38 Google Plus Communities for Writers

Note: Sad to say, Google+ is no longer active.

Google+ is a resource many writers overlook, in part because Facebook and Twitter were already established long before Google came along with its social media platform. The truth is that Google+ is not as versatile, or as easy to navigate as either Facebook or Twitter, and Google's recent simplification has not made it any more competitive.

All of that being said, Google+ still has a great deal to offer writers in the form of communities. There are dozens of active writing communities on Google+, spanning everything from poetry, to self-publishing, to blogging.

I've listed below the communities I have found most useful as a writer, but there are many more. You can find a full list of all communities here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/discover

General

Writers, Authors, Bloggers - 57,365 members. Public community. "This is a community for writers, authors, publishers, bloggers to share ideas, thoughts, suggestions. Also post links to your website to build followers & advertise your products."

The Writers Community - 52,995 members. Public community. "Any and all things concerning writing and writers."

Writers' Corner - 44, 108 members. Public community. "Love to write stories, poems and all things? Join the realm of Blissful Writers who enjoy writing poems, stories, novels, quotes of inspiration. novellas and so forth. We have both the traditionalists and self-publishers. Categories such as Romance, Poetry, Haiku, Inspiration, Sci-Fi, Horror, Erotica, Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery, Crime and more."

Writing - 32, 621 members. Public community. "The art and science of writing." Links to blog posts and upcoming books are allowed.

Writers' Blogs - 29,376 members. Public community. "Share you writer's blog here. Share any blog on the topic of writing or reading. Authors and writers, share your social media links."

The Art of Writing - 18, 356 members. Public community. "A place for Writers of all genres to share, inspire, advise and share ideas about writing better. Ask for people to critique, make contacts for agent referrals and to just have fun doing what you love."

Writers of Google+ - 11,536 members. Public community. "A gathering of all the writerly Google plussers!"

Where Writers and Authors Meet - 8,678 members. Public community. "Where fellow writers and authors can meet other writers and authors. Readers are welcome to come on in and talk with us too ;) Feel free to share book free days, reviews, tours, guest posts, or anything else of note. Written something online? Drop a link for us to look into! Have some promotional, publishing, or writing advice to share? Feel free! Is anyone out there 'just' a blogger? Come on in! We can all learn from each other's experiences! There is a lot of good writing out there that has yet to be discovered."

Genres

Fantasy Writers - 14,448 members. Public community.

Horror/Mystery Writers - 1,928 members. Public community.

Poets of G+ - 23,258 members. Public community.

Poetry - 53,943 members. Public community.

Romance Writers and Readers - 5,714 members. Public community.

Science Fiction - 89, 821 members. Public community.

Science Fiction Writers - 5,906 members. Public community.

Short Stories and Poems - 6,857 members. Public community.

Speculative Fiction Writers - 5,583 members. Public community.

Young Adult Books - 8358 members. Public community.

Young Adult Lit and Writing - 44,330 members. Public community.


Book Promotion and Marketing

Promote Your Book! - 18, 154 members. Public community.

Writers' Market, Tools, Tips, Showcase and Support - 9,583 members. Public community.

Discussing Book Marketing & Promotion - 9,421 members. Public community.

Authors - Blatant Promo 4 Writers, Blogs! - 8,343 members. Public community.

Author Marketing Club - 4,437 members. Public community.

APE - 3,526 members. Private community.


Readers

Reading - 25,256 members. Public community.

Readers and Writers - 9,448 members. Public community.


Reviewers

Book Reviews - 20, 736 members. Public community.

Book Reviewers - 18,955 members. Public community.


Blogging

Blogging - 66,336 members. Public community.

Bloggers Network - 28,399 members. Public community.

Blog Writers United - 2,644 members. Public community.


Self-Published Authors and Self-Publishing

E-Book Publishing - 23,293 members. Public community.

Indie Readers and Writers - 14,341 members. Public community.

Indie Authors and Readers - 10,760 members. Public community.

Kindle and Ebook Writers - 9,208 members. Public community.

Self-Publishing and Book Marketing - 7,846 members. Public community.

Self-Publishing Children's Books - 575 members. Public community.

Promoting Your Scifi or Fantasy Novel on Social Media

Updated 2/9/25

If you have published a science fiction or fantasy novel, you'll need to promote it on social media. I know the thought of engaging in yet more social media makes you cringe, but you may, in fact, be pleasantly surprised at how effective it can be.

