Twitter: How to Build a Following - for Writers

The first person to suggest that I use Twitter was my 82-year-old mother.

"No, I most certainly will not tweet," I told her.

As much as I hate to admit it, my mother was right. I now tweet with gusto, and not only is it fun, it's effective - perhaps more effective than emails, Facebook, or any of the forums I used to frequent.

The reason for Twitter's effectiveness - and popularity - is obvious: tweets are short.

As our schedules get busier and busier, it's easier to deal with 140 characters than it is to read an email. (If an agent you are interested in approaching has a Twitter account, by all means, follow.)

It's also incredibly easy to get the word out on your promotions, blog posts, giveaways, and anything else writing-related via tweets.

As a case in point, visitors to this blog have increased dramatically since I started actively building a following. Now, a substantial number of visitors arrive via tweets.

So, read Joel Friedlander's article below. The man knows what he is talking about.
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How to Build an Awesome and Relevant Twitter Following in 6 Minutes a Day

By Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer

If you’re like lots of other authors, you might feel a bit conflicted about Twitter. On one hand, you know that Twitter has become something more than just another social media network. It has started to function as the information network of choice for millions of people around the world.

These days, you even see Twitter feeds on television, and journalists, politicians, and celebrities make use of Twitter’s ability to communicate quite a lot in just 140 characters.

You know it’s a great place to interact with readers and colleagues. And with more and more people joining Twitter every day, you also know it’s a great place to promote your book, your blog and your other activities.

Right now, as Twitter gets ready to “go public” we know that they report over 218 million active monthly users, and that Twitter grew almost 48% in the year between March 2012 and March 2013. This trend shows no signs of slowing down.

On the other hand, Twitter can seem both cryptic and confusing when you first get started.

For one thing, there are lots of people just like you who already seem to have hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of followers. How will you ever catch up?

Read the rest of this informative article HERE.