Spend 15 Minutes Each Day Interacting With Potential Book Fans

by Phyllis Zimbler Miller
(Los Angeles, CA)

Before I give my tips, let me state my basic premise for authors participating successfully on Twitter:

- You have set up an effective Twitter profile that uses some form of your name as your Twitter username and includes a compelling tagline for your book or books.

- Your profile also has a hot link to your dedicated author website.

- You have done a search on Twitter and followed several people who might be interested in your writing and now several people are following you.

- You have identified people on Twitter whose tweets or blog post links would be of interest to people following you.

Fifteen minutes a day:

In five-minute segments three times a day spread over 12 hours (morning, mid-day and early evening) to target different people and different time zones:

1. Check your @Mentions - if anyone has mentioned you in a tweet or retweeted you, answer or thank the person. If a link was in the tweet or retweet, include it again.

Example:
Thx @TonyEldridge for including me in your marketing tips roundup. (link to the permalink of the specific roundup)

2. Share good content - this can be a link to your own blog post or someone else's blog post or retweet someone else.

Example:
Why @MillerMosaicLLC believes WordPress is still the best for book author websites http://budurl.com/WPbestforauthors

3. Scan the top of your Twitter timeline and initiate a conversation related to the topic of your nonfiction book or anything related to books.

Example:
@Self_Publish Shelley, I really appreciate the book marketing info you shared today. (link to the info shared)

If you are easily distracted, set a timer for the five minutes. When the timer goes off, leave Twitter.

But keep your Twitter antennae engaged throughout the day for info that you might like to share when you are in one of your five-minute sessions. Once you start thinking like this, you will probably find you come across ideas all over the place.

You can learn more about social media marketing at my company blog.

For a three-part how-to video series on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, see http://www.millermosaicllc.com/3-part-series

Our social media marketing services are at http://www.millermosaicllc.com/services

And follow me on Twitter.

I believe Twitter is an essential part of every author's book marketing efforts. And it's free! Twitter 101 for Authors

And for more FREE social media tips, sign up for our free 10 day e-course, "Social Media in 15 Minutes Per Day."

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Spend 15 Minutes Each Day Interacting With Potential Book Fans

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Great tips, Phyllis!
by: Shelley Hitz

Phyllis,
Those are some great tips for using Twitter effectively, thank you! I especially like the tip about setting a timer. I've done this before and it does really help me to stay on task and not get distracted as easily. So many times I may get on Twitter and think I'll only spend 5 minutes and then realize an hour has past!

Thanks again for sharing your expertise with our readers!

~Shelley~

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The Power of 15 Minutes a Day
by: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Glad you like the tips, Shelley.

And Twitter can be such a powerful way to connect with your targeted market that, if you are consistent in following a strategic 15-minute regime, over time you should be able to create your own Twitter community of interested fans.

One final tip: Be consistent and persistent. Don't give up after two weeks saying "this doesn't work." Commit to your 15-minutes a day over the long haul. That commitment can really pay off!

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Good TIps
by: Stephen Tiano

These seem like solid tips, Shelley. I would only add--ad nauseum, I guess, by now--that it's still essential to start with a well-written book about something readers currently care about; that you invest in an independent editorial set of eyes (you've become too close to the material over time); and that your book needs and deserves the benefit of professional book design and layout, not one-size-fits-all templates used by 10,000 other authors before you.

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Can't Sell Rotten Fish
by: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Stephen --

I absolutely agree with everything you've said.

In fact, I paid an editorial consultant a large sum of money because no one could figure out what the "one thing missing" was in my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT (http://www.mrslieutenant.com)

He was well worth the expenditure -- apparently the main problem was an unclear timeline.

I revised yet again (with a calendar in front of me so I could actually plot out the dates of the fictional story).

Then I started the self-publishing process while submitting the manuscript to the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition.

The editorial consultant surely helped because the novel was a semifinalist in the competition.

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Great help as usual!
by: P.I. Barrington

Once again great tips that I've come to expect here! Thanks for it all!

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