Here are some social media platforms that can help you promote your book for free. Some are strictly promotional, but many of these platforms also host discussion groups, book clubs, and writing critique groups.

In addition to the ever-present necessity of promoting your work, I would encourage you to take advantage of these non-promotional functions for two reasons: 1) As a writer, it's essential to participate in discussions about your craft and genre, and 2) You may make some valuable contacts with other authors in the course of those discussions.

Facebook Groups

Facebook is a huge social media platform, which means it can produce dramatic results. First, set up a page for your book. (This is a must.) Then join writers' groups. The largest and most active writers' groups are listed here: 43 Facebook Groups for Authors. There are also several active Facebook groups geared specifically to science fiction and fantasy writers. These are:

Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers in America. (Closed group) This is for writers who focus their work mainly on science fiction and fantasy. The site is for writers to post small pieces of their work to get others' opinions on them, to offer or request advice about the art, craft, and business of writing, and to exchange interests concerning science fiction and fantasy writing with like-minded individuals.

Cyberpunk Science Fiction & Culture (Closed group) Group dedicated to all things related to cyberpunk: culture, literature, music, film, technology, games, fashion, lifestyle, etc.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors. This group is open for anyone who loves the genres of science fiction and fantasy. They welcome readers, writers, viewers and all lovers of the genres.

Science Fiction. (Closed group) For all those interested in science fiction and fantasy adventure reading.

Space Opera. Space opera is a sub-genre of science fiction dealing with stories of epic adventure and conflict on a grand scale. If you are a fan of authors like Poul Anderson, Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds, E.E. Smith, David Drake, Neal Asher, John C. Wright, Iain M. Banks, Walter Jon Williams, Dan Simmons, Jack Vance, David Weber, Vernor Vinge, Stephen Baxter, Larry Niven, or Louis McMaster Bujold, this group is for you. Authors can promote their books through special promotion threads.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Fans. This is a virtual book club of fans of science fiction and fantasy.

SciFi/Horror/Doomsday/Fantasy. This group is for authors, novelists, screenwriters, and bloggers to share their pages and/or published work.

Goodreads

Goodreads, now owned by Amazon, is the largest reading community in the world. That means they want to read your book. Aside from signing up as an author and posting your book on Goodreads — which you MUST do — you can join groups that will help spread the word. (For tips on how to use Goodreads see: 8 Ways to Use Goodreads to Promote Your Book.)

We PROMOTE Fantasy/Sci-Fi Writers/Authors - "If you need help promoting your work, my Sci-Fi/Fantasy Team can advertise your book in our active Facebook fantasy & sci-fi page with 117,000+ Likes, Twitter page with 20,000 Followers, and feature it in Fantascize.com. We can also help you reach thousands of readers through book reviews, author interviews, book trailers, and any other type of advertisement/promotion you may need. For more details, Email my team at fantasynscifi@gmail.com or me personally at berserkxxo@yahoo.com if you're interested."

SciFi and Fantasy Book Club (15669 members) - This is mainly a discussion group, but there is also a folder for authors to promote their books. Make sure to read the rules before posting.

SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club (3538 members) - Self-promotion is allowed in the Authors' forum for active members.

Dystopia Land (2047 members) provides a folder where authors can post releases, giveaways, free books, and short stories.  

Twitter Hashtags

#SciFi
#SciFiChat
#scifibookclub
#speculativefiction
#fantasy
#sciencefiction
#DarkFantasy
#Fantasy
#Dystopian
#Paranormal
#PNR (Paranormal Romance)
#SteamPunk
#UrbanFantasy

#ScifiRTG or #SFRTG (Sci-fi Retweet Group)
#IFNRTG (Indie Fantasy Re-tweet Group)

General marketing:

#amreading
#indieauthors
#mustread
#kindle
#kindledeals
#BookMarketing
#IARTG (Indie Author Re-tweet Group)

#YA (Young Adult)

#indiebooksbeseen

#Amazon

#BYNR (Be your next read)

#BookGiveaway

#Free

#Freebie

#FreeBook

#FreeDownload

#FreebieFriday

#FreeReads

#KindleBargain

Reddit

Reddit is underutilized for promotional purposes, probably because the site actively discourages self-promotion and ads. Nevertheless, several authors have been "discovered" on Reddit, and have developed sizable fan bases, usually through r/books and its subreddits. (The trick to Reddit is knowing which sub-reddit is appropriate for your topic.)

r/books. This is a very active community dedicated to the world of books. There are no direct promotions allowed on this page, but they do have a “new releases” section where you can promote your book. You are allowed to promote your own writing in "new releases" as long as you follow these two rules:

1. The books being discussed must have been published within the last three months OR are being published this month.
2. No direct sales links.

