The new social media environment surely affords a lot of opportunities for authors to connect with audiences around the world and Twitter is a primary tool at your disposal. I’ve got some advice for the group and some questions for my fellow tweeters too.

First the advice:

Everyone knows you need an author website (you do know that, right?) but there are other Internet assets that can connect you to potential book buyers before they come looking for you. First on the list is Twitter and I’ve got a few tips that will make your first tweeting experience an enjoyable one:

1. Twitter Username: when you register yourself on Twitter you’ll be prompted to choose a username to identify yourself when you tweet (e.g. post a message). Choose a name that fits your brand because your followers (those that subscribe to read your tweats) are going to be looking at that name next to each of your messages. So avoid names like Bill384 and choose something that can be associated with your pen name, characters in your book, etc.

2. Dress Up Your Twitter Page – although a lot of people access Twitter via a software client, a lot more people will hit your Twitter page directly. So just like you wanted your website to look professional, do the same thing with your Twitter page. You’ll find instructions on Twitter.com.

3. List Your Website – the goal of the game is to build and audience and to get them back to your website (Did I mention you need a website?). So in your Twitter profile make sure you list your author website.

4. Tweet Using Keywords – people will find you based on what you say on Twitter. So when you’re crafting your tweets use words that are linked to your writing. That way when someone searches for “cowboy romance” they’ll find your post on Cowboy Romance.

Here are My Questions

Building a Relevant Audience
1. What techniques or audience building sites have you found effective for reaching a wider Twitter audience. No desire to build a giant audience on dis-interested followers, just seeking methods for connecting with potential buyers.

2. What have you gained by connecting with your audience via Twitter. Share your stories here so others can learn.

Darwin,
Great topic. I’ve found the Twitter list function really useful for finding others in the niches I follow on Twitter. I haven’t created any lists yet, but by scanning the lists put together by others with similar interests, I’ve found many people to follow, and been followed back. This has really saved a lot of time hunting people down.
And I’m getting a fair amount of traffic from my Tweets to my blog, increasing as my followers increase. That’s a pretty big benefit for the amount of time invested!

Some great advice here re: twitter.

My advice on building relevant audience is to knit together your community with participation. Find the people who you expect will be interested in your work. Follow them. Listen to what they say and talk WITH them, not to them.

The typical NMDB approach is to push, push, push your messages. Avoid that. Yes, you want them to be aware of and enthusiastic of your work, but low key works better than hard sell. Participate, be interested, and people will look back at you to see who’s listening.

Use the tools like #followfriday to recommend people that you admire and think deserve to be followed. Avoid the cattle calls and make the #followfriday ONE person and why they’re worthy of followage.

Look for a hashtag that matches YOUR niche and find people who are posting in it. Genre? look for #SciFi or #Horror or #Western … or … you get the idea.

The absolute key element here is that if your tweet stream is a regular laundry list of messages about YOU, you’re missing an important and valuable connection with the people who might become your fans.

What have I gained?

A huge and vocal following who support my work in ways I couldn’t buy with all the money in the world.

Membership in a community of content producers that is complementary — and often complimentary — to my own. We promote each others’ work within our own community and, through twitter in particular, merge and meld our various followings.

I’ve been trying tweeting for past month and am finding the going tough. It’s rather a needle in a haystack affair with probably more chance of finding the needle in a real stack.
But I’m hoping for that elusive breakthrough.

Des,

Yes, it does seem daunting at first. I don’t know about “breakthroughs” but I see it more as a very long, and quite entertaining conversation with a few hundred folks. Like developing all relationships, it takes time. I’m more interested in growth on Twitter through finding others with similar interests and with whom I have some sympatico, and then allowing time for the relationships to develop. This has worked pretty well so far. Good luck.

I found Joel, but the only Des Greene I’ve found is @aointeach.

I’m guessing that’s not you, Des.

I also found three Desmond Greenes but they don’t look like anybody who’s been tweeting for the past month.

You should be able to find me @nlowell

Hey Nathan, I’m found. It does seem like a good idea to list @Twitter IDs in a talk about Twitter. I’m at @JFBookman.