Happy Blogging is where I offer my blogging knowledge and tutorials.
So I’ve been stretching my brain on what advice I can offer you guys in my next Happy Blogging installment, and what better subject to cover than my daily addiction – Twitter? Based on my recap last week, a lot of you guys don’t use Twitter much or don’t ‘get’ it. I’ve raved about the joys of Twitter enough, and now I’ll actually tell you how to use it from a book blogging perspective.
So you’ve signed up to Twitter, filled in your online persona, followed all of your favourite authors, bloggers and publishers and now what? Now comes the fun part!
Why should I use Twitter?
Be a part of the community
Twitter is my favourite out of all my social media because it allows me to reach out to anyone on there, share my appreciation and start a conversation. Ever felt intimidated by other bloggers with a bajillion followers? Your favourite authors who seem to be surrounded by author BFFs? Or even some of the massive publishers like Epic Reads or Penguin. Well fear not, because now that you’ve got a Twitter account, you’ll be able to join the conversation, keep up to date with their news and talk to them as if you’ve been pals forever.
A quicker, more personal response
Because of its 140 character limit, you have to keep the message short, sharp and sweet. I feel like I will get a response if I tweet someone, but not if I write on their facebook and let’s face it – email feels like a lot of effort in comparison. All I need to do is go to someone’s Twitter page and write them a quick message and wait – most of the time they’ll respond rather quickly (different time zones allowing). Unless they’re super famous, because I’m still waiting for Jason Dohring to tweet back at me 😉
Keeping up with the conversation
Twitter is a fantastic resource for keeping up to date with the latest news and happenings. This is where I get 90% of my bookish (and general) news from, from publishers, authors and other bloggers. You can “favourite” tweets that you want to come back to later, which will be saved in your profile. There’s also frequent Twitter chats, like author Q&As and #PTAChat held by Penguin Teen Australia or #OzYAChat held by Shaheen which you can participate in and join in the fun!
A great sharing resource
If you’re a blogger, Twitter is also a great way to share your posts and reviews. Out of all social media, I get the most traffic from Twitter. If enabled, WordPress automatically shares your post on Twitter (and other social media), so you don’t have to manually do that every time. If it’s a positive review, tag the author and publisher! They’d be stoked and will appreciate the shout out.
Help! What am I looking at?
There’s a 140 character limit, so we have to get across everything as smoothly as we can. This means people use abbreviations and intentional typos (I keep telling myself that) to fit everything in.
There are two characteristics to Twitter that make it different to other social media: #hashtags and links. #hashtags are now popping up on Instagram and Facebook, and they are great because they allow everything with that hashtag to be categorised under that topic. For example, some popular hashtags for books are #booknerd #bookblogger #arc #epicreads. Some hashtags I use frequently are #AussieYABloggers or #publictransportwoes or #firstworldproblems #foodlover. Hashtags also allow you get creative to get the message across, like #sorrynotsorry or #booknerdproblems. You can also stalk author/publisher chats and events, such as #OzYAChat or #PTAChat #TeaTime.
Talking about links, Twitter is the ideal place to link or retweet to articles of interest, whether that’s from a blog, news item, or your instagram account. Many accounts only link to articles and use Twitter more as a “news sharing” resource. Embedding images or photos in your Twitter will also help your post stand out in the crowd.
What should I tweet?
Anything you’d want say to them in person (or pretend you’d say to them in person)! Got a burning question about when Winter will be released? Tweet your publisher! Want to tell an author how much you loved their book? Tweet them! Want to tell your favourite blogger what an inspiration they are…Tweet me @happyindulgence! Or if you simply want to share some random thoughts about your daily life, what you’ve come across in your reading adventures, or a photo of the bookstore, or whatever. This is YOUR Twitter and you choose what you put on there, pretty much anything goes! Except for the usual offensive, racial, religious, 18+ stuff. Report that straight away if you see it.
Who should I follow?
Authors, publishers, celebrities, producers, other bloggers, readers, youtubers, the possibilities are endless! Here’s my top 11 list of bookish people you should follow:
Bloggers
@pixelski – Jaz knows everyone and everything in Twitterland!
