Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“Writers need to think of Twitter as the largest cocktail party in the world where you can mingle away with fellow writers ,editors, publishers and friends from all over the world.”
Editor Alan Rinsler, “Strategic Tweeting for Authors on his blog, The Book Deal.
When I joined Twitter back in 2010, I did so reluctantly and cautiously, asking myself the following questions:
How can I say anything significant in 140 characters?
Who would even care what I had to say?
How could something called Twitter be a serious platform?
I did it because I was told I had to if I wanted to build an audience and establish an online presence.
I liked it right away when I found I could connect with people– publishers, agents, authors and writers, like myself who were just getting started.
As a nurse, I was accustomed to communicating information about patients in concise, pertinent ways, whether it be to report information to the next shift or update a physician on a patient’s changing status.
Report the facts, just the facts to convey the priority information.
Soon these connections led to requests for guest posts and ideas for my own blog posts.
I began to enjoy meeting so many new people who helped me in my writing journey. This guest post on Shirley Showalter’s blog spells out how I learned to use Twitter strategically.
I then began to meet some of the people behind the tweets either in-person at writer’s conferences or online in other arenas.
Relationships were forged. Bonds developed. I began to feel like I knew these people even though I had not met them in person.
Then something magical happened one day…
Freelance author and editor Robin Flanigan @thekineticpen reached out to me on Twitter. She told me she resonated with my profile and wanted to connect.
A conversation ensued and before we knew it, we discovered that she lived in the vicinity of Keuka Lake where I spend my birthday week every year at the family cottage. Her daughter would be attending a day camp right down the road from where our cottage was the week I would be there.
Coincidence? Serendipity?
Not only that, we also discovered that our birthdays were one day apart.
We planned a face-to-face meeting at the cottage:
We sat on the patio overlooking the lake and talked for three hours non-stop. Lost in our own writerly world, we chattered on as my grandsons ran in and out of the cottage on their various quests and the rest of my family walked past us. They’re used to my writing zones and didn’t even try to engage with us as we soaked up each other’s projects.
We were in our own little world but the difference was we were sitting across from each other on a picture-perfect sunny July day talking about writing and reveling in our shared interests.
We did take time from our chatter to snap this photo on the beach before Robin left:
It was magical and it all started on Twitter.
Real and wonderful people are behind all those tweets.
Robin will be my guest next week, Monday 8/12. She has a fascinating story behind the story of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and the memoir she is working on. She will also give away a copy of the anthology, Silent Embrace:Perspectives on Birth and Adoption in which she has an essay, “Moving Close.”
How about you? Have you found Twitter to be a useful tool in making meaningful connections?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Announcement: Congratulations, Joan Z Rough! Your name was selected random drawing of commenters to receive Eleanor Vincent’s memoir, Swimming with Maya.
This week: I’m also over at Mary Gottschalk‘s blog with a guest post. Mary is the author of a compelling memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. She has written a novel, A Fitting Place and is starting a series of guest posts on issues related to her protagonist, Lindsey. The topic of my guest post is “Getting Past Self-Defeating Behaviors.” Hope you’ll stop by there ,too.
Thursday, 8/8/13: ” The Healing Power of Poetry in Memoir: An Interview with Louise Matthewson.” Louise will give away a copy of her memoir, A Life Interrupted: Living with Brain Injury”, a collection of transformative poetry, to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
Kathy,
I saw firsthand how strategically you used Twitter to promote my guest post. I’m grateful and pretty blown away by your social media skills. I have so much to learn!
Eleanor, You’re too kind. Twitter is great once you get the hang of it. I appreciate your comments. We ALL have so much to learn and it’s wonderful how we can come together and share with one another.
Kathy, what an amazing Twitter story. That you and Robin were able to meet each other at your summer cottage “right down the road” from her daughter’s day camp is truly magical.
Yes, Barbara, it really did feel magical and I just couldn’t not share it!