All the sci-fi related subreddits have been collated into a Big list of SF-Related Subreddits. There are too many subreddits to list here, but if you take a quick look at the Big List you will find many in the "writing" section that will be useful. (Also make sure to check the genres list.) There are two sub-reddits that are particularly active, and which allow some self-promotion. (Please read the rules before promoting your work!)

r/scifi (4.4M readers) Saturdays are “self-promo Saturdays,” so log in on Saturday to promote your book. If you look at the side bar you'll find numerous subreddits, and within those even more sub-subreddits. 

r/sciencefiction (260K readers) This reddit is for fans and creators of science fiction and related media in any form. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is a great tool for sharing information. You can set up a board for your own publications and include photos of your book covers, signing events, and anything else related to your writing. You can also set up a group board devoted to related science fiction or fantasy topics, such as self-published science fiction or your favorite classic science fiction books, and allow others to share their titles. You can join established boards as well. (This is a great way to get followers.) Here are some group science fiction and fantasy boards that welcome new pinners:

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

Bookaholics Anonymous

Indie Authors and Self Published

! Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

For more detailed information about how you can make best use of Pinterest see:  How to Use Pinterest to Build an Audience (For Writers)

How to Use Pinterest to Build an Audience (For Writers)

Updated 2/8/25

Pinterest was conceived as a kind of virtual bulletin board - a place to store all those neat images you run across when you are looking for something else on the net.

Pinterest is also a great tool for storing blog posts, websites, and all those useful articles you read online and then can never find again.

Surprisingly, it's only relatively recently that people have begun to use Pinterest as a marketing tool. (When I started using Pinterest, there were no ads!)

To be honest, while Pinterest has great potential, it's not as easy to use as Facebook or Twitter. As a form of social media, it's a little awkward, and there is much less likelihood of something going "viral." However, Pinterest has certain advantages shared by no other form of social media.

• It's easier to find information on a page of images than on a timeline
• Pins can be arranged thematically. This makes it easier to group specific types of information
• Images are memorable. An image that is interesting is more likely to catch a reader's attention than text
• Pinterest is highly addictive. Users re-pin images like mad, and they tend to stay on Pinterest longer, as well as visit it more frequently

How to use Pinterest

1. Set up your profile. Your full profile will appear on your home page, so design it carefully. First, upload an attractive, colorful image. (Square is best, as it will end up as a circle.) You can provide your location, your website (a must!), and a short bio. The bio is very important. Make sure you mention your publications, genre, and anything else potential readers might be interested in. For contact information include your Twitter handle.

2. Get followers. Like any other form of social media, you can get followers on Pinterest. There are several ways to go about this:

• Include a Pinterest follow button on your blog posts
• Add a profile widget to your blog. This also leads visitors to your Pinterest page. But it is more comprehensive than the follow button because it’s bigger and can display up to 30 of your latest pins. (I have gotten significantly more followers from the widget than from the button.)
• Make sure to include your Pinterest link to all your other social accounts
• Follow. Received wisdom is to follow 200 boards, then wait to see who follows you back and drop anyone who doesn't respond. The way you find boards to follow is by typing keywords into the search bar. Follow any boards that share your interests. (There are numerous writing boards. )

3. Use keywords. According to Bibliocrunch, the number one priority for using Pinterest is to have a “search mindset.” This means utilizing keywords in the descriptions of your boards and pins so that people searching for similar pins and boards can discover you. Fortunately, finding keywords is very easy. Type a general search term into the search bar, for example, Romance. The screen will refresh to give you popular categories under Romance. If you click on Books, more sub-categories will appear below the search bar,  — Contemporary, Paranormal, Historical, Worth Reading, and so on. Each time you click on a sub-category, increasingly specific terms will appear. Those are your keywords. Use them to hone your descriptions the same way you honed your search.