@_KatKennedy – I love Kat’s snarky sarcasm and brutal honesty.
@divainpyjamas – Kelly is snortingly hilarious and makes me laugh.
Authors
@LaurenDeStefano – Lauren (Author of Wither) is a prolific tweeter who supports the YA community.
@misterkristoff – Jay Kristoff (Author of Stormdancer) has all the sass.
@RachaelCraw – Super lovely and fun loving author who is a real darling (Author of Spark)
@johngreen – It’s John Green and his tweets are fabulous.
@sarahdessen – Lovely superstar YA author with a lot of heart.
Publishers
@HarperCollinsYA – Snarky, fun trolls, who also publish great books.
@PenguinTeenAus – All the fangirling enthusiasm and it’s Penguin.
@textpubYA – I love Text’s impromptu ‘daily life’ tweets.
Now that I’ve prepared you for Twitterland, venture forth and have fun! Feel free to follow me @happyindulgence and tweet me anytime, I’m always up for a chat.
Any further questions about Twitter? Ask me below!
Got any suggestions on what you’d like me to cover in this feature? Email me or leave a comment!
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You can also add that participation in Twitter chats is fun. I've been in one – during Love-a-Thon – but it was loads of fun and really made me feel like a part of something.
And, yes, the communication with authors. Not I've had too much of it. But I once tweeted that I dreamt of meeting S.J.Mass and lameted that it would probably never happen irl and she favourited it or something. It think. I know Marie Rutkoski has retweeted my review of The Winner's Curse. I mean, it's nothing much, nothing too personal, but still. Made me all giggly.
And then I once was very disappointed by Amazon Kindle daily deal. Jeaniene Frost's book was supposed to be for 0.99, but for me it didn't show up. I had a small sad cry about it on Twitter, to which Jeaniene replied that for international readers things might be different. The fact is sad/annoying (and I've noticed from time to time these differences, but that's a different story), but Jeaniene Frost TWEETED TO ME. Small fangirl moment. 😀 Which I then expressed and received a giggle from her about my fangirling ways. It's so silly, but so nice.
Twitter is a great way to get at least a teensy bit closer to the authors than you ever could.
My recent post The Sis Reviews: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead #3
This was perfect, Jeann! Thanks.
My recent post Sunday Overview: Boredom & A Bucket List
I really underestimated Twitter at first… Now I can't go a day without reading my tweets. I'm not a great "tweeter" but I love going through my feed and reading about my favorite books or publishers. I agree that Twitter is the best way of communication… It has to be short and sweet and that's definitely a convenient way to communicate. Awesome post, Jeann!
I agree I love feeling that I'll get a response on Twitter. Tho dune folks are too popular and probably might miss tweets here and there so I don't ever jet that get to me.
My recent post Review: Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
I keep on deleting my twitter all the time.. I feel super excited when I connect with others on it, but I don't know it just feels too public for me right now. I shall join in the future again xD I love the tweets the publishers give though, it's so snarky and witty lol 🙂
My recent post Ice Kissed ♥ by Amanda Hocking | Review
I've never been SUPER obsessed with Twitter and I feel like I'm missing out on quite a lot of cool conversations. I've found that I followed too many accounts so my feed has become a mess. I think it's time to unfollow all those accounts like life hacks haha. Anyway, I hope I get back into it!
My recent post The Winter Starter Pack
Twitter is one of the best social media tool, period. I love it more than Facebook and Tumblr – you don't just connect with other people of similar interests and goals, it's also now a venue where you can be one with others for a great cause. So many important topics have been discussed among amazing amounts of people using hashtags. It's such a must now to have a Twitter account! Plus, that's where I get most of my news too. If I could have only one social media tool, it would probably be this.
My recent post BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
[…] Jeanne @ Happy Indulgence talks gives you a guide to Twitter! […]
WOOT WOOT! Fantastic post Jeann! I absolutely adore how twitter is a little more "personal", if you get me? I like that it connects us all a little more instantaneously! Plus I've found some fantastic blog posts through it as well!
