How Often Should I Tweet?

It's a common misconception that people on Twitter will think you are spamming them if you tweet about your new book all day long. But let's look at how repeated messages play out.

I'm promoting my other blog, the Blood-Red Pencil, like crazy today because I'm hosting a blog book tour stop over there. I'm interviewing Jodi Carmichael about her first chapter book published by Little Pickle Press.

So to promote Spaghetti Is NOT a Finger Food, the book in question, makes my Twitter page look something like this:

But it's important to remember that my posts won't run sequentially like this on YOUR Twitter page. They'll be interspersed in your Twitter stream among all the other folks you're following and who are tweeting, and the more you have, the less likely you'll see my tweets sequentially. In fact, if you have thousands of tweeps you're following, you may never see my tweets. So don't worry about looking like a spammer when you promote anything. Does that make sense?

Of course, I also like to mix it up by re-tweeting other unrelated information, adding some thoughts and quotes, just being a normal, sharing person along with promoting. The more value I add to my Twitter stream, the more people will like me.

Having said all that, keep in mind that Twitter doesn't like you to re-tweet the exact same thing more than once, so you do have to mix up your words a bit. That can be as simple as posting the same promotion, but with a different hashtag reaching out to various groups. You'll noticed I've used #kidlit as well as #Aspergers.

Tomorrow I'll talk a bit about HootSuite, which I use to queue up a bunch of posts to release on Twitter when I'm busy doing something else and can't tweet live. It's a handy tool.

And, yes, this re-tweet is absolutely true today:

RT @kitereaders: Get "Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food" for #FREE today on #Amazon! http://amzn.to/10P6Okw  @LPP_Media @Jodi_Carmichael #kidlit
 

Bolstering Your Enthusiasm

If you need a little help with enthusiasm, whether tackling daily blogging or starting your NaNoWriMo adventure, take some hints from the newest editor at The Blood-Red Penci blog. Here is a list of affirmations that can keep you inspired from day-to-day. You just need to stay optimistic - that's half the battle!

You might also want to check Craig Lancaster's three posts from last week. Craig is on a blog book tour for his new release, 600 Hours of Edward, which was his first NaNoWriMo attempt in last year's contest. It's quite a story.

Headline Bloopers

Head over to The Blood Red Pencil where Marv Wilson has us all rolling in the aisles over real headline bloopers. While you're laughing, take a look at your own blog titles. Do some of them sound a little funny? They made so much sense when you wrote that blog post, but maybe they're a little off when you see them with a fresh look.

It never hurts to go back and look at your old writing. While you're there, edit the bloopers out of the post itself. We all have typos, grammatical goofs, and punctuation errors that we overlook. As a writer, you need to correct your mistakes, even after-the-fact. It's never too late to put your best foot forward.

Be sure to bookmark and follow The Blood Red Pencil where you'll get ongoing advice not only about revising and editing your book manuscript, but other writing and publishing tips as well.

Correcting Your Errors

The Blood Red Pencil recently had a good entry about editing blog posts. There's a traditional school of thought that, once the blog publishes, it lives as is - correct or riddled with errors. I completely disagree, and the reasons mentioned here are valid. Be sure to read the dozen or so comments for how other writers feel about the subject.

Now go read through your own blog posts for the past week, correct any grammatical errors, and while you're at it, check the flow of your posts from day-to-day. Bottoms up, of course.