Friday 7 September 2018

My First Year as a Twittering Author - brilliant!


by Em Lynas

First, I need to say  I did not want to join Twitter because I didn't 'get it'.

What was the point of twitter?
Who was tweeting who and why.
What was the point of me tweeting?
Would it be time consuming?
Would there would be NASTY TROLLS!
Would it ALWAYS be confrontational so I wouldn't say what I really thought in case I was rounded upon by the aforementioned NASTY TROLLS!
And - the clincher - Donald Trump is on twitter.

But when I was lucky enough to get a three book deal with Nosy Crow!






I was advised to tweet if I was comfortable doing it.

So I had a go but I was thinking this:

WHY!?!?!
What the heck do I say?
Buy my book? No.
Who should I follow? (Not Donald Trump)
Should I just like lots of tweets? Is that stalking?
Should I retweet EVERTHING by EVERYONE to make friends?
Shouldn't I be writing? 

But then I thought:
Oooo look! I can quote a retweet with a comment EXCITING!
Oooo look! I can see who other people are following and follow them!
Oooo look! People are following me! (Not Donald Trump)
Oooo look! Someone has retweeted me! With a comment!
Oooo look I've been #FF'd  (Follow Fridays)

And then I thought:
This is fun.
This is time consuming.
But is it useful?

YES! It's all three because this is what I have DISCOVERED on Twitter in just one year of twittering:

ONE
Fantastic book bloggers like
Jo Clarke @bookloverJo
Catherine Friess @storysnug
LibraryGirlAndBookBoy @BookSuperhero2

TWO
Teachers who LOVE BOOKS
ScoobieSue

THREE
Authors who are SO SUPPORTIVE
@BB_Taylor_

FOUR
Initiatives to encourage reading for pleasure
North Somerset CBG and the NorthSomersetTeachersBookAwards #NSTBA

FOUR
Organisations like:

FIVE:
And these twitter interactions led to invites:

One:
To join in with the Great North Author Tour organised by Richard and Mel of Drake's Bookshop

Two:
To pop in for book signings in
Waterstones in Harrogate, Yarm and Middlesbrough
Indie Bookshops such as - Seven Stories where I got to write and draw in the Visitor Book!

Three:
To teachers getting in touch to book school visits which is fantastic because I LOVE being with the kids especially the ones who know my books better than I do.

Picture by Richard Drake - Hats by me.

This is just a flavour of why I am now a twitter fan. I've only just touched on the fabulous community of author, illustrators, librarians, bloggers and teachers who all have one thing in common - they love books for children.

I have a feeling I'll be updating this post as I remember the people I've missed out! 

@emlynas

11 comments :

  1. So pleased for you, Maureen! And congratulations on completing your three books! Lived book one, and I am looking forward to reading the other two!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Candy. It feels odd to be moving on to other stories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brilliant, Maureen! I recommend Witch School all over the place (including Twitter). I find Twitter very useful especially recently as I've joined #bookpenpals but I have to be disciplined!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too. The more people you follow the longer it takes too because there is such a lot of interesting stuff going on.

      Delete
  4. fab article to encourage others who may feel a little daunted by the world of twitter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks BB - I'm just about to add you to the post! I've missed off so many fabulously supportive folk because I had to write quickly. You've been amazingly supportive xxx

      Delete
  5. Thank you for the shout out Maureen. You forgot to mention that you were a great star guest in #funnybookchat last week :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a fantastic first year you’ve had! I can’t wait to see what the future holds and possibly have you back on #FunnyBookChat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to come back, it was a lot easier than I expected. Thanks for having me!

      Delete
  7. I hesitated with Twitter years ago, too, because I didn't get it either! now it is hard to keep me off of it.

    ReplyDelete

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