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I would have loved to have stumbled upon this post when I first started blogging! Twitter is definitely my go-to for connecting with the best people on earth – bookish people! I'm so glad for this method of communication because it's quick and so effortless! Thanks for sharing Jeann, I hope everyone can take something away frm this post 😀
So would I Joy, it took me a while to start a Twitter account.
Where was this post when i first started blogging three years ago? I've come a long way since then and (thinkfully) i'm an active Twitter user but it's definitely an art (laugh all you want). Being a part of the twitter network is crucial to blogging, plus you make so many amazing friends.
My recent post Fuel the Fire: Review
Hahah yes! We've been blogging for almost the same amount of time and I didn't start a Twitter until a year in either!
Twitter is so necessary to be in this community, IMO. It's where you'll get to interact the most with other bloggers and how you can put your blog out there. If I hadn't joined, I don't think I'd have connected with nearly the number of bloggers that I have.
That being said, it's easy to rely on that TOO much when it comes to blogging, IMO. It takes away from people actually visiting each other's blogs, you know?
I totally agree, my first year of blogging I didn't have Twitter but now I do, it feels like there's a big community of us you know? Yeah, we do need to focus on our blog first and foremost.
Great tips Jeann! Twitter is a fantastic tool to interact with other bloggers and keep up with what's happening in the bookish world. The chats especially around #OzYAChat and #PTAChat are wonderful for interacting with other readers too.
My recent post Genie's Weekly News (32)
Thanks Genie, I absolutely love the chats and the convos with other bloggers!
For those who aren't aware of the details of Twitter, this is great! I love Twitter myself. It is much more interactive, simple, and comes with more inta-satisfaction than FB or G+, not that those outlets don't serve their own place.
My recent post Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
I love it so much, it's great once you get the hang of it.
Twitter is so great! I must confess that I don't tweet all that much–but I do like to flick through my timeline and see what's what. (And to share bookish pics. ;))
My recent post Fairest || Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Evilest of Them All?
I love it so much Kara, it's so much fun.
Great post! I agree with all those reasons to use Twitter. Without Twitter, I don't think I would love blogging even half as much as I do now. It allows me to connect to so many people! The community is what motivates me to keep posting on my blog. 🙂
My recent post Stacking the Shelves (65) ~ Lots of NA!
I know, I feel like Twitter really expands and changing your blogging game 🙂
My recent post Indulgence Insider #27 – New Reviewer & Happy Mother’s Day!
Thanks so much for this post! I recently got a Twitter, and while I find it interesting for the occasional laughs, I'm finding it really hard to get into. I'm definitely going to make an effort to get more acquainted with it over the summer.
My recent post Mirror, Mirror
No problems Precious! It's fun if you put some time into it!
I'm so bad at keeping up on twitter ): But it definitely is a good place to keep in touch with the book community!
My recent post Review: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
Heheh it is a lot of fun when you have time Cyn 🙂
Loved this post – twitter can seem intimidating, but you broke everything down perfectly! I've been on twitter for awhile, but I feel like I haven't taken full advantage of it's possibilities. It is so wonderful that we can send a quick message to an author or celebrity and maybe get a response! 🙂 Great tutorial post!
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It definitely can because it works so differently to other social media! But it's so much fun. Thank you Charlene!
I should probably listen to your advice and start using my Twitter account more often. I have always been Facebook kind of girl but since it started to ask money from bloggers this year if we want our posts to be seen by our followers, I lost a big portion of posts views and have been seeking new social platform. Seems that Twitter may be IT for me 🙂
My recent post EARLY REVIEW: 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger
It's so much fun Lucia, Facebook seems to have gone downhill since the paying model, I don't see many posts pop up anymore.