You can also broaden your audience by using the Keyword Tool. This allows you to search for the most popular keywords on Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Bing. An added feature of this tool is that it allows you to search by country and language.

4. Set up collaborative boards. Pinterest allows pinners to set up boards that allow many contributors. Some of these boards have hundreds of thousands of followers. (To find collaborative boards, go to Pin Groupie, a site that allows you to search collaborative boards by topic, number of followers, and number of pinners.) Increasing the number of pinners will increase your visibility. You can invite collaborators by email address or name. (Click the Invite button on the upper right to view your options.) You will have to follow one another to collaborate on a board.

If you want to join an established board, some collaborative boards provide contact information in the description. Check Pin Groupie for collaborative boards in your category to see which ones accept new pinners. (You can search for "writers," "writing," "authors" for general boards, or search your genre for more specific ones.)

5. Choose your images wisely. Pinterest is a visual medium. So, spend some time finding a captivating image for your pin. (See 43 Sites Where You Can Get Fabulous Free Photos for some great free sources.) The optimum image size is 600 x 800. It will resize down to 192 x 256, but will be restored to its full size when it is clicked. (If you are using Blogger, set your image size to large.)

Infographics have a great deal of success on Pinterest, as do images that also contain written information. Images that are informative as well as eye-catching will warrant more than a quick glance, and drive more traffic to your blog, story, or article.

Helpful articles:

All About Boards - Basic information about Pinterest boards.

12 Ways to Get More Pinterest Followers

How To Use Pinterest’s Group Boards To Get More Exposure For Your Business

253 Hashtags for Writers

Updated 11/11/24

If you are on Twitter and aren't using hashtags, you are wasting a great resource.

Hashtags (#) are a way of grouping posts on similar topics. They can be used to track trends and topical news, such as the hilarious #myozobituary posts that abounded after a national Australian newspaper opened their obituary of famed author and neurophysiologist Colleen McCullough with the words: "Plain of face and certainly overweight, she was nevertheless of woman of wit and warmth." (If you can't see anything wrong with this description of the person who wrote The Thorn Birds - and 23 other novels - then I suggest you search twitter for #everydaysexism.)

Hashtags can also be used to search for specific information and topics, which brings me to why you need to employ hashtags that are already in use. If you want to reach a broad audience, you really don't want to make up a hashtag. (I confess to having done that. Apparently, #voodoomedicine is some kind of rock group.)

Utilizing hashtags that already have a following means you have a built-in set of people looking for you. And, with the millions of people tweeting day and night, it is better to have people actually seeking your posts, than to hope that they will somehow find you in the din.

That being said, there are some rules you should follow for using hashtags:

• Don't use more than three hashtags per tweet. 
• Don't #hashtag #several #words in a row in the body of your tweet. 
• Do not simply tweet invitations to read your book over and over again. You're a writer! Tweet something that is fun, interesting, informative, controversial, creative, and above all cool. 
• Before you use a hashtag, search Twitter to make sure it is appropriate for your tweet. 

Here are some useful articles on hashtags for writers:

44 Essential Twitter Hashtags Every Author Should Know

The 12 Best Hashtags for Writers

Also see: Pitching Your Book on Twitter Fests for a list of hashtags for twitter pitch fests

__________________________________________

Bloggers

#MondayBlogs Tweet your blog posts on Mondays only. Bloggers will retweet.

Indie Promotion

#IARTG - Indie Author Retweet Group: Simply follow to join, then add #IARTG in any tweet you want us to re-tweet. :) #RT #indie #author #retweet #group @retweet_groups

#IFNRTG - ReTweets for Fantasy Indie Authors via #IFNRTG @IFNRTG and Book Promos via #Books & More! Blog.BerniceFischer.com

#IAN or #IAN1 (Independent Author Networking)

#Indie

#IndieAuthor

#IndiePub (or #IndiePublishing)

#Indiepubchat

#BYNR - Book Your Next Read. "Avid-Reader and keen supporter of Indie-Authors. Here to spread the good word about great Books. Please include the hashtag #BYNR We #followback & #RT." 

#TuesdayBookBlog - blog posts about books and writers.

