Tag Archives: Chicki Brown

The Twitterverse Made Easy by Chicki Brown

Deatri asked me to share about maximizing Twitter. I’ve heard a lot of authors admit that they don’t use Twitter or, even if they have ventured into the Twitterverse, they don’t tweet on a regular basis. Big mistake, in my opinion.

I know. You’re already overwhelmed with social networking and you don’t even want to think about adding another chore to your to-do list. But if you need to eliminate or avoid something, it shouldn’t be Twitter. Why do I say this? Because the literary community on Twitter is different from every other social network. The authors and readers are supportive and committed. In the year or so that I’ve been active on Twitter, I’ve discovered several things that make the difference when marketing your books.

The secret of Twitter is reciprocation. If you follow other authors, bloggers, reviewers and readers and RT (retweet) for them, they will do the same for you. This means that your tweets will go to all of their followers.

The next most important thing about Twitter is the use of hashtags, those words preceded by a # sign. When you send a tweet without hashtags, it only goes to your followers. When you add tags, they serve to attach your tweet to a specific following – people with an interest in a certain category like #romance, #mystery, #newrelease, etc., and these tags are followed by multiple thousands of people. Here’s my personal list of popular tags for authors and books. I’ve separated them by category. It’s best to mix and match the tags that apply to your book and not use more than three. Remember, the tags will take up some of your 140 characters unless you’re using a Twitter management tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, which I’ll explain in a minute.

TWEETS OF INTEREST TO AUTHORS/WRITERS (interviews/craft/) –

#authorRT #Tweets4Authors @Writerlytweets @WritersRT @WritersRetweets

TO PROMOTE A BOOK –

#BYNR @promoteyourboo1 @free_book_promo @BookTweetTeam @digitalbookend

TO PROMOTE AN INDIE BOOK –

@indtwt @IHB6 @IndBk @VoiceOfIndie @IndieBookTweet @IndieAuthorNews @indiebookpromos @IndieWriterSupp

FOR BOOK PROMOTION (GENERAL) –

@BooksandAuthor @A_Book_Shelf @Writers_Cafe @Readers_Realm @AvidReadersCafe @GoodBooksBlog1 #lovetoread #bookworm #bookspotlight #WritersKaboodle

TO PROMOTE A ROMANCE –

@romanticpicks @ROMANCEONLY @ReadingRomance @RomanceinColor @storiesoromance @allromance @JUSTConRom @RmTwts

TO PROMOTE A NOOK BOOK –

@bnbuzz @nookbn @nookboards

TO PROMOTE A KINDLE BOOK –

@Kindle_India @kindle_ch @GoodKindles @kindle_promo @KindlePromotion @IndieKindle @MadKindlePromos @AmazonBookPromo

TO TWEET ABOUT SOMETHING OF INTEREST TO INDIE AUTHORS (not book promo) –

@IndieAuthorLand @IndAuthorSucess @IndieExchange @IndieAuthorAnon @IndieWriteNet @indiepubnews @IndiesUnite

TO PROMOTE A CHRISTIAN/INSPIRATIONAL BOOK –

@CEBTAuthors @Christian_Reads

The other secrets of Twitter are the way you format your tweets and the frequency at which you post a tweet and the time of day. Formatting is simple. You want to get your point across using the least amount of characters possible. Always put your book title in all CAPS so it doesn’t get lost among the other characters. Abbreviate whenever possible, but never abbreviate words in the book’s title. You want people to be able to look up the book online without a problem. It’s not necessary to shorten the buy link to your book, because Tweetdeck or Hootsuite will automatically do it for you. Here’s an example of three tweets I might post in a day for my new release:

Love is the greatest healer. A WOMAN’S WORTH http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUH6M3S @JUSTConRom @RmTwts @digitalbookend #BYNR @indtwt @IHB6

Marc is helping Gianne to heal her body. Why won’t she let him heal her soul? A WOMAN’S WORTH http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUH6M3S @IndBk @MadKindlePromos

Why would Gianne Marvray move to Vegas 2 B with a man she barely knows? A WOMAN’S WORTH http://bit.ly/1dTlshd @bnbuzz @nookbn @nookboards

As far as frequency and time, it’s most effective to tweet three times a day. The optimum times are: mornings between 8 and 9 AM (after people get to work and get settled in front of their computers. LOL!) Midday between 12 Noon and 2 PM and evening between 5 and 8 PM).

That might sound like a lot, but there are ways you can type all of your tweets at once and schedule them to run hours, days, weeks or even months in advance. This is done by using one of the Twitter management tools like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. They are both free to download, and they will make tweeting a whole lot easier. I never use Twitter.com anymore. It doesn’t do everything you need it to do.