This is a FABTASTICAL post Jeann.:) You've helped me out so much and given me awesome hash tags to use because let's be for realz, they can be kind of hard to find at times. I'm gping to go ahead and follow those bloggers you told us about and "attempt" to use it right from now on. *crosses fingers*
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Thank you, I am so excited about you following those bloggers, they are wonderful I swear 🙂
Ooh what a great and helpful post to all those who are in need of it! I was truly addicted to twitter for this period of time but lately, I barely have time to go on it 🙁
Nice post, Jeann <33
Hehehe thanks Mel! Yeah, I have bouts where I'm really addicted and others where I give it a break lol
Loved this, Jeann! I am obsessed with Twitter. I love how you can be completely crazy and honest on Twitter and everyone will just humor you. And it's definitely a lot less nerve-wracking than talking to someone in real life. 🙂
Spot-on recommendations as well! Really, anything Kelly says is absolutely hilarious. 😉 Also the banter between Aussie pubs = the best. ^_^
My recent post Review + Giveaway: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Thanks Aimee, how much fun is Twitter and just reaching out to people anywhere! Hehe thank you, I'm so glad our Aussie pubs are recognised too!
I love the convenience of Twitter and I prefer it over any other platform. I don't use it enough though because I am just not into social media like that. Lol it's a great way to share posts though
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So do I Braine, Twitter is so much fun to connect and share.
Twitter is my FAVOURITE. It also lets me separate my two "worlds," kind of – my blogging/reading/writing life from my family/friends life. Which is awesome! And also, publisher wars rock.
My recent post In Which I Play Match-Maker and Ship Characters From Different Books
Same with me Emily!
I adooooore Twitter! I'm not sure how I got the hang of it, but I love it! I get so many of my news from Twitter and have met so many awesome bloggy friends in there!
And I've got to interact with authors in a way that I would have never expected or imagined!!
Even with the occasional drama, I love Twitter!
My recent post Interview with Holly Bodger author of 5 to 1!!!
I know, once you really get the hang of it it can get addictive.
Text is HILARIOUS. I love them. I love how they tweet something all serious and promo-y for the publishing house…and their next tweet is just so witty and dry and wonderful. xD I want to be Text Publishing when I grow up.
This is such a good list of twitter tips! I'M AWFUL in that, I started off using twitter as just a way to get more entries in giveaways. >_< But now I use it properly and it is. the. best. I love how friendly and accessible people are and how authors tweet back! ^-^
I knowww, they definitely brighten up the day don't they? They are hilarious! Hehe, I've loved our chats on there Cait!
Awesome post. I need to try to be more active on Twitter. i feel really old sometimes because I can't keep up with it, especially the conversations back and forth. But I am going to try!
My recent post Review ~ Things I’ve Said to My Children
Ah, you must create those conversations too Grace! 🙂
Haha,I love this post! I myself have become addicted to twitter!
And I love how it brings the blogging community together. I've started talking to a lot of bloggers who I never dared to talk to before!
My recent post A Little Bit of Everything #2 || Do you let your beliefs influence your relationships?
I'm just so happy we've connected on Twitter and everything Mishma! I'm glad it brought you out of your shell too.
Aww, thanks for the shout out Jeann. It's hard to believe that even 12 months ago really, I was in this boat. I was on Twitter, but never REALLY on it, if you know what I mean. I loved the concept and to be able to connect with other readers, rather than talking the ear off the very board gaming nerd of a husband, but felt like I was always interrupting everyone elses conversations. Then Jeann came along. I'll be honest, you brought me out of my Twitter shell, and now you can't shut me up. The most fun I've had as a blogger has been on Twitter, and it's all thanks to bloggers such as yourself who took the time to interact with little known bloggers like myself.
AND I'M THE FIRST TO COMMENT! Oh gosh, this has never happened to me before. I'd like to thank Jeann, and my agent. The academy for taking a chance…
Wonderful post Jeann, perfect for those wanting to get stuck into social media, great talking point <3
No problems Kelly, it looks like you just missed out as the first by a margin, Lucy got in before you! Awww Kelly don't give me all the credit, your wonderful hilarious self should be thanked 🙂 Thanks for gracing Twitter with your hilarious posts!
Lovely post! I love Twitter and I'm almost at all times reading Twitter-posts. But I keep telling myself I have to use it more often! I love reading every post but rarely reply *note to self, reply more often*
My recent post Books I Got #1
Thanks Lucy! I'm pretty addicted to Twitter, it is so much fun 🙂
My recent post Happy Blogging #2 – Your Guide to Twitter