21 Tips to Make the Most of Twitter

 2015 is Authorpreneur Almanac year. 

Join me in my 365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship...

I never thought I'd say this...

 Twitter is my favourite social media tool (as an authorpreneur)

I love Pinterest - mostly for the sheer joy of virtual hoarding without filling my house with junk - but when it comes to connecting, and finding great content, Twitter works for me.

There are plenty of people out there professing to be Social Media experts. I'm not one of them, but I have learned a lot and built a solid following of lovely people.

Here are my 21 tips to make the most of Twitter:

1) You have 140 character - use them wisely, think before you Tweet.

2) Don't use all 140 characters, leave some free so it can be Retweeted (100 characters is ideal).

3) Avoid text speak. At best you look unprofessional, at worst the Tweet is unreadable for anyone over the age of 14.

4) Always include one hashtag (#) in every Tweet.

5) Make sure the # you use is relevant. 

Useful #'s for writers:

#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#Writing
#WriteTip
#WritingPrompt
#BookGiveaway
#SelfPub
#WriterWednesday
 

6) Avoid using more than 2 #'s in a Tweet. Too many uses up valuable characters and it's more difficult to read.

7) There is a 80/20 rule with Twitter. 80% content sharing and engaging, 20% self promotion. I often have fellow authors follow me on Twitter and when I get a new follower I check out their timeline and say thank you by Retweeting something of theirs. It amazes (and infuriates me), how many authors Twitter feeds are just; 'buy my book' copy-paste-repeat. Boring.

8) Don't spam. Studies show Tweeting 2 to 3 times a day at regular intervals will reach 30% of your followers. Don't Tweet multiple times in an hour on the same thing - it's annoying seeing the same thing pop up in your feed over and over, people will stop following you.

9) Post your own and share other people's content regularly but avoid filling your feed with retweets. Boring. Followers want to hear from you too.

10) Be organised. Social media can take over if you're not organised about it. It's easy to waste hours mindlessly looking at stuff. Dip in regularly but make use of tools such as Hootesuite, to schedule content and keep your interactions regular and consistent. A Twitter feed that churns out loads of stuff one day then goes quiet for weeks isn't worth following.

11) Know your audience. Who do you want to attract? Follow and share things that appeal to your core audience. 

12) Where is your audience? If it's another country, think about the time difference and schedule posts when they are watching.

13) Always shorten URL's using a tool like Bitly. It saves characters and you can also monitor the analytics to see who's clicking your links and where they are. This is useful for points 11 & 12.

14) Customize hashtag's. For example; I created #'s for my books: #BronzeBox, #SolomonsSecrets, #GabrielsGame. It's a useful way to monitor your popular content and a quick way for people to share and search it.

15) Use capital letters in multi-word #'s. They're easier to read - i.e.: #solomonssecrets becomes #SolomonsSecrets

16) If you want to build a relationship with someone, regularly Retweet them and they'll start to notice you, then strike up a conversation.

17) Respond quickly. If someone contacts you, be courteous and get back to them promptly.

18) Thank new followers but don't be tempted to use an auto thank you or send them promotional material - that's just rude. #FF or #FollowFriday is a useful social convention to use when thanking people.

19) Images are more likely to be Retweeted than text - use them where appropriate.

20) As the number of accounts you follow grows, organise them into lists. You can then dip into shorter feeds with curated content, instead of having a long cluttered feed that updates every few seconds before you have time to read it. 

21) Lastly, but most importantly. Be nice! No one likes a hater. Tweet: The key to 'social media' is being social 

Say nice things about other people and they'll say nice things about you - the people who like you will do the promoting for you.

There is always more to learn - I've just discovered how to embed my Twitter feed into my website. Here it is:


Tweets by @TomCatDesigns

What tips would you add?

Happy Tweeting!
#GetInvolved 

Magic Dust and Bending the Rules...

This week for

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author

I am still plugging away at NaNoWriMo - I must confess, I am falling behind but have some clear space to catch up on writing in the next week.

I'm still doing some marketing activities:

Action 1: I went to a Global Entrepreneurship Week event hosted by Bristol Woman. I was one of the speakers but I enjoyed hearing other inspirational women sharing their stories and advice.

Action 2: I have 2 launch events coming up in the next week and have been putting together bits and pieces and scheduling updates on Social Media.

