ROMANCE WRITERS MAKE TWITTER YOUR FRIEND

by Joanna D'Angelo

As many of you know I've been touting the benefits of joining twitter and facebook for a while now. As writers (and bloggers) we would prefer not to write in a vacuum (at least I don't). Getting published or selling a script is wonderful but not an end to itself. It's the biggest part of what we do but not the only part. We can't expect our publishers or agents to build our readership or audience. We have to do that ourselves. As fellow diva Sara Taney Humphreys said beautifully in her post last week Publicity, Promo and Pinot - many of us don't have the big bucks to launch our own ad campaigns. But we do have free resources available to us - including blogging, facebook and twitter.

For those of us who aren't Hollywood celebrities or spend 24 hrs a day online - building a following can be a challenge and a time commitment. Try devoting 15 min in the morning and at night to twitter/facebook. It's enough time to network but not so much that you feel guilty.

So once we're on facebook and twitter - how do we get friends and followers? I'm not talking about just anyone (we all know there are a lot of strange folks online and gazillions of spammers) but I'm referring to people who are like minded and are most likely to appreciate what YOU in particular have to offer. That's the key! So, if you're a romance writer (or any creative sort) who is looking to build your network on facebook and twitter here are some hints that I've found have helped me grow my "friends" and "followers" online:

1. Make sure you include a bio when you join. I can't tell you how many times I get a follower or friend request from someone who doesn't have a bio so I have no way of knowing if they're the real deal! Are they interested in making a true connection or just spamming me. If I have doubt then I block or reject them. Simple as that. A bio makes all the difference so have fun with your bio - be clever, creative, witty. Twitter bios have to be short as well. Check mine out.

2. Get out there and make your own friend requests! If you find people online that you'd like to be friends with don't be afraid to friend them. How do you find people? Well facebook is great at making friend suggestions. But you can also go onto a group page (ahem like my Love Romance Novels group) or fan pages (many authors have them) and check out what the members are saying. If you like what they say - friend them and include a message in your friend request telling them why. Guaranteed they'll be tickled pink and accept your friendship.

If you're on twitter find an author or organization that is related to what you do and follow some of the followers in their list. You'll probably recognize many of the names anyway. Many authors also provide links on their web sites inviting people to friend them on facebook and to follow them on twitter. So if you have a blog or web site make sure you add links to your facebook and twitter pages.

And the most basic one - is to search for people you'd like to follow - chances are they're on twitter already so follow them and tweet them to introduce yourself.

3. Tweet Tweet Tweet! Post/Tweet links of interesting articles you find, or updates from your web site or blog, or pictures from your recent book signing, or your gorgeous new book cover. Post an inspirational quote that you love, or a list of books you're reading, or a great joke you read or heard. Post a mini-review of the Harry Potter movie you just went to see. Or a picture of Gerard Butler picking his nose (I did that last week and got hilarious replies! Believe me GB's sex appeal is still er - firmly intact as far as the women who replied to my link are concerned). Post a link to a great recipe that you just made. The list is endless...

DO NOT post/tweet that you're bored or wondering what to make for dinner or watching TV or doing laundry. Nobody cares. Truly. You'll never get anywhere on facebook or twitter if you do that. Unless you're Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt or ahem Gerard Butler. GB isn't on twitter anyway. I checked. Twitter is all about communicating and engaging in 140 characters or less. It's also called "micro-blogging". Some people don't get that. They think all they have to do is post their "status" i.e. "Going out to see a movie tonight." And think that should be enough. Boring! No one is going to engage you if you do that.

4. RT (re-tweet). One of the ways you can spark a "connection" is by RTing or re-tweeting. Which simply means typing RT and copying and pasting someone's post into one of your own and sending it out to your followers. Make sure you include the person's address @name - as well otherwise they won't receive it. You don't have to do it for everyone - just the tweets that you find interesting and worthy of spreading around. When people comment on your post or if they RT (retweet) your post - thank them or acknowledge them! A lot of people don't do that but it's an important courtesy on facebook and twitter.

5. Join a facebook group. As I mentioned above, I manage a facebook group called Love Romance Novels. Over time and with hard work I've managed to grow the membership to 2,300 and counting. It's the largest romance fiction group on facebook. If you're a romance writer and you join a group that reflects what you do and what you want to promote then you've discovered a potential audience or potential readers. If you engage with the members of that group then you've quite possibly gained new readers.

