1. When you start your tweet with the @ symbol, your whole tweet stream doesn’t see what you’re tweeting.
Starting with the @ creates a reply. Not a broadcast to your tweetstream. So only the person you “replied” to and those who follow both of you will see it. In other words: starting a promotional tweet with an @ is ineffective and wrong.
@angelajames taught me something new about Twitter today (only I and people following both of us will see this tweet. Sad. I want people to know how awesome I am!)
If you absolutely want to start with that person’s name, you can get around this by simply adding a period at the beginning of the tweet.
Ie: .@angelajames taught me something new about Twitter today.
Nathan Bransford wrote a great blog post about this more in depth.
2. If you have your tweets protected, and you tweet me, and I’m not following you, I do not see you tweeting me.
Here’s the thing: By locking your twitter account, you’ve told Twitter you don’t want people who aren’t following you to see your tweets. Twitter assumes you don’t want ANYONE who doesn’t follow you to see your tweets. Including people you’re trying to talk directly to. So if you follow me, and you see me tweet something you want to talk about with me, and you tweet me? I have no idea you’re tweeting me. I don’t see it. You don’t exist for me on Twitter.
Essentially, by locking your account, you’re creating a very small circle of people you can have a conversation with. If you’re an author, this makes Twitter a lot less effective as a promotional tool. How are you going to get new people to follow you if they can’t see you conversing with others? Also? A large percentage of people don’t want to follow you before they can see what your account is like. Is stopping a few spammers from entering your tweet stream really worth the promo effectiveness you’re giving up by locking your account?Also? A lot of people assume you must really think you’re someone special if you’re locking your account. It can give a negative impression, which is a bit counter-intuitive to the purposes of social media.
3. You should not, really ever, I mean never, query or pitch an editor or agent on Twitter, unless they’ve specifically said: “Please query me on Twitter.” and you have confirmed with them that it’s actually okay to query them on Twitter.
Do I really need to explain any more about this? Please use each editor or agent’s individual submission guidelines and system to query.
4. Please don’t use Twitter DMs (or Facebook messages) to do business with an editor/agent unless they somehow initiate that with you.
If you want to ask an editor or agent a specific question about a business matter, please tell them that and ask if you could get their email address. People actually do business with me a lot via DMs and messages and, the truth is, I’d much rather have everything like that in my inbox. It allows the editor or agent time to absorb and think about their reply, as well as sort, forward, save the info and otherwise reply with full words and a professionally worded email rather than, “Not sure what U R asking. Can U give me more deets, plz?” because they only have 140 characters in which to reply. It also allows YOU to look more professional! Try not to think of Twitter or Facebook as a substitute for a professional email.
5. Just because the editor/agent is on Twitter at 11pm on a Friday night, it doesn’t mean they want to do work, think about work, or answer questions about work on Twitter at 11pm on a Friday night. Or 8am on a Sunday morning.
Twitter makes remembering there are boundaries more hard. Sometimes we editors and agents also make that hard to remember because we talk about more than just business, and sometimes we talk about business at odd hours of the day and night.
But still, do try not to tweet, message or DM us on the weekend or late at night about work. Of course it’s okay to say “I’m reading a book you edited and I love it!” But that’s a lot different than hearing “Your autoresponder isn’t working, what should I do?” at 5pm on a Saturday.
We actually already work pretty long hours, especially since most work reading and a lot of editing is done outside of normal work hours. And if you ask us a question when we’re obviously on Twitter, we’ll feel obligated to answer it so we don’t look like a douche. But it’s forcing us back into work mode during off-hours and we’d think you were awesome if you tried not to do that.
Remember, we might be “us” as editors and agents on Twitter, but we’re also just as often “us” as everyday people there too, and we use it for fun, so just because you see us there, don’t automatically think we should be available for work questions.
6. When we say you should “engage” on Twitter, we mean you should move outside your own tweetstream.
This one has a few parts. First, this means replying to the people who reply to you. Okay, not every tweet, but a good percentage of them. The more followers you have, the harder this will be. (trust me, I know this). Use your common sense about what you should respond to!
This also means moving outside your own tweets replies, and replying to others. Engaging people is a great way to get more followers. And it also makes you seem more interesting!
(as an aside: if you have a Facebook profile or page, you should be monitoring it. Don’t assume no one is posting there. Monitor and reply to reasonable things!)