Action 3: I have been using all my ink up printing off booklets for my guests featuring short stories about my main characters, Tom Sheridan and Sasha Blake. I also have plans to add to this booklet and publish it as an eBook, so watch this space for updates

Action 4: I put some feelers out, inviting writers to share 200 words from their NaNoWriMo's. I've not had much luck, aside from lots of retweets, but it only seems fair that if I'm asking other writers to share I need to lead by example.

Here are 200 (well, 193, but close enough) words from my current project. It's raw, but I hope you like it:

 
 As I've scrimped on the actions this week, here's a feature instead to inform and inspire

* * *

Some books are more magical than others

Like all writers, I am an avid reader.

I am also a slow reader, relishing in every word. As a consequence, reading takes a lot of time and energy from me, I don't do nearly as much as I'd like to.

I am also very impatient. All the advice tells us that writers should read things they don't like so that they can learn from the experience, but my reading time is precious and try as I might, I just can't bring myself to spend that time reading something that I'm not enjoying.

Tweet: Flagellating myself with something I don't want to read is not my idea of fun

If a book doesn't hook me in within the first few pages I give up on it. There are charity shops all over Bristol with books in with only the first dozen pages thumbed.

I go through despondent periods where I just can't seem to find something that I enjoy reading.

My biggest disappointment recently was 'Bring up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel.

I had been looking forward to getting to it on my to read pile and when I did my disappointment was so bitter it hurt. I couldn't even make it past the first chapter. I reviewed it on Goodreads.

In my review I make reference to common factors that can be off putting for readers - for example: jumping between points of view and shaky use of tenses.

When writers get together and critique each others work these are sorts of things we pull each other up on.

But have you ever noticed that with some books, those mechanical bits and bobs don't seem to matter? The book has a resonance, a magic about it.

So is it possible to break those rules of convention and still write a successful book?

My brain tells me no but my heart tells me yes and to illustrate the point I'm using the book I am currently reading as an example.

Captive Queen, by Alison Weir

This book has that magic spark and I can't explain it. There are 5 sins it commits, yet despite that, I'm still hooked:

Sin number 1: Jumping between points of view


I enjoy being in the head of different characters, in fact, in my own books, The Bronze Box and Solomon's Secrets, the whole story is woven together from fragments experienced by different characters. But in The Captive Queen, point of view changes happen between paragraphs, yet Alison Weir gets away with it.



Sin number 2: The dreaded adverb

Stephen King once said 'The road to hell is paved with adverbs'
Those sneaky little words that creep in with their 'ly's on the end.
The skill of a writer is to get across a sense of what characters are thinking or feeling through their conversations. But when there are long passages of narrative with very little conversation, you can get away with a few of these little blighters. 

Tweet: Adverbs are like seasoning, nobody likes tasting something that's too salty or peppery the seasoning should go unnoticed and just bring out the flavour.


Sin number 3: Conversation tags

Characters only ever 'said'. Said is a word that disappears into the text and reminds the reader who's talking. The words they say should indicate how they are feeling and what they are doing.

In Captive Queen, most conversations have examples of a tag other than 'said' - these are some that popped off the page:

'Henry went on'
'Bernard effused'
'Bernard pleaded'
'She chided'

Here's a couple that also include an adverb;

'Eleanor chided sweetly'
'Geoffrey replied sanguinely'
'Henry replied mulishly'
'Henry told her bluntly'

Despite the adverb being unnecessary in all examples, I still kept reading.

Sin Number 4: Awkward conversations between characters

There are several examples where Henry Fitzempress and Eleanor of Aquitaine are having sex and having conversations about their empires and quest for power...

Seriously? I don't know about the rest of you, but in my experience mouths are otherwise engaged during lovemaking and there is usually far too much grunting, sighing and appreciative humming to be making world changing decisions and having complicated political conversations!

Despite that, I still enjoyed the sensuous nature of these scenes, delivered with a such a light touch in the narrative.

Sin number 5: Looking in the mirror

Eleanor describes to the reader how she looks by admiring herself in the mirror.

The only reason this rather dodgy plot device works in this case is because we are reminded throughout the book of how vain and arrogant Eleanor is.




Conclusion
I'm halfway through this 481 page book and I'm yet to be put off. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to curl up in an armchair with a mug of tea and keep reading...

Unleash the hermit and progressing towards publication

Another bumper crop of two weeks worth of tips and ideas for 

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming  A Successful Author

I was on holiday in Bulgaria last week and didn't have access to the internet. There was something very freeing about dropping off the radar for a week. The world didn't end because I couldn't pick up emails or tweets!