6. Take part in twitter events. Well, this is something rather new on twitter and I believe it began in the writing community (but don't quote me on this). A group of literary agents got together and did an agent query day which I though was amazing! They continue to do it as well. I got a lot of valuable advice. And it gave me an idea to do something similar with romance authors. I checked out several author twitter pages and noticed that many of them had very few followers and were also following very few people. Given how big twitter has become (and it doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon). I asked the organizational whiz woman Kim Castillo and personal assistant to the stars of romance novels to help me organize and promote a twitter chat with romance writers and fans. It's called #askromancewriter Day and it's taking place all day tomorrow Aug. 5th on Twitter. We have many authors signed up for this event, including some of the authors who write for this blog! I know that many more will show up tomorrow who aren't on the list - and that's fine too. The idea is to network - engage with each other and with readers and fans. If a reader follows you - it's a good idea to follow them back. I think readers and fans appreciate that authors care about what they have to say.

A lot of people on twitter don't "autofollow" that is they don't follow automatically when someone follows them. I have a slightly different approach. If someone follows me I will check out their page. If I like their bio and what they tweet about then I'll follow them back. They don't all have to be writer types. I've followed back chefs (I like to cook) and jewelry makers (because they seem really cool). So it's a great way to expand your network as well.

I hope we get a great turn out on #askromancewriter day. For more info you can check out the event page on facebook.

So what are your twitter or facebook tips?

The list of authors who'll be taking part in #askromancewriter Day includes the following:

Candace Black
@kindertransport
Suspense

Leah Braemal
@LeahBraemel
Erotic

Opal Carew
@OpalCarew
Erotic

Kathy Carmichael
@KathyCarmichael
Contemporary

Dakota Cassidy
@DakotaCassidy
Comedy

Joelle Charbonneau
@jcharbonneau
Mystery

Tiffany Clare
tiffany_clare
Historical

Tessa Dare
@tessadare
Historical

K.M. Daughters (sister writing team)
@kmdaughters
Inspirational/Suspense

Diana Duncan
@dianaduncan
Suspense

Lorhainne Eckhart
@LEckhart
Contemp

Judi Fennell
@JudiFennell
Paranormal

Lori Foster
@lorilfoster
Contemporary

Eva Gordon
@evagordon
Fantasy

Jennette Green
@Jennette_Green
Historical

Karen Hawkins
@TheKarenHawkins
Historical/Contemporary

Elizabeth Hoyt
@ElizabethHoyt
Historical

Madeline Hunter
@madelinehunter
Historical

Sascha Illyvich
@SaschaIllyvich
Erotic

Eloisa James
@eloisajames
Historical

Julie James
@juljames
Contemporary

Skylar Kade
@skylarkade
Erotic

Vanessa Kelly
@VanessaKellyAut
Historical

Julie Kenner
@juliekenner
Paranormal

Sara Lindsey
@sara_lindsey
Historical

Julie Ann Long
@julieannelong
Historical

CJ Lyons
@cjlyonswriter
Suspense/Thriller

Cate Masters
@CateMasters
Paranormal

Melissa Mayhue
@MelissaMayhue
Paranormal

Toni McGee Causey
@ToniMcGeeCausey
Contemporary/Suspense/Comedy

Teresa Medeiros
@teresamedeiros
Historical

Courtney Milan
@courtneymilan
Historical

Margaret Moore
@WriterMargMoore
Historical

Debra Mullins
@debramullins
Historical

Patti O'Shea
@Patti_OShea
Paranormal


Leslie Parris
@LeslieKelly
Suspense

Kayla Perrin
@kaylaperrin
Suspense/Contemporary

Carly Phillips
@carlyphillips
Contemporary/Comedy

Christy Reece
@christyreece
Suspense

Laurie Viera Rigler
@austen_addict
Historical/Contemporary/Time Travel

Maggie Robinson
@MaggieLRobinson
Historical

Karen Rose
@karenrosebooks
Thriller

JoAnn Ross
@JoAnnRoss
Suspense

Jeannie Ruesch
@jeannieruesch
Historical

Marie-Nicole Ryan,
@MarieNicoleRyan
Suspense

Kandy Shepherd
@KandyShepherd
Contemporary

Kathryn Smith
@Kathryn_Smith
Historical/Paranormal

Kim Smith
@mkimsmith
Contemporary/Suspense

Kay Thomas.
@KayThomasWrites
Mystery/Intrigue

Renee Vincent
@ReneeVincent
Historical

Tawny Weber
@TawnyWeber
Contemporary

Terisa Wilcox
@TerisaW
Historical

A.J. Wilde
@pirateannie
Erotic

Stefanie Worth
@stefanieworth
Paranormal

Nicole Zoltack
@NicoleZoltack
Fantasy

Kellyann Zuzulo
@KFZuzulo
Fantasy

Gerard Butler picture courtesy TMZ
Facebook logo courtesy facebook.com
Twitter logo courtesy twitter.com