Building A Social Hive
7. Don’t Be Dull
While this may or may not be true for all, it’s true for us: less is more. Unless your Twitter brand is “trusted book reviewer”, constantly promoting your own books or those you’ve worked on is simply ineffective. It’s solipsistic at worst and just plain boring at best. Pick your moments. I have no data for this, but I venture this guess: a follower needs to encounter about 10 or more really interesting tweets from you before your one tweet recommending your book will have any chance of influencing them to buy it. If 9 out of 10 of your tweets are from a marketing posture, you’re likely not driving real engagement—not the kind that sells books. Plus, you’re dull.
Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.