I know I’m not a big twitterer, tweeter, tweeker (no that’s something else) , whatever it is in the twitterverse. I can tell you this, I am getting the hang of Twitter for sure. Ok i lie, I am TRYING to get the hang of it. I attempt not to follow too many people that are like my favorite celebrities that I know are snarky and have the best comments. Its so, so, so hard. I try to keep it open to a few and make sure that I get the right information for my other author friends and maybe help spread the word. That’s not too bad.
But I really want to get into it. I am loving interacting with people, like I love interacting with people here on the blogs and I love stalking a few too. shhhhhhh don’t tell. Twitter is just a little odd duck. I barely get the right characters and even then I magically become invisible. I’ve been trying to get a little thing going. It’s not too hard, and honestly I am assuming that it will take a while. Understandable. I plan on giving a free e-book of Rise of a Queen when I reach 50, and probably other times as well. To me it’s not about sales. To me its about letting people take a peek at my baby and realize that its not like anything else you’ve ever read. It’s not full of angsty teenagers, but its not filled with a world full of more traditional Nosferatu style vampires. The lead character is a female and she’s not all about living her life only to please her man (I take that back, but if you’ve read it you understand, if you haven’t you’ll see. There is a purpose) . Ugh I hated those “historical romances” my grandmother paraded around with all the time. Love is different and women totally rule this book but its viscous enough for a guy to get really into it, I know a few who have mailed me just for that purpose.
So now that i’m here telling you I’m not trying to sell my book while I discuss it I realize that didn’t go over all too well. Oops. See that’s what happens when Drano isn’t working, or my lovely friend calls a brain fart. Long one.
I’ve had a very exciting few weeks after being on a radio show, seeing a bunch of old friends, may or may not move over the summer (big stress factor but hey that’s life) and I will be seeing of one my old friends again next weekend!!!! So I’m here blogging instead of writing because its something better to do than listen to the rain and try my hardest to figure out how to grow a few characters until they bloom bright.
But I do promise you this. Anyone who has read Rise of a Queen is going to absolutely LOVE the dynamics, and somewhat irony that happens between Melinda and Emma I can promise you that.
Okay enough enough enough. Twitter. yes Twitter. That’s what I was talking about, I think. Oh goodness maybe a sparkly something came at me and I got distracted. That’d be the worst.
The more followers I get, the more tweets I put out, the more you can find out about me and my oddness and how more like at least one of you out there even if you think “gasp! I thought I was the only one” and you never know. I might find a great PS3 gaming partner in the process 😉 anybody up for killing zombies?
J.S. Riddle 
ioniamartin
/ May 4, 2013Twitter is a bit of a conundrum, but then again, I am social media inept. Therefore, all of it equally frightens and yet fascinates me.
JS Riddle
/ May 4, 2013seriously…..twin vibes
ioniamartin
/ May 4, 2013Yep lol
Pat Fitzhugh
/ May 4, 2013I don’t like Twitter. Never have, never will. I use it only because I’ve been taught that all authors should have Twitter accounts. Twitter is also depressing.
You follow someone, and they follow you back; or, someone follows you, and you follow them back. So far, so good. And then, a day (or less) later, that same person (and 4 or 5 others) “unfollow” you without reason or explanation. Zap. Bam. But meanwhile, ten NEW people decide to follow you. Yay. Three are “personal success coaches,” two are “internet money-making experts,” two are “bestselling authors looking to coach other authors,” two are quotationists, and one is actually a bona-fide follower.
Twitter, to me, is a massive vapor-dream and unfollow fest.
I’ve yet to sell a single book or, most importantly, make a single friend (unless already a friend), from Twitter. But alas, if I don’t use it, people will think I’m living on another planet.
JS Riddle
/ May 5, 2013I feel the same and i get the same amount of winning and losing. I was successful at the surprise giveaway but can’t even get it to 50 (thats with retweets and such) for the next one that is planned. I’m not sure what I need to say or do.
People seem to like it, but I don’t get it. I have a few great fans that I talk to and some help on the way. Some people don’t follow me here or on FB so it helps when I blog or make an announcment.
When I try something silly or personal I STILL get no response considering all who follow. Its frustrating and somewhat annoying.
Of course my FB author page is the same way and honestly I feel like none of its taken seriously.
Thank goodness for blogging.
Pat Fitzhugh
/ May 5, 2013I know very little about Twitter. I do know, however, that a lot of a person’s posting success comes from using hashtags. Do you use them much? Check my blog. I write a long post entitled “Twitter Hashtags for Authors.” By using them, you can target your tweets to specific groups… or at least make them visible to those who search twitter for tweets in a certain category.
I looked under the hood of your FB author page. You started it in January, and you already have 86 fans. Congrats!! My first year–the ENTIRE year–I think I amassed maybe 30; now it’s in the 900’s. In the world of writing, and promotion as well, things take TIME to catch on! If you want more people turned on to your page (and your book!), just tell me and I will do my part to help spread the word more. Now for the bad stuff…. for 86 fans, the “reach” and engagement level of your individual posts is, well, um… very low. It’s not your fault. It’s Facebook. Read on…
About six months ago, Facebook made a huge change to the way messages are propagated from fan pages. Long story short: Posts that are plain text reach THREE times the people than posts that contain links, or which were initiated somewhere else, such as WordPress. Plus, the reach of plain text posts can be achieved virally; e.g., people share with people, who in turn share with more people, yada yada. When I post from WordPress and it automatically goes to my FB author page, or when I post from FB directly but attach a link or graphic to the post, my reach is only about 200 people (only 20% of my likers). When I post using plain text, directly from my page, the reach goes up into the thousands, due to it going viral. One such text post, in particular, reached over 8,000 people.
So, how in the world can one share links and graphics from FB fan pages without its reach being crippled down to only 200 people?
Simple: Post a plain text status, and tell people (the link, etc. is posted in the comments section, below). Then, post the status. Next, comment on the status and insert your link, etc. into the COMMENT. Problem solved. Facebook doesn’t throttle back your reach when you put links, etc. in comments; they do it only when you put them in your actual status message.
As for posting from WordPress and the post automatically going to your FB author page, it works, but your reach is throttled back–way back. I stopped doing it. Instead, I would post to WordPress, copy what I posted (highlight and then CTRL+C), and then paste it (CTRL+V) into a brand new text post on my FB author page (no throttling)!
I hope this helps. Need any other pointers or more sign-ups on your page, let me know. Thx
JS Riddle
/ May 5, 2013Did not know that about the throttling. That’s kind of sad they do that. Especially since WordPress seems to do a lot of kick over on them. Hmmmm.
I will fiddle around with that one. That is a great pointer.
I attempt hashtags but have no clue what to even put in the first place.