My last suggestion to maximize your Twitter reach, if you have a blog, is to join Triberr.com and sign up to be part of one or more tribes. Triberr was created solely as a way to increase your reach on social networks. The main tribe I belong to has a reach of 151,000 (the combined Twitter following of all the tribemates.) Every time you post a new entry, the link goes directly to Triberr and all of your tribemates will retweet it for you. Retweeting on Triberr requires no typing. You merely click. It takes twenty minutes tops.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing. I encourage you to take use of Twitter to promote your books. It’s fantastic!

Chicki Brown

Dee here: I hope you SHARE THIS ARTICLE with all of your author friends. I know I’m not the only one with Twitter issues and Chicki has made it so easy for us. Don’t be stingy, SHARE SHARE SHARE.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or$9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Evolution of eBooks

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, I’m sure you’ve heard about the dramatic changes happening in the publishing industry. Independent and chain bookstores are closing at an alarming rate. Borders, the second largest U.S. bookstore chain, recently filed for bankruptcy and went out of business. Sales of hardcover books are down 40%. Editors at the Big 6 houses are reserving contracts for their big moneymaking authors, as the mid-list shrinks. The current situation has become so dire that Huffington Post, the Internet newspaper, now includes “bookstore obituaries” as a regular feature.

At the same time, the sale of e-books is up 400%.

Nine years ago, when I started writing, my only goal was to get an agent and sign with a New York publisher. During the first few years of my writing career, I had conversations with writers that had or were considering self-publishing their books. The idea of handling the details of publishing my own book turned me off to say the least. I knew self-published books couldn’t get shelf space in the major book chains. Many reviewers wouldn’t review them, and I’d heard stories about authors ending up stuck with boxes of unsold books stacked in their garage. No way did I want any part of that.

Fast forward to 2007. The first rumblings had begun about Amazon.com’s newest electronic gadget – the Kindle e-reader. At that time no one, except perhaps for Jeff Bezos himself, imagined this little gadget would be the game changer in an industry already plagued by antiquated policies and procedures, ridiculously long wait times between contract and release, decreasing sales, and increasing competition from tablets, smartphones, video games, DVDs and all things electronic.

As an author trying to break into the business, I kept my ear to the ground, fascinated by what I was hearing about the possibility of getting my books directly into the hands of readers. I submitted to editors and agents for several years and even signed with two well-known agents but received no offers. The whole process had begun to wear me down.

By 2009, with Kindle dominating the e-book market, authors were beginning to take notice, and many had taken the plunge into the electronic world. The financial perks of direct e-pubbing were a definite lure, along with the fact that e-books are eternal. They have no limited on shelf life like paper books, which eventually go out of print.

Traditional publishers generally pay authors 6-17% of the cover price of their books. E-publishers like Kindle offered 35% at the outset and subsequently raised that royalty rate to 70% for all books selling for $2.99 or more. The increase in electronic books has sparked a very loud and fierce debate among readers, writers. Many in the publishing industry stand by the necessity for gatekeepers (editors and agents) to protect readers from an in influx of bad books. Those on the other side of the debate insist that gatekeepers aren’t necessary, because readers are smart enough to determine for themselves what is good and bad. They believe, as I do, that what’s good will sell and what’s bad won’t. Simple.

The other debate increasing in intensity is what I call “the cold, dead handers” versus the “e-people.” These are the folks who staunchly declare that their paper books will have to be pried from their cold, dead hands before they switch to electronic reading. They melodramatically pontificate about the feel and smell of paper books and fight anything hinting of electronic progress.

Personally, I don’t think books will disappear completely, but as I look back at my vinyl albums, 8-track tapes and cassettes packed away in the garage, I’m not so sure. What is important is the ability of authors to be able to sell their stories to readers. It’s the words that make the story, not the paper they’re printed on. All of the current flap about the smell and feel of books will eventually fizzle out. Honestly, when was the last time you saw anybody sniffing and hugging a vinyl LP with tears in their eyes? Change is hard for some, but change will eventually come whether we like it or not. We might as well embrace it and enjoy it.

In July 2010, I took the plunge and joined the ranks of electronic authors and published my debut novel directly to Kindle and Nook. I have since released three of my previously written novels with another due out in late December.

This is an exciting time for authors, but e-pubbing isn’t for the faint of heart. This isn’t a deal where you simply take your Word manuscript from your hard drive and toss it into cyberspace. The preparation is very much the same as getting a paper book ready for release. Professional editing is a necessity. The quality of the cover is a determining factor in the success of the book. Formatting of the manuscript for each of the different e-book sites can test the patience of a saint. Promotion and marketing is a never-ending chore.

But for those writers with the fortitude to learn the language and requirements of this new market, the doors are wide open.

Guest Blogger: Chicki Brown
http://www.chicki663.webs.com/
http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/chicki.brown
and @Chicki 663 on Twitter

Dee here: I’d like to thank Chicki for being a guest blogger this month. She is a self-publishing queen and has always been very helpful to others. THANKS.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble