The Busy Writer's Book of Checklists by Marg McAlister Read Free Book Online

and attract lots of followers,
it can have a very positive effect on book sales.
    #  Search for and download a guide to
starting out with Twitter. There are plenty of them around, and you need to
understand what you are doing before you jump in. Charlene Kingston has created
an excellent guide called Twitter for Beginners. You can download it here: http://socialmediadiyworkshop.com/products/
    #  Set up a Twitter account at
http://twitter.com
    #  Your profile: Use your real name if
you want friends and other writers to be able to find you. (Your Twitter
username can be different.)
    #  Add your location (this is optional,
to let people know where you are in the world)
    #  Add your weblink (this can be to
your blog or website. If you have neither, you can build a Twitter landing
page.)
    #  Fill in your bio. (This has to be
SHORT, like all Twitter messages. You have only 160 characters, so make them
count!)
    #  Choose an appropriate UserName. This
should represent your book(s), your series, your business or your brand. Keep
this short, too. No spaces or punctuation.
    #  Upload an avatar (picture) so people
associate it with you. You can use anything you like, but mostly people prefer
to look at a face.
    #  To find people to follow: do a
search on Twitter for authors you like, or book bloggers, etc. Look for people
with a large following, and click 'follow' to get their tweets.
    #  Also browse around in the lists of
people that are following your favorite authors. Some of them will have large
groups of followers. You might like to follow them, too.
    #  Investigate programs like Hootsuite
to help you easily manage your Tweets and Facebook pages.
    #  Look for opportunities to tweet
about an interesting web site, a useful blog post, or offer advice to other
writers (pointing back to a page on your blog, perhaps.)
    #  Gradually build a relationship with
other people on Twitter. You will see your list of followers growing. Your
friends on Twitter will help to promote your books (and buy your books!)
    #  Don't follow EVERYONE back. You'll
have too many tweets to handle. Be selective. 

Checklist 20 – Your Writer’s
Network
    Work constantly on your writer's network.
You can make valuable contacts that will help you in many ways - by buying your
books, and helping you to promote them.
    #  Work out a list of what KIND of
people you want to add to your network. (Authors, potential critique partners,
book bloggers, industry professionals like editors and agents, POD publishers
etc.)
    #  Work out where you can FIND these
people. (Forums, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, GoodReads, Writers'
Centers, etc.)
    #  Spend time on these forums/blogs or
on Twitter and Facebook. (Create a Twitter account and Facebook page if you
need to.) Start commenting, offering help, and generally responding to people.
    #  Draw up a program for gradually
expanding your network by developing the contacts you have initiated. Aim to
become friends with them via blog comments, forum posts, Tweets and Facebook
comments, then IF there is a genuine relationship developing, become email
friends.
    #  Buy books by authors you like (to
support them, to give feedback and/or reviews, and to be able to discuss the
books in forums.)
    #  Establish a budget for conferences
and workshops if this is part of your plan. Choose functions where you can
expand both your knowledge AND your network.
    #  Aim for variety in your
friends/contacts. (E.g. authors you like, potential critique partners or
writers in the same genre, editors with a good knowledge of the industry, book
store owners, etc.)
    #  Create a contacts list/book (on your
computer or in a notebook). Keep up-to-date information about email addresses,
Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and blog/website addresses. Record the date of
any contact made (be brief - e.g. "Tweet" or "Facebook
comment" or "Blog response". Don't just contact people when you
want something - a genuine relationship goes both