My 14 actions are a bit of a blur so I'm going to round them up as two weeks of activities instead.

Our week abroad allowed me to embrace my inner hermit and use her as a force for creativity. 

That week, all of my actions were writing notes, ideas, bits for books and streams of consciousness. 


I wrote them on scraps of paper and coloured card and when I got back, I bound them together in a book made from fabric scraps:

My top tip from that week: 

Escape for a while and just write. Write anything and everything and don't self edit.

The only other action from that week;

While shopping for souvenirs I saw this awesome box that I had to buy. I plan to use it to lock a prize inside for the treasure hunt launch event that I'm planning.

 
This week, my seven actions have been:

Action 1: 
I've been giving some thought to what I'd like to do for my launch event for Solomon's Secrets.

I don't want to do the usual book launch where people mill around a book shop with a glass of wine, I want a proper party.

I originally wanted to use the crowdfund to raise money to run a spectacular event with music and actors and all sorts, but realistically, I'm going to go for something smaller scale and lower budget!

I made some notes while in Bulgaria that are now stitched up in the little book pictured.

My plan is:
Sometime in November, date TBC. We gather in the function room of one of the bars around the old town of Bristol UK. Everyone will get a set of clues leading them to 3 further watering holes in the vicinity. At each location will be a little box of keys. We split up and have an hour to visit the 3 locations. Everyone takes one key at each location and returns to base, therefore each person will have 3 keys and 3 chances at the prize. Whoever has the key to the box gets the prize inside. 

Action 2:
I've started writing out the plans in more detail for the Solomon's Secrets launch party.  I've been researching the history of some of the bars in that area and forming some clues for the treasure hunt.

Action 3:
I published a great guest post from Marla Madison this week:  
http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/top-ten-tips-for-independent-author.html

Thanks Marla, you're a legend!
 
Action 4:
I've been spreading the word that I'm looking for other guest posts for this blog. I've started discussions on LinkedIn and tweeted writers, whose work interests me, directly to ask them. I now have a few emails to send out to willing participants

Action 5:
I had a telephone meeting for a feedback and advice session with the literary consultant that I sent sample chapters of Solomon's Secrets too, Lucy from Arc Editorial & Literary Consultancy in Bristol.

The key points on her report were about more character development in these early chapters and more description of the locations. 

Great advice and a really useful process. After this experience I'd never consider self publishing again without some professional support, especially after my first attempt with The Bronze Box.

Action 6:
I received the latest proof copy of Solomon's and I'm now working through it based on the advice from Lucy. I have a lot of work to do and will need to look at my schedule at work and book some time off so I can get this book out and ready by the end of October, which is my current planned timetable.

Action 7:
I published an update on the Fundsurfer page, briefing all my backers

 
I also emailed those who asked for a copy of The Bronze Box as a reward from the crowdfund. 

When we returned to work following our holiday in Bulgaria there was the beautiful sight of a great big box full of copies of the 2nd edition of The Bronze Box waiting for me.


Bonus little fact here that gave me a boost:

I did some research about the state of the publishing and book industry and found a really useful Cobweb Information factsheet  for novelists.

170,000 books were published in the UK in 2012 and this figure has risen since.

More that half of all the books published in the UK sell fewer than 200 copies. 

I've sold almost 900 copies of The Bronze Box, and that makes me happy.

Where in the world is Wiveliscombe, and other marketing stories

This week for my

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming  A successful Author

I've been out and about in my home county of Somerset.

My first action was being invited to be interviewed on 10 Radio - A community Radio station in the village of Wiveliscombe in Somerset, just a couple of miles form the small town of Wellington in Somerset, where I grew up.

Suzie Grogan contacted me through Facebook and we set it up. Suzi is a fellow writer, here's her blog: http://nowrigglingoutofwriting.wordpress.com/

She writes non-fiction and has a new book coming out late this year. Shell Shocked Britain; exploring the issues around mental health and the First World War, more details here: http://www.suziegrogan.co.uk/.

A future action will be to write a guest blog for her No More Wriggling out of Writing blog.

While I was in the area, my next action was to put some mini manuscripts and some postcards about Solomon's Secrets around Wiveliscombe and in a few other places on my journey back up to Bristol

Another action is that Suzie is going to write a review of the second edition of The Bronze Box on her blog and I've offered to review her book too when it comes out.

Suzie has also invited me to the launch in Bristol which is in my diary. I'll look forward to seeing her again at that event. 

