Many writers want to have an author’s Facebook page and a Twitter account. Of course, there is also email, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and a website. Plus, you need to work on that next book. Where to find the time?

Social Media for Authors

In previous blog posts on social media, we have shared some practical information about how authors can harness the power of Social Media:

Take the Leap Into Social Media

Facebook 101: Create an Author Presence

The Top 10 Ways Authors Connect to Readers on Facebook

Twitter 101: A Crash Course for Authors

How Do My Readers Find Me on Twitter? Advice for Indie Authors

How authors can use YouTube to connect with their readers

Getting Connected on LinkedIn® Professional Networking Services

An Author’s Profile Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Two Social Media Dashboards

But how do you find the time? One solution is to use free tools that act like a social media dashboard. I have used two: Hootsuite and Tweetdeck.  Both allow you to control your Twitter content. This blog is not an evaluation of the two because I like features of each. I began with Tweetdeck and transitioned over to Hootsuite. This post is just to make you aware that such wonderful tools exist that can simplify your life and improve your efficiency resulting in more time to focus on your real job—writing your next book! (more…)

So you’re on Twitter and if you created an account when last we spoke on the topic, you’ve hopefully been tweeting for a while. (Or if you’re old hat at this, then you’ve probably already racked up hundreds of tweets and followers — good on you!) Now let’s chat about the nitty gritty of Twitter and how you can get the most out of your engagement with your readers on this social platform.

When You Post
Have you noticed an increase in engagement when you post on Monday mornings as opposed to Friday afternoons? Pay attention to what times of day are working best for you and your followers. Post in those high-energy time frames instead of during the dead zones.

Also pay attention to how often you are posting . . . twelve times in a day might be too much for your followers. But only once every other day or so might not be enough. Every audience is different so observe yours and notice when peak times are and take advantage.

What to Post
A great way to know what your followers are passionate about is to watch which tweets get a good response and lots of retweets. Knowing which topics are bound to lead to more engagement is a good measure to what you should tweet about in the future.

Make Your Page More Interactive
Twitter just launched a new header treatment available on profile pages. You can now better customize the design of your profile and include a large header photo. This will better enable you to promote both yourself and your writing. Check out Twitter’s advice on how to customize your Twitter design to get started.

Take Your Measurements
It’s time for a Twitter check-up! Have you been taking your own measurements? There’s an abundance of sites available to take the temperature of your social media presence, including how your tweets are doing. Sites like TweetStats will pull in your account info and show how you are doing and areas you can improve upon.

Check out how eFrog Press rates on TweetStats with this fun graphic on daily Tweets.

Another great tool to utilize is Klout, which measures your social media influence based on how well you do on various platforms and presents you with a final score of your influence. The tool can pull in multiple social media networks. If you want to check just your Twitter score, you can filter individually.

Keeping score on how you’re doing on Twitter can help you find the best nuggets to share with your audience, and propel you into a higher following for both your books and your social media platforms.

Happy tweeting!

Please Share
How do you interact with your readers through Twitter? Do you think this interaction has increased your book sales? Please share your Twitter successes with us.

So you’re new to the social media world and wondering what the heck this Twitter is, am I right? What’s a tweet, why would you tweet at someone, and who in the world are tweeples???

Have no fear, Twitter newbies, today we’re going to delve into the basics of all things Twitter and tweets and soon enough you’ll be ready to jump on the birdie bandwagon with the best of them.

First, let’s get down to the basics.

What Is Twitter?

Twitter is an open and public social networking site that allows you to create a profile and share “tweets” with your readers and the world at large in short bursts (also known as 140 characters, or what’s called microblogging). Your followers are people who follow your Twitter feed to see what you post about. Likewise, you can follow others to see what they’re saying. Tweets from everyone you follow will show up on your main Twitter feed so it’s easy to read what’s going on.

Why Should I Join Twitter?

It’s a great place to interact with your readers in a casual, public atmosphere (as opposed to the more structured and private Facebook), as well as make connections with other authors, agents, publishers, and people to know in the biz. It’s one of the greatest social networking tools available right now — and it’s F-R-E-E! (more…)