Wonderful Krista Davis is back! Join us for Part 2 of her Twitter info session. I keep learning more.

Before I let you launch into Krista's new information, I'd like to point out we have a new banner on our website. We love it and hope you do as well.

Also we are launching a fabulous contest: Hook, Line and Sinker. Check out the rules on LIz's post Monday. Join us. We'd love it.

Now for Krista. Cassy

Twitter 102
FAQS


What do I Tweet?

Me, me, me becomes as tiring on Twitter as it does in person. Write your tweet in terms that make it beneficial or interesting to others.

#writing #writers #author @MosbyWriter uses 5 easy steps to develop characters. http://TinyUrlToMyBlog


Toot someone else’s horn.

#author of Dead Wrong @MosbyWriter made the Independent Mystery Bookstore Bestseller list!


Plug someone else’s blog.

I’m over the moon about review of Dead On by @SmartPerson http://SmartPerson’sUrl


Still nervous? Start by retweeting other people’s tweets! Everyone loves to be retweeted because that’s how word spreads.



Ack! All these people want to follow me. Should I ignore them?

No! That’s how we grow our followers. We want to reach new people. We want to reach people we don’t know. Follow them back.


Someone followed me and then unfollowed me. What’s that about?

Some people want to build their follower list, but they don’t want to follow you. They follow you, then soon after, they unfollow you. I’m sorry to say that some of them are writers.

Here’s another little fact you need to know about Twitter. There are limits on how many new people you can follow. If you are following too many more people than are following you, you can’t follow anyone else until your ratio evens out. Of course, that means you want to get rid of the deadbeats who pretended to follow you. I’ve tried several methods and, in my opinion, TwitterKarma is still the best. You can see who is following you and dump the others.

This should suggest to you that it’s polite Twitter etiquette to follow back. Chances are that Oprah, who, at the time this was written, had 3,274,882 followers and was following a mere 19 people, will not follow you. Most people, dogs, cats, and squirrels will follow you, though.


What if it’s a porn follower?

You can block anyone from following you. You can also report spam. All with a simple click.



I don’t have time for all this. Why am I doing this again?

To reach readers. To promote your brand. I read recently that one ought not spend more than ten minutes a day reading social media, or more than another ten minutes a day responding to and sending social media messages. That’s where Twitter is fabulous. You only have 140 characters. There’s only so much you can say. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to send out your message. The whole point is to bring people to your website and your blog, thereby acquainting them with your books and you as an author.

Plus, you can link your tweets to Facebook, so your message shows up there at the same time.


I’m not published yet. What’s in it for me?


Agents and publishers tweet constantly. Check out #agentsday. Look up your favorite agents. Some of them announce query contests. Some say what they’re looking for. Some post pet peeves. They even announce it when they’re attacking the query pile!

If you post useful messages, you’re also getting your name out there. You’ll be collecting followers and when the day comes to announce your book, you’ll be that much ahead of the game.


What are lists about?

You can make up your own lists to sort your followers. They can be public or private. Other people’s lists are a great way to find new followers. I was surprised recently when someone asked to be added to one of my lists. Believe it or not, there are sites that rate lists. http://www.tlists.com/ So you can even promote yourself by having the best list of something.

I find the lists useful for remembering who to mention on #WW and #MM. In addition, if someone has ditched me, I can tell at a glance and unfollow with a quick click.