Today, I’d like to talk about tweeting.
Without going into a soliloquy as to why Twitter is good for authors (there are resources below), every once in a while an author should analyze their tweets.
The first analysis I did was to know when is the best time to tweet. This is very vital to any serious person who Twitters.
You need to know when your tweets are most effective. This means the times when you get the most ReTweets (RTs) and when you get responses to your Tweets that are posted.
Now there are general times to tweet and lots of articles that tell you about those times. You also have to be cognizant of time zones and the east coast/west coast factors.
My best times are:
8am, 10am, 2pm and 7pm
On 3/7/11 morning, I decided to take a look at my tweets to see how good they were. This didn’t include any RTs or replies and this wasn’t a whole day – Just a couple of hours.
sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
BTW, Read An Ebook Week is going on now! Check out the discounted selections of my books on smashwords right now!! http://fb.me/J7lT1KqS
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
Registration ending soon for The Black Scribe Book Expo March 26th http://fb.me/SPH4fZfk
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
Hope Is Love – Chapter 15 Live Work In Progress | :interracial – suspense – romance – sensual noir http://wp.me/p8Zp8-NO
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
As U go through ur day, in a society that is less & less connected yet more & more expensive 2live in, remember, Hugs Are Free. Give Plenty!
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
Discuss yr Book Challenges & Successes, Get Info on Yr Publishing Project & Network w/writers In Metro #Detroit. http://ping.fm/P5max
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
I’ve said this b4 but bus advertising is really depressing in Detroit.
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
Now listening 2 the rest of my life by @ItsBMcKnight. Best luv song ever!
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
Check out the @gleekretreat.com attendee list http://ping.fm/H0NKQ and then register yrself 2join us in May!… http://fb.me/CpgtPF02
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sylviahubbard1 Sylvia Hubbard
G’Moaning Socialees: “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
I like how I promoted upcoming events that I would be at. My literary schedule is over the top this month and I still woke up with letting people know exactly what I’d be doing.
I like also that I was very inspirational this morning. Maybe because of my bout with the Secret Millionaire, but it helped me create some straight from the heart tweets that later on was re-tweeted.
Also note how I had my blog posts coming straight to my tweets as well . I also included hashtags with them for recognition on Google.
I make sure I give most of my blogs a hashtag so I know if I want to go back and highlight something or keep track of how much something was promoted for a guest blogger, it’s easily found on twitter. (i.e. #labw for loveablackwoman.com & #wg2im for writersguide2internetmarketing.com.)
I always believe people connect with you and pass your message because you give a human voice. I always want to show that my tweets are auto-generated by including what I’m doing now.
You see above where I show them what I was listening to (and connecting that to my most favorite singer Brian McKnight @ItsBMcKnight and I also was watching The Secret Millionaire at the time.
When I did the review It was not only because The Secret Millionaire was what a lot of people were talking about on Twitter and around the Internet, but because it also gained myself some ground on current news and showing my followers or potential what I address at one of my blogs. (Killing two birds with one stone kinda thing.)
Using shortlinks for URLs really helps with getting more out of your tweets and I recommend a lot of your tweets should lead back to your website. You can go straight to www.bit.ly to get shortlinks to Links you want to share on Twitter. (Just my recommendation, but there are other short link services as well.)
Most importantly, I threw in books for sale. Not just a buy my book kinda thing, but as you see I was in the middle of promoting Ebook Week and wanted people to know about books available on discount.
Also since I’m in the middle of a live story, this gives someone a chance to click through and see if they want to read more of my writing.
Lastly, I tweeted quotes. A lot of people tweet quotes and it may seem boring to say something someone else is saying, but I try to focus my quotes on a topic or a theme that’s going on.
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A lot of authors ask me what can you tweet about. There’s a book called Twitter Guide For Authors that will go in-depth to answer that question.
When I get stuck and don’t know what to tweet, I use my blogging sheet to give me a guide on what to concentrate on that day.
I usually tweet more on Monday between Fridays, which is when I usually concentrate on my blog posting as well. Here are my daily themes that help me out when I’m stuck:
- Motivation or Miscellaneous Monday
- Talking Tuesday
- Writing Wednesday
- Tech Thursday
- Free Fridays
I have to say that My twitter experience has been financially beneficial for myself. Not only that, the recognition as an author, blogger and most importantly, mother has become even more significant for myself.
Authors should tweet.
Not only as a challenge in expressing ones self in under 140 characters,
Resources:
Twitter Tips for Authors
http://www.thefictiondesk.com/blog/twitter-tips-for-authors/
Twitter for Authors: Increase your web presence and get more book
http://feliciaday.com/blog/twitter-author-list
Twitter Guide for Authors – The Savvy Book Marketer Guides
Oh yeah, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, you can follow @sylviahubbard1.
See ya there!
