How To Promote Your Book Using Twitter

If you are an author looking to promote your book, you have probably already taken steps to market it online. But of all the social media tools and applications that are out there, few are as popular or effective as Twitter. Want to learn the specifics how to promote your book using Twitter? Get started with a few simple steps:

1. It sounds obvious, but (first things first) you will need to create a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/.  Take the time to fill out the profile information, list a link to your website and put an actual picture of you in the photo spot. It’s also a good idea to use your book cover as your background. If you run into problems with profile setup, Twitter offers helpful video tutorials. Not published yet? Follow other authors on Twitter and take notes on the ones with a lot of followers. What does their bio say? Who are they communicating with?
2. As soon as your account is set up, you’ll want to increase your traffic and followers to your Twitter feed.  A good directory to get found and get started is https://www.tweepme.com/. This does cost money (12.95) to join, but it’s a small amount if you want to get a lot of people reading your tweets (the 140 character messages you send out) in a short amount of time. Of course this means you must tweet often and try and connect with people who may be interested in reading your book.
3. You should also list yourself in the Twitter directory under Authors or Literature: http://wefollow.com/ and also list your business (if you have one) with Twibs http://www.twibs.com/index.php These directories help people find YOU which always means more followers.
4. When you sign up, the application will suggest popular people to follow on Twitter.  Go outside these select few and follow small businesses or publishers related to your book and see what they are doing to increase traffic. By developing an online rapport with these people, you may be able to forge partnerships, book signings, and even get indie stores to carry your book.
5. One of the most valuable things that Twitter offers is the ability to promote your book directly to book reviewers and bloggers. Here is a list of some of the most interesting and communicative book bloggers on Twitter. Follow them!

http://twitter.com/#!/BiblioBrat

http://twitter.com/#!/Book_Faery

http://twitter.com/#!/bookaliciouspam

http://twitter.com/#!/amusedbybooks

http://twitter.com/#!/YABookShelf

http://twitter.com/#!/thebookmaven

http://twitter.com/#!/trishheylady

http://twitter.com/#!/BrandonSneed

http://twitter.com/#!/bostonbibliophl

http://twitter.com/#!/brokeandbookish

http://twitter.com/#!/NovelNovice