HOW TO USE TWITTER TO INCREASE THE SALES OF YOUR BOOK

(The lovely cover image by the artist extraordinaire, Leonora Roy)

THREE SPIRIT KNIGHT is still struggling in its birth throes ...

Yet, when it is finally finished, I will use Twitter to help boost its sales.

Until then, I will help you boost your own sales using Twitter

1.) I'LL HAVE THE HASHBROWNS, IF YOU PLEASE:

If you’re not much of a Twitterer, you may not know what hashtags are, but if you’re trying to sell books, it’s something you should know.

The hash or number symbol (# – the character above three on a keyboard).

In Twitter, words with this symbol are identified as search terms for a tweet, in much the same way as tags are used for articles, blog posts, or products on Amazon.

You can attach #book, #ebook, #kindle, and/or #nook anytime you tweet about books, ebooks, or ereaders.

People who are looking for information about any of these, can search within Twitter or on Twitter-related sites like Twubs, Twibes, or Topsy for all tweets with those hashtags. This system takes the overwhelming mish-mash of sound bites that is Twitter and turns it into a useful, organized directory of information.

One hashtag that is particularly useful for authors is “#samplesunday”.

This hashtag is the brainchild of author David Wiseheart, who first proposed its use on his blog, “Kindle Author”.

The point of #samplesunday is to post an excerpt of your writing on your website, and then tweet about it with the hashtag #samplesunday.

You can then search for Sunday samples, read them, comment on them, and of course, retweet them. It’s a quick and easy way for authors to spread the word about their work and show it off to those who are looking for something new to read for the week.

{Many thanks to both David Wiseheart and Madeline Plimpton for these ideas.)

2.) HI-LINKS:

Always include a link to your website. Only one out of fifty will follow. But 100% of them will not go if you do not include the link. Use Bitly to shorten your link for more characters for your tweet.

3.) EXCUSE ME, BUT DO YOU EVER TAKE A BREATH?

Have you noticed how much BUY MY BOOK!!! is out there on the tweets? Use quirky, interesting questions to start a CONVERSATION. What a concept, right?

Invite tweeters opinions with polls, maybe even a contest concerning your book.

4.) HAVE YOU HEARD ...

People read twitter for news, gossip, the latest trends. If you heard of a juicy or interesting tidbit, tweet it and ask for opinions. Try to make only 1 out of 5 tweets about your book.

5.) I AM NOT ALEX CAVANAUGH. ARE YOU?

Alex visits 100 blogs a day! John Locke twittered hours a day at the start of his eBook Empire building.

Neither you nor I have that kind of job like Alex or are already a stay-at-home millionaire as John Locke was to have that kind of time.

So use your time wisely. USE TWITTER SEARCH to find Twitterers who have posted on the subject or genre of your book. Take an hour to tweet each and every person you discover. It may only garner you one buyer, but that buyer may tell others.

6.) TO HAVE A FRIEND, BE A FRIEND:

Re-tweet other people's tweets.

That means you must be on Twitter to see what others are tweeting about. It is not certain that they will return the favor, but you will have birthed gratitude in most of them. As a rare blood courier, I seldom find the time to surf the twitter waves. For all my friends who have re-tweeted my tweets, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

7.) HARD SELL IS NO SELL:

Social media does sell books, but only if you don’t use it to sell books.

If all you ever do is hawk your books on Twitter, all you will hear is the sound of one hand ... not clapping ... but tuning you out. Ouch!

If you want to spend money, you’d be far better off doing it on a Goodreads ad or a Kindle Nation sponsorship, i.e. a place where readers gather online.

8.) NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR BOOK:

Think of all the books you hear about on a daily basis ... from walking through a bookstore, browsing book reviews, gossip from friends, or looking at the headlines of Amazon.

It is very hard to get people to care enough about your book

that they go and buy it. It’s the hardest part.

And before you can even do that, you have to get them interested in the concept and before that ... interested in you.

How do you get people interested in you?

Be interested in them, their dreams and how they can possibly achieve them. Help them in some small way to do that ... and they will be interested in you enough to visit your blog ...

And perhaps take a gamble on your book. Think about it and try it to see if it works for you.