Getting Twitter Followers

[Thomas Matthews]

As part of promoting my first published book on Amazon, I've started a Twitter account and tied it to the author page. Unfortunately, I haven't really amassed any followers yet (or sales for that matter).

During the promotional period, I gave away about 300 copies of the book for free so hopefully I will start getting reviews of the work soon. But, are there any other ways that people have of getting followers? (Note: I've researched this already on-line and so far haven't been successful). Thanks everyone!

[Jeanne Gassman]

Well, I have over 700 followers on Twitter, so I can only speak from personal experience. First--and most important--piece of advice: DO NOT SPAM your followers with tweets/links to your book. Most people will unfollow you for that. I do.

To get more followers, start by following people you've met on writer's forums, magazines, publishers, agents, editors who interest you, interesting posters, etc. If you follow someone who seems to be really interesting, check to see who they follow. Interesting people tend to follow other interesting people.

You should also consider re-tweeting things that you think are useful or fun. The people you retweet will often follow you. And check out some of the writing hashtags like #amwriting, #amediting, #wip, #askanagent, #pubtips, #litchat, etc. You'll find other like-minded people there to follow and retweet.

Also, visit places like AgentQuery or QueryTracker where you'll find threads with people listing their Twitter handle.

The secret to using Twitter effectively is to tweet or retweet information others like to read. Writers who do nothing but spam their books tend to lose followers rather than gain new ones.

Just my thoughts...

Jeanne

[Thomas Matthews]

I have already begun putting this advice to good use. For anyone interested, my handle is @arrivalbywrath (the name of my novel) and the name Thomas Matthews. Thanks Jeanne!

[Dragon]

Great advice by Jeanne. You can also try this: http://twiends.com/