Good morning tweeters!
Some of you may know me from Twitter @SarahJanewrites and the chances are we are followers of each other, if not then we should be!!
Twitter is all about numbers. The number of people who follow you (followers;) the number of people you follow (following;) the number of retweets (RT's) and the number of favourites, videos and photo's you have. It's a numbers game. Therefore, when it comes to book promotion on Twitter there is more than one way to approach it. By the same token, who is to say which is the best or the most productive way, because as we know everyone and everything is different. What works for one book may not work for another. That said one thing is universal, posting your book links on Twitter is an essential part of your marketing tool kit.
It is also a fact that some people do not feel comfortable with self promotion, and therefore it can be difficult to continually disguise your 'buy my book' or 'share my book' tweets. That's where the concept of authors helping authors can really help. Groups utilising this include: Tom Winton's Facebook Group #TWFBG , Rukia Publishing Book Promotion page #RPBP , We Love Memoirs group #WLM and The Booktrap Facebook and Twitter group @The_Booktrap.
Let's look at this simple example: would you prefer to buy from a product producer who said "this product is the best on the market," or would you buy from someone who said, "I bought this product and it was really great and I would recommend it to you." I know which I prefer!
Let's look at that in terms of Twitter:
Frank has a new release and he tweets:
OUT NOW! "Off the Beaten Track: My Crazy Year in Asia." http://authl.it/21z #ASMSG #IARTG #TWFBG #travel Pls RT!
Rukia Publishing makes a tweet and the Rukia team of 6 other Twitter accounts RT this.
Sarah Jane Butfield retweeted
NEW RELEASE NEWS!!!! Frank Kusy has released Off The Beaten Track #RPBP #TWFBG #ASMSG http://bit.ly/obtNRFK get... http://fb.me/7819nTUdq
How do you tweet yours?
There are several ways to tweet your book, it really depends on what you hope to achieve.
1. The title of the book, the link and at least two hashtags to increase chance of RT's
2. A quote from a review, the link, and hashtags
3. A picture, a link and a quote from the rankings on an aggregator
4. A link to your website, Facebook page etc., a picture and hashtags
The combinations are endless, and they need to be as some authors post between 5-60 tweets a day!
Some things are clear when you examine the number of retweets:
Adding a picture can increase RT's
Third party recommendations work better than self promotion
Belonging to and using the hashtag of a support group really works
Making sure you have a pinned post for new followers to tweet when they first visit your profile.
Considerations:
Are you trying to direct people to the sales site or aggregator? If so you need to tempt them.
Are you trying to raise awareness or promote your author platform? If so it needs to be well represented in terms of the author photograph, bio and book blurb.
Do you want to encourage everyone to celebrate a success with you? If so a screenshot of the result etc., is essential.
Whatever the reason/objective for the tweet, what you actually want is for people to:
1. Retweet you to expose the tweets to a larger potential audience who may buy, like or share.
2. Click the link to your book, author page, etc.
What's the best way to gain exposure by using Twitter?
The answer is easier than you think, and it's concept that many Facebook groups and author support groups including #TWFBG TomWinton's Facebook Group, #RPBP Rukia Publishing Book Promotion and @The_Booktrap are already utilising. By adding a hashtag from a group that you belong to and taking part in reciprocal sharing means that while you share other peoples book links they are sharing yours. This means your audience is extended. When you add into this equation using a buddy systems of tagging people who you would like to RT you then the opportunities are endless.
For more on how you can access greater Twitter exposure be sure to follow @RukiaPublishing and watch for upcoming blog posts with hints, tips and strategies on how to make good use of your Twitter time. Visit www.rukiapublishing.com for more ideas on FREE ways to promote, or have your book promoted for you.
If you found this blog post useful or interesting, please share it and be sure to take a look at the Facebook and Twitter groups that may suit your book/genre.
Have a great weekend and keep tweeting :)
Sarah Jane
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