As we mentioned in our Facebook tutorial post, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and author web sites are important components of every book marketing plan. These are social networking platforms that allow you to connect with readers and build a community around your work. You should start using these tools as soon as you can (before your publication date) so that you have a fan base who will be awaiting your book’s release.

Just like the Facebook post, this is a compilation of the best Twitter tutorials I found online, separated into categories. There are some additional tips to keep in mind below the links.

Setting up your personal profile
This lengthy tutorial from Web Designer Depot covers more than just setting up your profile. It goes over the basics and provides notes on how to get more followers, Twitter etiquette, and definitions of common Twitter terms. It’s a one-stop shop that is easy to read.

Want a simpler step-by-step tutorial video? Check out Mashable’s list of the top seven Twitter tutorials.

Inkygirl (a great writer blog) also has a nice post specifically for writers learning to use Twitter. The post covers picking a good Twitter username, selecting a good picture, and what to include in your profile.

Tips

• Add your book web site to your profile.
• Be sure to add that you are an author in your bio and include your book title as well.
• You only have 160 characters for your bio so be succinct. Add details about what you do, what you like, hobbies, etc. That will give potential followers a sample of your personality and what they can expect from your tweets.
• Use an actual photo for your profile so people can recognize you. It’s best to use the same headshot as your book cover to build face recognition.
• Add your location. You may get some followers from your hometown or state just because of the location.
• It’s best to follow people on Twitter after you have filled out your complete bio, added a picture, and posted a few tweets. That way people can see what types of messages you put out there before determining if they want to follow you.
• Don’t protect your tweets. This is when you make your account private so people can only follow you if you approve them. Doing this will drastically reduce your follower numbers as people cannot see any of your tweets until you have allowed them.

What to tweet about
Think about what you would want to read from people you are following. Do you really want to know when they woke up, when they had coffee, what their cat is currently doing? I think not. So don’t post the same things. A few personal tidbits are great, for sure, but not the mundane. Give information, share useful, fun links, entertain.

Twitter is a social networking platform, just like Facebook and blogging. It is not a one-way street. Make it a conversation. Reply to others, ask questions, retweet good posts from others. If you only post updates on your book and your book events, you won’t grow your list much. People could just check your web site for that. They follow you on Twitter to get a sense of your personality.

Inkygirl has a good post on what writers specifically should tweet about and what to avoid tweeting.

Tweeting outside the web
Twitter.com is the web interface for you to read and write tweets. However, there are tons of applications and services that let you tweet without using the web interface, including some for cell phones. Usually the other apps are easier to use than the web, although the site has been slowly morphing and may be able to surpass some apps soon. My own favorite is TweetDeck, which lets you separate users into groups that show up in different columns. This way you won’t miss any tweets from your real-life friends because they got lost in the huge stream of tweets from everyone you are following. I have columns for publishing people, Austin people, authors, friends, and family. I have also heard good things about HootSuite although I haven’t tried it myself.

Finding people to follow
There are a lot of options for finding people on Twitter. Twitter’s site allows you to search by name (real or username), by classification, and through your email provider by looking through your contacts. As far as other sites, there are too many to name, but here are a handful: wefollow, Twubble, and TwitterLocal. There are plenty of online lists of people to follow, also. We like this one by oDesk of 25 writers, including many authors, to follow.

Other good tips

• Include your Twitter username on your blog or web site. Add it in your email signature also. Make it easy for people to find you.
• You can also add an application that allows your tweets to show up on your blog. There are different apps depending on your blogging platform. A quick Google search will find one appropriate for you.
• Good tips from The Fiction Desk including “be yourself, not your book” and “talk, don’t sell.”
• Marketing Tips for Authors has a post on using Twitter lists.

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