Things I Learned on Twitter...

Today this tweet crossed my path:

@DebNemeth Deborah Nemeth

Read a ms I like but am so disappointed by the author's outdated, amateurish website, TMI blog, & abandoned Twitter account.

Eek! That's not what you want to hear!

Here's the truth, we live in a digital age. Expect your name to be Googled. It takes less than ten seconds for the average person to pull up all the information under your name. And it better be good.

More and more author's are becoming a Brand Name.

When readers pick up your book they learn to expect a certain style, wit, and Voice. You are expected to deliver without fail. Not just in the book, but online as well.

Gone is the day when you can write the book, send it to New York, and never talk with a reader. Your readers won't just send fan-mail, they want to peek at your blog to see the book's backstory and find some gooshy tid-bits.

They want to friend you on Facebook, hoping to exchange a witty sally or two.

The readers expect to find you on Twitter talking about your book, your schedule, the next book, and other cool bits in between that make you real and fill in the gap between books.

Not every author is techno-savvy. That's okay, there ate ways to cheat.

Start with your main Home on the Web. Get a blog, and consider paying someone to design your website. I won't say you need the website before you query, but you need it by the time the ARCs go out.

Get in the scene. Join Twitter, link your Twitter to Facebook. It isn't hard. Now, get on Twitter occasionally.

Notice the editor's tweet about abandoned account? That happens, you get busy, you ditch the scene, but you need to plan your sabbaticals.

When your are querying, and right before your book comes out are not good times to vanish from the online world. Plan on being there, talking to people, and answering questions about the book. Although, the world will love you better if you don't spend your entire time on Twitter pimping your book. That's called spamming, and no one loves a spammer.


Is there any other advice you have for those authors just stumbling onto the online publishing scene? Where do they need to be? What do they need to say? What makes you follow a person and pick up their book just because of their online presence?