Writing and Connecting With Other Authors

#140Poem

#1K1H or #1K1HR  (write one thousand words in one hour)
#1LineWednesday - Share the best line from one of your books on Wednesdays

#amediting - posts from people who are editing

#amwriting - posts from people who are writing (optional - add genre, ex. #amwritingya, #amwritingscifi, etc.)
#amquerying - posts from people who are querying agents

#AmRevising - posts from people who are revising

#AuthorLife – writers sharing random stuff
#callforsubmissions - journals and other venues seeking submissions

#CopyWriting – advice about copywriting
#cpmatch – used by writers looking for a critique partner (or beta reader)

#EditGoal

#Editing

#IndieAuthors

#nanowrimo - national novel writing month
#submissions - like #callforsubmissions

#WordCount

#wip - work in progress

#WriteGoodNews

#Writer

#Writers

#WritersBlock

#WriteChat – all sorts of advice and information

#WriteGoal

#WriterWednesday (or #WW or ##WW) – a way to give a shout-out to writers / suggest authors to follow, or to share writing tips, and anything else to do with writers or writing

#Writing

#WriteMotivation

#WriteTip - writing advice

#WritersLife

#WritersRoad

#WritingBlitz

#WritingParty

#WritingPrompt

#WritingSprint

#WritingTip - writing advice

#wordcount

#WroteToday
#writingcommunity
#writerslift

 ____________________

Marketing

Tip: search on "book reviewers" plus your genre to find accounts of book bloggers.

#author - good for self-promotion

#authors - also good for self-promotion

#bookmarketing - posts related to marketing books

#bookworm - for reviews

#editing

#emergingauthors

#fictionfriday

#fridayflash - flash fiction on Friday. Writers write/post flash fiction. Readers comment and RT.

#followfriday or #ff - used on Friday to suggest people to follow to your followers. (Don’t just tweet handles, tell them why they should follow.)

#novels

#novelists

#poem

#poet

#poets
#twitterfiction - where you can tweet your latest story 

____________________

Publishing Industry

#AskAgent

#AskAuthor

#AskEditor

#BookMarketing

#EBooks or #ebook

#ePub

#ePublishing

#GetPublished

#HowTo

#IAN or #IAN1 (Independent Author Networking)

#Indie

#IndieAuthor

#IndiePub (or #IndiePublishing)
#MSWL - manuscript wish list. This is where agents post what they are looking for.

#PromoTip

#Publishing

#Pubtip

#PubWrite

#querytip

#SelfPub

#SelfPublishing

#tenqueries – agents share the reasons why they do or do not request manuscripts

#VSS (very short story)

#WebFic

#WebLit

#WriteTip
#WLCAuthor -The World Literary Café is a promotional website for authors. Similar to the Independent Author Network (#IAN), Indie authors who join these organizations help each other in their promotions.

____________________

Chats (chats can be scheduled or ongoing)

#kidlitchat: Craft & business of writing for young people, board books up through YA. Topic or topics announced at the beginning of the chat. Moderators: @gregpincus

Tuesdays: PST: 6 pm MST: 7 pm CST: 8 pm EST: 9 pm.

#writermoms - Women who write (and have children) can find other like-minded women through this ongoing chat.

#fantasychat - Weekly chats for writers of fantasy. Tuesday 8 - 9PM ET. @marilynmuniz @fantasy_chat

#IBCchat - Indie Author Book Chat. Tuesday 4:30 - 5:30 PM CT. @WritingNoDrama @IndieBookIBC @RachelintheOC @kaitnolan

#kidlitart - Weekly chat for illustrators, pb authors & author/illustrators. Topics announced in advance via @kidlitart. Thursday 9:00 - 10:00 PM ET. @BonnieAdamson @lyonmartin

#StoryDam - Friendly writing community. We chat about all things to do with writing & self publishing Hosted by @MDragonwillow @riverand @mentalmosaic @BookSquirt @plynne_author. @Storydam Thursday, 8:00 - 9:00 PM ET. storydam.com

#indiechat - every Tuesday at 9PM EST

#MemoirChat (every other Wednesday at 8 pm ET)

#PBLitChat (picture books only)

