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)
#MGLit (Middle Grade Lit)
#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)

Connect With Authors:

Maybe you’ve learned a thing or two from me and you’re not just trying to sell your book. That’s great. Congrats on making your social media profile not completely psychotic and one-track-minded. (Minded? This guy’s an author?)

Here’s some great #hashtags to connect with authors:

#IndiePub
#SelfPub
#WriterWednesday or #WW
#SelfPublishing
#ScriptChat (for Screenwriters)
#WordCount
#LitChat
#BookMarket
#ZineChat
#WritingParty
#NaNoWriMo

Get Writing Help:

Sometimes you just want specific advice on writing. Try these #hashtags on for size:

#Grammar
#AmEditing
#WritingTips or #WritingTip
#Writing
#WritingPrompt
#WriteChat

Industry Tags:

Finally, let’s bring this full circle–from the broad general #hashtags getting more and more specific by the middle, and now back to some brand general industry tags.

#Ebooks
#Publishing
#GetPublished
#BookMarketing
#Digital
#AskEditor
#AskAgent

There you go. 48 #hashtags for you to consider when you tweet about how amazing your book is and how you will drink gasoline if I buy your book. (How did this become a thing? How is the “I will do X crazy-ass thing if you buy my book” a real thing?)

Fine, I’ll give you an even 50 #hashtags because you’re neurotic and OCD. If you need two other tags when trying to sell your book, consider #DoesAnybodyHearMe or #IKnowSomethingYouDontKnow. You’re welcome.

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

Does Twitter Actually Sell Books?

February 19, 2016 / danburi777 / 2 Comments

Image Courtesy of Authors Win

More than any other social media site, it seems that Twitter is the place to be for self-published and indie authors. I’m not quite sure why, but Twitter seems inundated with people of our ilk. If you’re like me, your Twitter feed is packed with reviews, books, giveaways, interviews, promotions, and on and on and on. it never ends.

I’m certainly not pointing the finger here. You know what they say, there would be four fingers pointing back at me. My tweets contain plenty of information about my own book. We seem to each of us be chasing the same thing and asking the same pool of people to support our dreams. Authors supporting Authors.

We can’t all buy each other’s books, can we?

This got me wondering, does all this author promotion actually work? Is Twitter actually helping to sell books?

While this is only anecdotal, I found Derek Haines‘ article about his success rate an interesting gauge to help answer this question.

Mr. Haines boasts a 15% conversion rate of Twitter profile visits to site visits. Out of 17,000 Twitter profile visits in a given month, 2,723 of those visitors clicked through to visit his page. This is a pretty darn good number.

He digs a little deeper, though, and I’m glad he does. Mr. Haines presents a recent example of a book promotion he ran. The Twitter stats showed that 4,435 people saw the tweet, but only 43 people engaged with it. This is a very small conversion rate, but one to which I think most Twitter users can relate. (I certainly can attest to that kind of low conversion rate.)

Even more significant, not a single one of those 4,435 viewers and 43 engagers bought Mr. Haines’ book due to that promotion.

This is reflective of my experience with Twitter as well. It has not been an avenue to say, “Buy my book!” and then just kick back and watch the sales role in; nor should it be either.

If you’re using Twitter simply to pimp out your book and seek immediate sales, I think you have an uphill battle in front of you. However, if you’re looking to be involved in the Twitter author community and interact, you can create awareness of your brand and book.

This is the paramount rule of thumb for most all social media. People treat it differently than they would real-world, face-to-face interactions, but they shouldn’t. You wouldn’t walk into a bar and announce to each person there that you have a book, and then incessantly talk about your book when you sit down at the table with your friends. So why do you do it on Twitter?

Besides, it’s probably not selling many books for you anyway.