Speaking of The Bronze Box, another action this week was that I finished proofreading the paperback version and relaunched the 2nd edition. The first edition is now out of print, so anyone lucky enough to have picked up the first edition (in all it's rawness!), hang on to it - when I'm the next JK Rowling it may be worth some money! 



Another action was to get some postcards printed. 
  
I used a local printer in Bristol, Sebright. They were good value, I could go and speak to a human and support a local business. The problem with some of the online printers is, although initially they seem cheap, once you start adding your own images and including postage and packing the cost soon increases and then you get daily spam emails trying to sell you more products.

I always enjoy connecting and supporting other writers and in October Southville Writers are hosting a Books Are My Bag event with Bristol Women Writers at Foyles. 

 
Another action this week as to produce a special newsletter calling for writers in the network to get involved.













Another action is that I wrote an Amazon review for a fellow writer and friend of mine, Nicola Sellars, who's debut novel, Colour Me In came out earlier this year.

Nicki and I meet regularly for lunch and I think of it as an opportunity for us to mentor each other. We bounce ideas off each other and share some inspiration. This kind of informal arrangement with someone like minded is a really useful way to stay motivated and fresh.

Bonus 8th action this week.

I like to engage in conversations with people on twitter and connected with Jono Young. I asked what tip he would offer for marketing what you do and here was his response:

 

Thanks for contributing, Jono.

Have you got a marketing tip you'd like to offer to other creatives?

 

Slacking and procrastination must be elminated...

I've been a bit of a slacker this week - I'm really late with this update and my only excuse is that I am a victim of procrastination (and also have cold which is sapping my energy and motivation).

What keeps you motivated and stops the dreaded procrastination monster from getting you?... 

Please share your tips in the comments below

Here are my seven actions for  

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author

I read an extract from Solomon's Secrets at a Small Stories event at The Birdcage.

Front cover image. The book will be out August/September

These regular events are always enjoyable, with local writers reading out their work and a local artists doing live illustrations.

I went to an Online Marketing seminar organised by Bristol News and Media and have some actions to link up my online presence more effectively. The presenter, John Bonney has written an interesting article on online marketing here:

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Small-business-grasp-online-marketing-says-expert/story-20826537-detail/story.html

I printed off loads of flyers about Solomon's Secrets and the celebration event on 5th September at Averys Wine Cellars.

I spent a day leafleting all around Bristol

I printed off some sample booklets with a few short chapters and a book blurb. I went to a hen party at the weekend and caught up with lots of people I'd not seen for ages and gave them all booklets and encouraged them to spread the word.

I added the hashtag #SolomonsSecrets to relevant pins on my Pinterest boards so that people following me on Pinterest can find out more.

Here I am: http://www.pinterest.com/amymorse184/

I have boards for my book research and images of characters that I find really useful while I'm writing.

I've been editing Solomon's Secrets but still need to get books back from my beta readers to see their comments and changes. 

I've found some really useful links for book editing and added them to my 'Writing' Pinterest Board

I had to tweet the revelation about removing the unnecessary use of 'that', 'really' and 'like' that I read in a useful article on LitReactor: 

http://litreactor.com/columns/8-words-to-seek-and-destroy-in-your-writing

So now it's back to writing, I've been in my own head for much of today and it's about time I committed some of it to 'paper'.

Marketing for Writers - A guest blog by Clare Sweeney

I am really delighted at the responses from other writers offering their tips on marketing for writers. I have a couple of guest blogs to share with you this week, the first is from the lovely Clare Sweeney (thanks Clare):

"When you hear voices in your head 

or create imaginary lives, 

it’s in a good way"

Advice on #marketing your words

So you have chosen to be a writer, let’s allow it to be a choice rather than a compulsion, a positive commitment to use your talent with words to enrich the lives of others.

Okay, so your way of communicating the joys and sorrows of your existence or simply way you like to play involves taking yourself away from other people and writing things down.

When you hear voices in your head or create imaginary lives, it’s in a good way.

Now, not only have you chosen to be a writer but you have actually managed to get something down, told a tale you’re happy and ready to share. You’ve found your ‘voice’ and this is important as American bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver advises;

‘Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; try to figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.’

And you’ve done this, you have produced something that only you can say, developed your own style and it doesn’t matter how long it’s taken you. Ernest Hemmingway said;

‘It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think that you were born that way.’

The bad news? Unfortunately so far you have only completed half the job. The next bit? This is selling your story after all according to A.A. Milne;

‘Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money…from this state of being.’