#PoetTues

#journchat

#kidlitchat

#litchat

#scifichat

#scribechat

#storycraft - Sunday 10:00 - 11:00 AM CT. @darcyconroy @story_cra

#writechat

#PoetTues

#ScriptChat
#TVWriterChat - Sunday, 8:30 - 9:30 PM CT

#UFChat - Discussion for urban fantasy writers and readers. More info on #UFChat blog. @inkgypsy  @snowppl.  Saturday, 6:00 - 7:00 PM CT

#wclw - The WordCount Last Wednesday writer chat covers freelancing, blogging and writing basics. As the name implies, it takes place the last Wednesday of every month. @michellerafter Wednesday, 10:00 - 11:00 AM PT michellerafter.com

#WritersMovement - An online community where writers and aspiring authors meet for chat, exchange of knowledge and ideas, and promotion. @authortiffanie @maddwriter Saturday, 5:00 - 6:00 PM CT

#WriterWednesday (or #WW or ##WW)

#yalitchat young adult literature chat

#BBchat  - BookBaby chat

#ZineChat

____________________

Connect By Book Genre

#Biopic

#Book

#Comedy

#Cookbooks

#Cooking

#Crime

#DarkFantasy

#Dystopian

#Erotica

#KidLitChat

#FanFic

#Fiction

#FlashFic

#Food

#Historical

#History

#HistFic

#HistNovel

#Horror

#KidLit

#Literature

#LitFic

#MGLit (Middle Grade Lit)

#MemoirChat

#Mystery

#NonFiction

#Novel

#Paperbacks

#Paranormal

#poetry

#Recipes

#RomanceWriter

#Romance

#Romantic

#RomanticSuspense

#RWA (Romance Writers of America)

#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)

#Science #Fiction

#ScienceFiction

#SciFi

#SciFiChat

#Short

#ShortStories

#Short #Stories

#ShortReads

#ShortStory

#SteamPunk

#Suspense

#TrueStories

#UrbanFantasy

#WomensFiction

#YA

 ____________________

Promotion and Connecting With Readers

#99c - use this if you are selling your book for 99 cents

#99cents - use this if you are selling your book for 99 cents

#Amazon
#AmazonCart - each time your readers include #AmazonCart in a tweet, Amazon will know to add the items with the corresponding Amazon link to your readers’ shopping carts.

#AmazonKindle

#AmazonLikes

#AmazonPrime

#AmReading

#AuthorRT

#BestRead
#bibliophile - If you’re looking for a reader for your books, add this hashtag
#BookBoost

#BookBuzz

#BookBuzzr

#BookGiveaway
#bookmarket

#BookMarketing
#BookPlugs  - 1000s of Authors Offering Tiny Writing Blurbs. It's like wine sampling but with books. Authors add #bookplugs to your promos. Prefer the author's own work.

#BookReview

#Books

#BookWorm

#Borrow

#eBook

#eReaders

#followfriday or #ff - used on a Friday to suggest people to follow to your followers. (Don’t just tweet handles, tell them why.)

#fRead0 (that’s a zero at the end – not a lower case oh)

#Free

#Freebie

#FreeBook

#FreeDownload

#FictionFriday

#FictionFridays

#FridayFlash

#FridayReads or #FridayRead- tell people what you’re reading

#FollowFriday

#FreebieFriday

#FreeReads
#Goodread

#GoodReads
#GooglePlay

#GreatRead

#IndieThursday

#IndieTuesday

#iPad
#iTunes

#KDP

#KDPSelect

#Kindle

#KindleBargain

#KindleBooks

#KindleeBooks

#KindleFire

#KindleTouch

#KindleTweet

#Kobo

#LendingLibrary

#LitChat

#MustRead

#MyWANA (Writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb)

#New

#Nook

#Novel

#Novelines

#Novelists

#Novels

#Paperbacks
#PDF1 - PAID FORWARD – A RTing tag for Books/Authors/Writers/Publishers/Agents This tag was created by Van Heerling and his Pay It Forward Team.

#Poetry

#PoetryMonth

#Pubit

#Read

#Reader If you’re looking for a reader for your books, add this hashtag

#Readers

#Reading

#Reviews

#SampleSunday

#ShortReads

#Smashwords

#Sony

#Special

#StoryFriday

#StoryTelling

#TeaserTuesday or #TeaserTues
#GreatReads
#WhatToRead

#WriteQuote

#WeekendReader

#whattoread

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.
_____________________________________

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.