10 Ways to break #Twitter etiquette. #IWSG...and WEP winners announced!

10 Ways to Break Twitter Etiquette.

Okay, we're told that we have to be on as many social media platforms as we can manage (or mismanage). I joined Twitter when there were (only) 42 million accounts, while there are now 974 million. Seeing I'm practically a founding member, why is it just lately I've started using my Twitter account more than sporadically? Well:

• it's a quick and easy way to send the odd promo WEP message, 
• it's a great way to support other writers with a quick RT (Retweet), 
• you can reply instantly to people when you're online at the same time.
• you can join online discussions/groups of like-minded twits,
• you can create your own hashtag (#) so all these messages are sorted for you...like we created #wepff so anyone can pop in and read entries for our challenges.

But like all the unwritten rules about social media--Bloggers--you should reciprocate when people comment--Facebook--you should 'like' everything you, well, like (or don't like)--Instagram--don't stop with the food pics, we live for them!! 

So, just in case I wasn't, er, insecure enough already about all the rules I'm breaking left, right and centre, I just read a post by Frances Cabello, an author and social media strategist and manager for writers who filled we twits in on the best way not to make a hash of Twitter. 

  

I nodded along to Frances' stringent list...uh oh, uh oh. I've paraphrased her list and added my own words dipped in golden pen (sorry Michael!). So if you see anything that makes you gasp, it's probably my words.

Here's the rules twits are breaking:

1. Not uploading a picture of ourselves as our avatar. We all love eggheads, cats, dogs, book covers, oceans and rivers, don't we? Well, Frances doesn't. She says: Your avatar needs to be a professionally taken picture of you, or if you're a little short of the mun, call a friend! Then don’t make a funny face.
2. Leaving the header image blank. Fill in the blanks, twit! There's any variety of free applications, such as Canva, PicMonkey (my fave), or Pixlr. So go create a header image for your account. You can add your book covers, announce the publication of a new book, or use an image that reflects a scene in your book. You can download a free image from Unsplash or Pixabay or upload  your own picture. (I checked these out--awesome free photo-sharing sites). I  need to do a LOT of work here!
3. Writing a senseless bio. Frances asks whether your bio is littered with #cappuccino #frappuccino #kittens #puppies #writer #reader #blogger? Write a professional bio! Your Twitter avatar and bio are searchable on the Internet, so use your Twitter profile to advance your author brand/business. Check out Joanna Penn’s header image and bio below. Pretty perfect for supporting her brand, promoting her books, and establishing her as a professional author.
4. Using all 140 characters available to you. Keep your tweets ideally to 110 and no more than 120 characters. Using fewer than 140 characters will give others a chance to retweet you without having to reconfigure your message.
5. #Doing #this #with #your #hashtags. Are you using more than three hashtags in your tweets? Naughty!
6. Not interacting socially with other writers. It’s important to be friendly on Twitter, meet other authors – even those who write in your genre (perhaps especially those authors) – and promote other authors. The more authors you meet and promote, the more they will suggest your books to their readers. I have a friend who blocks twits who promote their own books. A tad harsh?
7. Spamming new followers with direct messages. It’s because of all the spam in DMs that a lot of people on Twitter (including me) stop reading them. It's sudden twitter death to ask a new follower to read your blog, buy your book or visit your website in a DM. Attract them with your writing and content.
8. Retweeting tweets that praise you or your book. I once read somewhere that retweets of praise are like laughing at your own jokes. Promoting yourself in this manner is akin to bragging. Whoopsies!
9. Announcing how many people you followed/unfollowed. Apps such as Tweepi love for you to announce to your followers that you just used their app to unfollow 201 people, but you know what? Who cares?  Is this the type of content you want to become known for? Yukko, I hate those vindictive type of tweets!
10. Ignoring the 80/20 rule. Guess what? It’s not all about you. It’s not even all about me. Or your most treasured colleague. Make sure that 80 percent of your content comes from a variety of sources and that you restrict your own content to 20 percent.

Even if you stopped reading when I passed the 300-word IWSG rule, I hope you learned a little about the twitterverse today. 

BTW, the Twitter hashtag for IWSG is #IWSG.

• What uses have you found/not found for Twitter?

Thanks for calling.Thanks Alex and the team for hosting today's challenge.

Alex's awesome co-hosts for this posting of the IWSG are Julie Flanders,Murees Dupé, Dolorah at Book Lover, Christine Rains, and Heather Gardner! 

Go here to read more IWSG posts!

And the winners of the WEP Spectacular Settings are announced today. Choosing 3 from 44 was a torture, but we just got to read several spectacular entries several times. Go visit WEP and congratulate the winners! Could be someone you know, or would like to know!

Social Media - let the editor speak. And a little on queries...

