Twitter Authors (Part 2)

In last week’s Blog Post I evaluated how effective it is in a congested market place for authors to be sending out blanket promotional book Tweets, especially if those Tweets are only being read, if at all, by other authors.  Today’s post, a continuation on this theme, will take the form of making generalisations about the actual composition of these Tweets and commenting on their effectiveness.

The following is a simple breakdown of some of the types of Tweets that authors use to promote their book/s, along with some commentary on how effective I perceive the given method to be.

Pile of Books

Hyperactive Hash-tagging # – I discuss authors’ embrace of the # so often in my blog posts that it is evident that I am becoming somewhat obsessed by the subject.  Authors often utilise this useful Twitter feature so that people searching under that #-tagged term will come across their book.  In most instances one or two #’s are inserted, but there have been instances of up to nine recorded in a single Tweet.

Comment – The # symbol is an invaluable feature when used wisely, but surely I am not alone when I ask myself if there is any value in instances like #Book or #Fiction.  Do potential readers really search under this term, see your book and then go ‘Yes please’ before pressing the buy button.  Surely not.  And then there’s the list, e.g. #paranormal #erotica #vampires #darkness #night #mystical etc etc.  One might argue that a Tweet gives an author a short window of opportunity to showcase their writing and that a long list of # tagged items is hardly an imaginative or intriguing use of syntax.

Grandiose Claim – This is when authors Tweet statements like, ‘Award Winning’ and ‘BEST SELLER!’.  In many instances the author embraces capitalisation and exclamation marks in these Tweets.

Comment: Why not.  After all no-one else is going to sing your praises and in many instances these Tweets seem perfectly valid.  Take the self-published Only The Innocent by Rachel Abbott  for example.  The book was selling several thousand copies a day for months on end.  However there is nothing in this world if not by comparison and it is evident that the same applies in the Twitter sphere.  For examples abound when the BEST SELLER! label on closer inspection transpires to be merely a best-seller in a very small category on Amazon.  Does a book ranked number 4 out of a total of 5 books in the Transgendered Retro Vampire category really justify a best-seller claim?

Aggressive Pitches – e.g. BEST BOOK SINCE THE BIBLE – BUY NOW!!! (link) or less imaginatively – GET YOUR COPY NOW! or something of that nature. This method is also often combined with the ‘Grandiose Claim’ method (see above).

Comment: The best adverts on the television are well thought out, directed at the right audience and above all memorable.  However even these adverts don’t always persuade us to buy the product.  So what are the chances of an unknown author successfully selling books by demanding potential readers to buy with no pitch whatsoever.  Not great one would imagine.

TwitterBird

Dialogue – This is what Twitter was set up for after all, as a way to converse with our fellow humanity without even having to move from the comfort of our desk or to get out of our pyjamas.

Comment: Personally, with the exception of a couple of instances I have only sold books on Twitter through the ‘Dialogue’ method.  As it is only when people get to know the author that they become interested enough to buy the author’s book/s.  It seems apparent from liaising with other authors who have successfully used Social Media that this is generally how they have also sold books through this medium, unless of course they were already famous to begin with.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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What happens when Adrian, an actuary, has his banal and predictable existence turned upside down by sinister forces that he can neither understand nor control?  How will he react to a revelation that leaves his life in turmoil?  Will he surrender or strive for redemption in an altered world, where rationality, scientific logic and algorithms no longer provide the answers?

‘An insightful and humorous tale of the unexpected’ – Reader

‘A sardonic delight.  If Thackeray had lived in the 21st century, then he might have written Charles Middleworth.’  – Reader

Charles Middleworth is available through most regional Amazons on Kindle (£1.96/$3.17) and in paperback.

United Kingdom – www.amazon.co.uk

USA – www.amazon.com

10 Comments

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  • Great article. I now want to read a transgendered retro vampire novel. I found a good example of a tweet length novel. @MrPeterHolmes is writing a twitter Game of Thrones style novel. It begins ‘It was snowing on the dwarf’s head’ and contains lines such as ‘Garalang thanked Zaffod for the Key of Rodada and promised to deliver it to Geoff.’

    • You are not alone John. I assume most Tweets go unread as there can’t be many people who spend their days staring at their Feed. Let me know if you ever find out. Thanks for the comment. Guy

  • Guy, Twitter and social media are a long term effort, even if very few read them initially, by seeing your posts up there regularly, they become familiar with your logo and consistency, you become part of their lives and eventually, some day they will open the tweet and read and share, then you will be trending.
    Olivia

    • Thank you for the encouragement Olivia. Recently a lot of people have been visiting my blog, in addition to RTing my Tweets on Twitter, which I really appreciate. I am enjoying the social media and am certainly in it for the long haul. Hope all is going well with your social media efforts.

  • Great article! I recently started using Twitter since I was told “it’s one of the best ways to promote!”. The problem is, I don’t want to tweet as much as you need to to be noticed. I like more interactive social media. Then I caught wind of a sight where you can make a tweet playlist. Sweet! You can even kill two social media birds and connect your tweets to your Facebook page. Miracles abound!! Except, the tweets never look how I wrote them!!! Lol. It’s all trial and error and a learning curve for me right now. This was very helpful. Wishing you all the best success!

    • Thank you for the comment Olivia. It sounds like you are enjoying your social media experiences, which is the most important thing after all. I am sure your interactive method will reap dividends in the long term and will be fun too.

  • Twitter is an odd media. The only one I know where the more followers you have, the less likely you will be read. Very good article, one we all should read and take note.

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