7. You should be talking about other people’s books. Or other publishers’ books.
To be honest, I think there are a lot of people who can take this advice, not just authors. Editors and agents are guilty of only talking about their own stuff as well. But talking about other people’s work makes you look like more than just a promotional machine, it makes you look like a reader. You know, the people who make the industry go round? You appear more engaged with and interested in books when you talk about other people’s work, not just the stuff you have a direct connection to.
So don’t be afraid to talk about other people’s books, RT other authors’/publishers’ contests or info. You’ll look engaged with what’s going on with others in the industry and you’ll also spread goodwill!
8. And while we’re on the subject of promotion, you shouldn’t be going into someone’s tweetstream to promote to spam them.
Your promo should be done in your own stream, where people choose to follow you and read it. You shouldn’t be doing this:
@angelajames, My book, Circles of Hell, released to day. I KNOW you’ll love it. Buy it here:
Think of Twitter a bit like an email inbox: if someone didn’t invite you to send them a newsletter or promotional email, you shouldn’t be sending it (there are actually laws against this). Twitter isn’t regulated by law, but it should still be regulated by common courtesy: don’t go into someone else’s stream, where they don’t get to choose to read your tweets, and promote to them. Just. Don’t. Do it. You might find yourself in trouble with Twitter, for one thing, because if a lot of people block you and report you for spam (I do this if you promote to me uninvited) and your tweetstream shows a clear pattern of @’ing people with promotional messages, you can get your account shut down.
9. It’s a good idea to be mindful of what you’re tweeting.
If your bad days are the the norm, rather than the exception, you might want to disengage from talking about your personal life, or what’s going on with you, and keep your tweets related more to hobbies, reading, writing, etc.
If you tend to be sarcastic, or passive-aggressive, or find yourself being coy while complaining about something someone did, without naming names, try to keep in mind that this can create an overall negative impression of you if you do it often.
Have an opinion about politics, religion, the news, something having in the publishing industry but don’t be surprised if someone takes exception to it!
And if you feel really, really, really emotionally charged about something, type the tweet in a separate document, like Word or Notepad, and let it rest for a half hour, hour or half a day. If you still think it’s a good idea to post it after that, then go. Just remember, the internet is forever. 
10. Twitter should be fun.
If it’s not fun for you, don’t do it. Find another social media or promotional vehicle. If you feel like you’re being forced to be on Twitter, and it’s sucking the life out of you, you’re likely not going to be effective at it. Go ahead and find a different thing that suits you better.
Didn’t know about the thing about not starting a general tweet with @! Thanks!
I didn’t realize #1 either. Thanks for letting us know. #9 I unfollow so many people because of THIS alone. I get the occasional bad day but ALL THE TIME, ugh. And a lot of people don’t realize #10, if you’re not into it, you will not be effective. Great post!
A big thanks for this. Am on twitter and didn’t know some of these things.
It’s also good to be reminded about the appropriate tweet-iquette, because i am not always sure – I think it’s the difference between letting people know what I am doing and shoving things in their face (*gulp*!)
Chewers
Excellent post! I’m relatively new to Twitter, though very internet savvy. I was relieved to see that I have thus far avoided the pitfalls you mentioned. At the risk of sounding a bit cynical toward folks who make those mistakes, I must say to me it comes down to having good professional judgment.
It’s also enlightening to finally know how to limit tweets by beginning with the @ symbol. This is good for stubborn know-it-alls like me who don’t always bother to read a new toy’s directions.
Lastly, thank you for mentioning the value of reaching out and engaging others. Etiquette is clearly important in any social medium, and I’ve been trying to let twitter’s sink in through osmosis. This post saved me some time.
This is great advice, thank you for sharing it. I’m new to Twitter and had no idea about #1, and needed a reminder to do more of #7.
I recently began Tweeting, but honestly haven’t had time to sift through the do’s and don’ts. Thank you for a very informative post!!
The “just because you’re on Twitter doesn’t mean you’re working” thing is something a lot of people struggle with. I had somebody cop an attitude with me for not responding to what she thought was an urgent email within an hour when she KNEW I was online because she saw me on Twitter.
Yeah. Sometimes I’m killing 45 seconds standing in line at Walmart or a couple of minutes in the bank drive-thru. Or I’m watching a show “with” Twitter during prime-time and I’m not working, or I got sick of the computer screen and shut my Macbook down. I also hate dealing with email while I’m mobile and rarely check it that way.
