36 Twitter Tips for Book Publishers

22. Don’t let your Twitter account become an ad for your book. Twitter users who feel you’re trying to sell them something will generally not like you very much. Be respectful of the community, and make sure you’re bringing something of value to the table before you start encouraging people to buy your book. Noting that you’re the author of such-and-such book in your profile, providing a link in your profile to your Web site or blog, and then interacting in meaningful ways with your potential readers does a lot more than “Check out my book!” tweets.

23. Be authentic. We see some other authors following indiscriminately and setting up insincere-sounding auto-messages to new followers. SPAM has already started to take hold on Twitter, and authors who come across as real human beings interested in connecting with other real human beings have a leg up in getting through to potential readers.

Tips from … Susan Danziger, CEO, DailyLit
Twitter.com/susandanziger

24. Track your tweets. … Use http://bit.ly to shorten URLs used on Twitter. Bit.ly [tracks] click-throughs on links. It’s a pretty cool feature (and it’s free).

Tips from … Chris Kenneally, Director of Author Relations, Copyright Clearance Center
Twitter.com/BeyondtheBook

25. Post photos to Twitter with Twitpic.com. [This works] great with an iPhone at a conference.