Went to an online workshop recently on how to market yourself as a writer. It was a really useful session hosted by Jacq Burns and the London Writers Club with John Williams – the author of Screw Work, Let’s Play and founder of the Ideas Lab.
Among the many freebies and useful advice that I got from the webinar was a tip to post something on social media at least once a day. So I dusted off my old Twitter account and made a start.
What happened is completely different to what I had expected. I thought, that by tweeting daily loads of people would follow me. And while the number of my followers is growing, it’s a slow burn.
The best thing is I’m having interesting and fun chats with other writers, people who love 17th Century history, historical fiction and who know a bit about self-publishing. Or if they don’t, they’re asking questions and getting answers. It’s so much fun!
It’s not like the Twitter we all hear about, where everyone argues, threatens and trolls each other and worse. Twitter for writers is (so far!) really welcoming and lovely. 😊
Hashtags for writers
So, if you’re not on Twitter already – which you probably are – here are some of the best hashtags for writers:
- #Writerscommunity
- #Writerstips
- #amwriting
- #books
- #amreading
- #Writers
- #Authors
- #ScriptWriters
- #Bloggers
- #Journalists
- #Poets
- #BookReviews
- #BookBoost
- #BookLovers
Every so often someone says, let’s have a #writerslift and everyday on Twitter seems to be #selfPromoMonday, or #selfPromoTuesday, or #selfPromoWednesday. You get the idea. I am sceptical about this, probably because I can’t see the point of having loads of followers solely as a numbers game. (I could be wrong there.) But I’m thinking, I want the right followers not just numerous ones, the ones who are going to be interested in the things I write about.
After a while though I begin to think I must be missing a trick. If there were no value in it, people wouldn’t keep doing it, would they?
When I explore Twitter a bit more, I see the #WritersLift posts are a bit like a jobs board or dating app. Some people commit to following back, or specify the types of writers they’re looking to connect with.
So I’m going to be brave! I’m going to do a #writersLift on Twitter and show off this website. I’ll specify that I’m interested in #HistoricalFiction and #SelfPublishing and let’s see who I get to know.