Selling. A process which involves convincing lots of people the product you have is exactly the thing for them. Your individual work must now stand out from the crowd and appeal to everyone. 

No wonder this is hard.

And aren’t people who are good at selling outgoing, confident, gregarious socialisers? I’m not sure that sounds like someone who enjoys spending hours alone with their thoughts and a pen.

Thank goodness, with the internet and social media, writers can now create their own ‘brand’ from behind their screen and use their creative skills to reach an audience. Like writing in the first place, it simply takes a little time to learn. But using Social media is a great way to launch a writing career. 

Russian born Ksenia Anske began to tweet about writing and attracted over 50 thousand people before she had even released a book for sale. She now talks to an audience of over 67 thousand and can use this as justification when she approaches bookshops to stock her work. 

Ksenia may be exceptional but look at other authors on Twitter, follow them, see what they have to say and begin to develop your own identity.  

It’s not as difficult or scary as it may seem. Make sure the things you post to the world are consistent with the image you want to promote and like water, you will find a way. One word of caution however, as Harper Lee once said; 

‘I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career… before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.’

Follow Clare's writing escapades: @clarejsweeney

Clare is in the process of constructing a website for her new book. 

Keep a look out for this promising writer.

E-Books, cake and flights of fancy... Operation Author, 365 actions

It's week 7 of my operation author project:
 

Operation Author - 

365 Actions to Succeed as an Author

My first action is to put a call out...

I'd really love to hear from anyone who blogs about books or is happy to review books.  

A free e-book in exchange for a review anyone?

With no news in my day job about whether our project to support start ups in Bristol will continue from April, we're now all in redundancy consultations. 

I'm trying not to let it be too depressing and see it as an opportunity to follow my dreams to earn a living through writing and supporting others with their creativity.  The trouble is, my dreams are still just flights of fancy and a month is not enough time to turn them into something tangible!

It's somewhat ironic that the only comprehensive free support for new businesses is Bristol, Outset Bristol, is in danger of closing resulting in at least one of it's staff considering self employment as their favoured option?!

I've been working frantically to have something to launch with if the worst should happen. It's exhausting!

This week, my writing platform endeavours have been:

Day 2 - I followed up a contact that a colleague gave me and found this really great blog:

http://womanontheedgeofreality.com/2012/11/13/101-book-marketing-ideas-for-authors/

Thanks  Linda Parkinson-Hardman

 

My next action is to follow up her invitation for an interview.  Look out for it...

Day 3 - I've been making up marketing material for the events I have coming up.  Thanks to the creative talents of Graham Morse - here's a flyer for the workshop I'm running on Wednesday 5th March - 'Why Marketing your Book is Like Making a Pizza: A Marketing Workshop for Writers'

I'm both excited and nervous about doing the workshop.  I really want it to be a success.

Day 4 - I entered The Bronze Box into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.  Wish me luck, it's the first competition I've entered for my writing :-S

Day 5 - I have had another article published in Prowess 2.0: Women in Business.  

I really enjoy business writing, it fits so seamlessly with my day job experience and my love of writing.  It's something I'd like to do more of.  

Can anyone suggest any leads or contacts for me? 

I'm really passionate about supporting independent business and especially underrepresented groups in enterprise, one of which is women.  I'm keen to guest blog, write articles, speak at events etc.

The last couple of days of this week I've been preparing for the book event I'm hosting at The Hydra Bookshop in old market, Bristol on Saturday 22nd Feb from 4pm to 6pm.

I've made up some flyers for Solomon's Secrets to display at the event:

Yesterday I made an epic and absurdly chocolaty fridge cake for the event. Here's the Recipe:

2 x small value Madeira Cakes 

8 x large bars of milk chocolate - the better quality the nicer the cake (I really hate cooking chocolate)

1 x grab bag of Malteasers

4 bags of Milky-bar buttons

4 generous Tablespoons of butter

couple of handfuls of chopped nuts

couple of handfuls of raisins

a few handfuls of mini marshmallows 

Crumble the cake into a big mixing bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter.  Stir the chocolate into the cake. Stir in the Milky-bar buttons and allow them to melt a little in the warm chocolate for a marbled effect.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Turn the mix out onto a large baking sheet lined with foil or cling film. Compact the mix into the tray to form a block. Refrigerate overnight then cut into squares.

I decorated it with bronze sugar spray and gold sugar balls before cutting it up.

I'll be giving away the squares at the book event so if you are in Bristol, UK come and get some.

 

What else do you think I could do this week to reach out to more people?