Tweet Yourself

Reading Time: 4 mins

What is the best way to use the twitter platform to help grow a successful writing career?

I’ve been reading up on this and, like most things on or about social media, there are a number of competing viewpoints.

What I want to do on this blog and on twitter is learn from others, then internalize those learnings and hopefully write something that builds on a discussion, creating new content that can hopefully help others. I’m hoping to chronicle my journey towards publication and capture the bumps and curves in the road along the way.

I launched this site on Friday just prior to noon with the thought that Fridays at lunch, and throughout Friday afternoon and then the weekend following, might be an optimum time to get a few more eyeballs and, most importantly to me, engagement.

I used the hashtags #amwriting and #writingcommunity, which seem to be some of the most popular hashtags for writers on twitter, with the hopes of my blog launch announcement getting noticed.

I started the day with 98 followers and my hope was to get to 120, with a stretch goal of 150.

Here are five things I know about myself and my approach to twitter:

• I know it will eventually, one day, be important to the marketing success of my books to have a large following on the platform.
• I know it will take time and I do not expect to gain thousands of followers overnight.
• I know I value engagement over hollow follows (hmmm… is that an actual hashtag, *checks*, it is but not too popular).
• I know that what is most important to me right now is to connect with people who are on the same journey I am or who have completed one like it so I can learn from them and share experiences with them.
• I know that I have a hard time promoting myself and putting myself out there.

I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday on twitter.

I was participating in various #writerslift posts, posts designed to collect follows and promote writers and their works, and even a few #ShamelessSelfPromoSaturday posts as well which serve the same purpose.

These posts serve their purpose for many people I’m sure, but as I participated I started to I feel they are just one part (and a small part at that, at this stage anyway) of what my overall approach on twitter needs to be.

Over the weekend my favourite part of the site launch came in connecting with a small handful of other writers, those who took the time to read what I had written and leave a supportive comment. Those whose timelines had a number of their own thoughts and questions that I could connect with, and not just retweets. Those who took the time to reach out and DM me and have polite, short, but genuine first interactions.

I’m sure the latter is a result of the former; some of the people I had genuine interactions with had found me via one of the promo threads, but that’s when my key take-away from the site launch kicked in.

Take it slow.

Those promo posts served their purpose. They let people know that I am here.

From here and for the next little while it is about further developing those relationships and having those conversations.

I have full confidence that through genuine interactions and a goal of contributing to conversations in equal amounts as to what I take away from them, this little seed pool of now 200 followers (surpassed that initial goal – celebrate every win!) will help me grow my presence on twitter organically and in a way where I have actual engagement with my little corner of the wider community.

This is not to say that those who are constantly taking part in promo posts and always pushing for more followers are doing it wrong; I’m sure it’s working for them and they are happy with their effort.

I just know that three days into this adventure, that is just not me.