In short, just because a person popped up on Twitter doesn’t mean they’re “in the office”, so to speak.
This is a fantastic post. A lot of people get onto Twitter and forget about professionalism and how their behaviour online can impact on their success with agents and editors.
#7 is a big issue with me. I just unfollowed someone because just about all her tweets were “Buy my book.”
I was completely flummoxed when I learned #1. Realized much of what I’d been tweeting for several months had been to a limited audience.
#10 is key. I repeat it to my friends/writing peeps whenever we talk about Twitter. So many authors feel pressured into using Twitter (because they reportedly are as their editors/agents apparently insist on it). The first and last thing I say is that if you don’t like it, then it’s not the right social medium for you. Me, I love it.
Thanks for the great tips, Angela!
Wow! These are great tips. I didn’t realize #1 either. I loved your advice given in #7. I recently joined several other authors and we all help to promote each other on Twitter and other social media. It is a great way to spread goodwill!
Excellent advice for EVERYONE, not just authors.
This is a nice list of tips. Another thing people may not realize is that Twitter has a bit of a mini-ceiling limit of 2000 followers, if you are follwing too many people. If the readers search for “Twitter 2000 follower limit” they should find plenty of info about it. It’s a following to follower ratio issue. Just be mindful of who you follow or you’ll have to dig through your followers pretty hard and thin them out in order to follow other people who perhaps interest you more. Just FYI.
Thanks again for posting this!
This is a great list! I am not a fan of the initial direct message that some people send asking you to check out their work. Try to have a conversation with me.
I have to object to one tiny item in 9, respectfully:
“Have an opinion about politics, religion, the news, something having in the publishing industry but don’t be surprised if someone takes exception to it!”
I have made a point to treat twitter like a dinner party and avoid politics and religion. There have been some authors that tweet things so far right wing or left wing, I’ve unfollowed them. We’re all allowed different opinions. I am happy that we live in a country that gives us this right, but I don’t want you ramming your beliefs down my throat. Even if a person tweets something I agree with, I say, “Twitter is not the place for this.”
If person says something negative about something I that is serious and that I love, I’d prefer not to read it.
I avoided Twitter for a long time, since I didn’t realize how much fun it would be. Maybe I never should have found out! LOL I’ve “met” such great people, and we have a lot of fun conversations.
The one thing I didn’t know about when I started was the @ mentions, so I accidentally ignored a lot of people because I didn’t realize there was a separate listing of tweets that were directed specifically to me. This happens a lot to new folks, so I don’t think anyone gets upset about it. And Twitter seems to be doing a lot of renovating lately, so it might be easy to overlook those @ mentions again when things get moved around.
Great post! I had no idea starting a tweet with @ blocked it from the majority of my stream. Thanks for the heads-up.
Solid advice, far too many writers still make the same mistakes. Dumping promos into your stream 4x an hour doesn’t get you anywhere. Support your community and they support you.
One thing I should mention about talking/hawking up other books: I’ve spent many years as a music journalist doing just that – well, other people’s music, but you get the point. And I also ran for a brief period a book blog. However, I feel the practice for me can veer closely into exploitation, especially if one is an aspiring author. No one should consciously offer themselves up as pawns in a marketing plan, unless they truly feel the work is worth it. You have to make sure the emphasis is on your own work and career, not someone else’s.
Of course, any author should understand you owe anyone who would go out of their way to support you early on – particularly a stranger – is owed a great debt. Just finishing a book doesn’t make you a genius. This should be self-evident, but it’s often forgotten by most new authors empowered by the rise of self-publishing and the success stories we’ve seen in this field. So it’s good, although difficult, to find that balance between serving your audience and taking care of oneself. But you only have to see how the big boys/girls do it to realize it’s possible.
Lots to chew on here–great advice. I should talk more about books, and I didn’t realize that about the @ starting a tweet. Glad I found out!
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Great list!
My favorite is #10.
Awesome tips. Good to see I’m on the right track. On my way to rt it.
Thanks! I needed quite a bit of that information, as I’ve recently begun wading into the waters of Twitter and sometimes I think the current is too swift!
I just sent out a tweet starting with @ just before I read this post, so #1 is golden. Thanks!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing the knowledge. Appreciate it very much!
Nicola Morgan has a great book out called ‘Tweet Write’ – it’s on KIndle as well as a print copy – she agrees with all of this.
Timely warnings for me as I begin to promote a series of ebooks. Thank you!