Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Do you use Twitter? Follow publishers!

I do for the Cuckleburr Times. I hadn't for ages and started again just this week because my new theme has a Twitter feed on it. Guess what? I won a book on Twitter because I happened to be on when Penguin asked a question for a giveaway and I was quick to answer!

I'm now the proud owner of Remarkable Creatures which came in the mail this afternoon. :)

So do what I do and follow publishers on Twitter! You never know your luck. There's lots of Christmas giveaways popping up.

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on December 25, 2009 at 1:32am

I was just thinking there about the other advantages. Following them also keeps you in the loop of what's happening at various publishing houses. It's good to know who's merging with who or what kind of titles they are trending towards. Then you don't waste time pitching to a company that's in the middle of a takeover for example.

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Permalink Reply by Ale Mahogany on December 26, 2009 at 6:47pm

I have a twitter account, but i don't use it!
It's partly because i don't know how to!
I stay loyal to Facebook.
=D

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on December 27, 2009 at 12:58am

Rowen, I'm only getting to grips with Twitter myself now after months of procrastination. To make the most of it you need to take advantage of other sites like Twellow to find people with similar likes/dislikes or careers. It's still not very user friendly at all. I hate Facebook even more than I do Twitter because my computer's not fast, but I'm attempting to update that too.

Rowen Mahogany said:

I have a twitter account, but i don't use it!
It's partly because i don't know how to!
I stay loyal to Facebook.
=D

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Permalink Reply by Ale Mahogany on December 27, 2009 at 3:30pm

I checked Twellow, and that page is indeed useful!
I think i might start using Twitter a bit more!
I am following you, so i hope you don't mind!
=D

Kay Elizabeth said:

Rowen, I'm only getting to grips with Twitter myself now after months of procrastination. To make the most of it you need to take advantage of other sites like Twellow to find people with similar likes/dislikes or careers. It's still not very user friendly at all. I hate Facebook even more than I do Twitter because my computer's not fast, but I'm attempting to update that too.

Rowen Mahogany said:
I have a twitter account, but i don't use it!
It's partly because i don't know how to!
I stay loyal to Facebook.
=D

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Permalink Reply by scribbler on December 29, 2009 at 4:11am

Congratulations, Kay! It's an excellent promotional tool for them as well. Even the non-winners will go look up the book to see what it's about and give them traffic. That's a smart idea.

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on December 31, 2009 at 1:37am

Mind? My goodness, of course I don't mind! That's the next thing I'll have to start thinking about, building up followers on Twitter. I'm delighted you did, Rowen. Thank you so much for the support. :) I'll do the same for you. Please send me a DM next time you're there. I'll be logged in to do it when I see it then.

Rowen Mahogany said:

I checked Twellow, and that page is indeed useful!
I think i might start using Twitter a bit more!
I am following you, so i hope you don't mind!
=D

Kay Elizabeth said:
Rowen, I'm only getting to grips with Twitter myself now after months of procrastination. To make the most of it you need to take advantage of other sites like Twellow to find people with similar likes/dislikes or careers. It's still not very user friendly at all. I hate Facebook even more than I do Twitter because my computer's not fast, but I'm attempting to update that too.

Rowen Mahogany said:
I have a twitter account, but i don't use it!
It's partly because i don't know how to!
I stay loyal to Facebook.
=D

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Bowman on December 31, 2009 at 3:20am

What? You're on Twitter and I'm not yet a follower?!? Shame on me.

We use Twitter nearly continuously--both to receive news, information, updates, etc. and to share a steady stream of writing information and advice. Every so often, we do special things for our followers, such as a short-term book discount or free writing guide. Maybe you'll become one of our followers (hint!).

I finally got busy using Twitter when I discovered that Twitter lets me post links, such as links to resources and new blog posts.

One essential tip for using Twitter efficiently: Use a desktop application and not the Twitter website. Much, much easier to access and use. I have been happy with Twhirl. Another quick tip: Use a URL shortening service if one isn't included in your site template. I use http://bit.ly. This works for me because 1) it's easy, and 2) I can track the history of and activity for the URLs.

Follow us here: http://twitter.com/preciseedit

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Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on December 31, 2009 at 6:04am

Shame on you indeed! ;) Thanks for following us, David. I'm now a follower of your good self too. :)
Phil Collins is running through my head singing "I will follow you if you follow me" now.

I've never heard of Twhirl. Thanks for the tip! I'll look into that. For short URLs that aren't my own site updates, I use tinyurl.com. I may switch to the one you use because I don't know of any way you can track the activity via tinyurl. In fairness I've never looked to see if they offer that.

If you look at my Twitter account or the widget in The Cuckleburr Times footer, you'll see nearly all the short URLs now show as goo.gl. That's from a new Feedburner option which posts any new RSS feed items direct to your Twitter account. I talked about it in the Marketing & Promotions Group a few days ago. It's great because I never remember to go to Twitter and am finding it hard to get in the swing of things with it.

http://authors.com/group/marketingpromotions/forum/topics/feedburne...

David Bowman said:

What? You're on Twitter and I'm not yet a follower?!? Shame on me.
We use Twitter nearly continuously--both to receive news, information, updates, etc. and to share a steady stream of writing information and advice. Every so often, we do special things for our followers, such as a short-term book discount or free writing guide. Maybe you'll become one of our followers (hint!). I finally got busy using Twitter when I discovered that Twitter lets me post links, such as links to resources and new blog posts.
One essential tip for using Twitter efficiently: Use a desktop application and not the Twitter website. Much, much easier to access and use. I have been happy with Twhirl. Another quick tip: Use a URL shortening service if one isn't included in your site template. I use http://bit.ly. This works for me because 1) it's easy, and 2) I can track the history of and activity for the URLs.

Follow us here: http://twitter.com/preciseedit