Following on from my Twitter post below, which resulted in some little controversy here and there (not that that's a bad thing!) I thought I'd do what I've been trying to do for sometime - write a short post. This one is a quote I came across today while I was working in the State Library and browsing Writer's Digest magazines.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

I like it when an author is Internet savvy. The future of books is digital, so it is a good idea to begin to use that medium as much as possible for promotional purposes now, and to join the pioneers of this movement who are scheduling blog tours, updating websites and connecting with others in and out of the writing community via the Internet. Perhaps most importantly, I think that those online efforts don't go unnoticed by publishers!

Adriana Dominguez
Executive Editor @ HarperCollins Children's Books
Check her out: Full Circle: fullcircleliterary.com/Submissions.htm


ON QUERIES

Adriana says:

Most queries are...too long. Send 3 - 4 paragraphs.
1 short paragraph telling why you chose her agency (she likes to see you've done your homework.)
1 or 2 paragraphs that succinctly describe your project and highlight its potential in the marketplace (homework.)
Final paragraph - your background, education, credits and platform.

• What do you think? Do you think internet promotion works? 
• How else will authors market their e-books?

LOL Sunday - Slappin' the apps - are smart phones so smart? And there's more...

I was a failure as a stand-up commedienne so I'm working on my latest career as a sit-down. I just came from Byron's website, er, sorry Alex J Cavanaugh's, and he did practically a whole post on the latest iPad, confessing "I have several PCs, a laptop, an iTouch, AND an iPad - one can never have too much geek stuff." I wanted to throw virtual stones at Alex as the first iPad had just been released and I couldn't decide - netbook or iPad? I foolishly decided to go with the netbook and have had iPad envy ever since.

That's the trouble with us! We just want the apps! Give me more! And that got me thinking, do I really want/need these apps? Let's take the scales from our eyes...

Smart phones are a good place to lug all your apps around. Grab your blackberry/apple and you're all set. Personally, I love apples and blackberries, it's just that my preferred apps are pastry and custard or ice cream.

Apparently most people with smart phones only ever use a fraction of the available apps, but they are great status symbols - "I sent this message from my iPhone" has such a ring to it - I'd prefer an app that'd allow me to say "I sent this message in my Prada little black dress and Manolo heels."

Which brings me to the point that most apps are designed for the young - and why not? They're dreamed up by 19-year-old goatee-stroking designers. Why don't they give me an app I can use, like a pop up pair of tweezers or maybe a creme brulee torch or even a little cocktail shaker? Why should the young have all the fun, huh?

I watch 24-hour news (not on my smart phone - the battery can't support it!) and I learn the darndest things. Like a man tried to rob a Connecticut restaurant weilding a smart phone (he tried the gun app). But he had to surrender when staff responded with a low-tech 'kitchen knives' app. (Only in America, we Aussies snicker.) Over here we're still using plastic toy guns. We're not allowed to buy real ones anyhow! Our crims can't support a smart phone habit. That's why they're robbing the banks, silly!)

Enough slappin' of the smart phone (which ain't really so smart!) Now I'll briefly mention my Kindle app. I'm happy with books and magazines made of paper thanks very much. It feeds my need for clutter and a pile of mags can make a great spare chair in an emergency. A Kindle will never fix a wobbly chair or roll up to kill a mozzie. So in a household with a yen for paper, my Kindle is in danger of getting buried...now where is that thing? I've gotta read Roland's Bear With Two Shadows...

One thing I do love about the social networking apps is of course facebook. This gives me the option to Accept or Decline a "friend." I love delivering the verbal slap-in-the-face, DECLINE! I dream of being at a party and applying the same principle when cornered by a boor - DECLINE!

iPod? Do you jog with an iPod? Don't you miss the sound of real birds tweeting? Or have you forgotten already?

Twitter: 140 million users. This is such a useful app but once again, what a battery drainer! Just loading it sucked my battery dry. Maybe the 'smart' phone tried to download all 140 million profiles! I've always been a bit suss of Twitter, it reminds me of Narcissus gazing into a pond of self-adoration. "I just ate pizza! Yummy!" or "My bunions are hurting!" If we shared these inanities face to face we'd clear the room or the pub. But that's not the scariest thing about Twitter...

The world's most followed Twitterer is Lada Gaga - I guess she posts pictures! President Obama is 4th, making the leader of the free world's views slightly less important than pint-size warbler Justin Bieber. I'd say Twitter's 140-character limit suits our new-found shallowness. The world now seems full of people who, in person, seem balanced, entertaining and humble but on Twitter they turn into Narcissus.

Must rush off. My Tweet Deck's calling...

And no, I won't give up my day job just yet...

(All these uprorious pics from Comedy Zone.)