You’re right, Kathy. These magical moments really happen from so many social media sites which many authors might be intimidated to try. Twitter and Google Plus are great sites to be involved with that also aren’t being utilized well. And, as you said, it’s more about participating and networking than promotional efforts. I just wrote a blog post on this very subject about the power of little comments.
So nice to have you stop by, Jason! Thanks for the link to your post. I just left a comment. I agree, it’s all about networking vs focusing on promotional activities. Twitter and Google+ are great sites for making meaningful connections. EVERYONE, if you haven’t met Jason, be sure to check out his Indie Author Hangouts with Marla Miller every Monday via Google+, at 6PM PDT.Here’s a link to last week’s session:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Rhxvt6Kg4
I love Twitter for finding interesting new friends all over the world. I also use it for getting myself and my books known worldwide, and for helping other authors get known as Kathy kindly does. I pass on their tweets and links and sometimes promote their books using my own complimentary tweets. Great way to make friends, network, share the love, and find opportunities. Other social networks are good for this, too, but I find Twitter and Facebook groups the most fun and beneficial.
Thanks for sharing, Linda. There are so many ways to connect and I think we all have to find what what’s for us.I appreciate you stopping by to comment and for all the ways you connect!
Kathy, I still go back to that Twitter blog post you did for me and I’m still in awe of your ability to use that platform strategically. Somehow Twitter always seems to be the last place I visit as I tend my social media fields. What a good reminder to look for and find other kindred spirits tweeting away. Birthday blessings to you and Robin.
Shirley, Being your guest was a highlight for me! I’m happy you enjoyed the post. I don’t think I realized the full extent of Twitter’s use until I wrote that post. Learning how to make it work has been the key for me in experiencing its effectiveness. Thank you for your birthday blessings which go to you as well.
Twitter is definitely a great way to connect with others. This is how I found my copyeditor and we still keep in touch.
Andrea, It really is great when meaningful connections are made, like you have found in meeting your copy editor. I’m thrilled that we met as well on Twitter! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate your ongoing support.
What an inspirational post you’ve written about the benefits of writers using Twitter, Kathy! My son is a BIG fan of Twitter and has helped me get started using it. To this early point, however, I fail to see its benefit, but I’m reserving judgment. I’ve heard too much about how useful it can be, so perhaps I just need to try harder to forge those connections!
Oh, Debbie, you’ve got to get on Twitter, especially since you have a built-in coach with Domer. Once you get the hang of it, you can make it work for you, I,e, scheduling tweets, developing lists, following other fiction writers using Hootesuite or Tweetdeck. I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can. Let me know! Thanks , as always for chiming in.
This gave me goosebumps, Kathy! What a wonderful connection just from using Twitter. I’ve had similar things happen with people I’ve met via Facebook, who then actually stayed with me when they were traveling. It was so fun meeting someone in person who had been helping me, and I, them.
Thank you also for the link to your article on using Twitter. I want to challenge myself to use that better as I still am not quite sure how. But your article helped. As well as the class we are both in with Dan right now. I feel myself beginning to feel that with what we’ve learned recently, and with the spreadsheets that I can actually make this much more manageable… and ultimately create some wonderful relationships. Just like I have with you!
-Barbara
Barbara, I agree. The hardest part is learning how to use Twitter to your best advantage. Once you do, it is an amazing tool for connecting with people, on and offline…wonderful ones, like you! IMO, the benefits far outweigh the learning curve. Dan’s “Roadmap to Readers” course has helped things come together for me as well. I downloaded the trial for Highrise’s productivity program and already feel the advantage of organizing my contacts in one place. So glad the article I did for Shirley was helpful. If I can help you in any other way, I’m only a tweet away 🙂
Kathy
I am probably the weird one of the bunch here in that I’m not a huge fan of Twitter. I know it’s a valid social networking site and I’m not opposed to using it. However, I feel this impending sense of bombardment when I read through the tweets. I want to click on all of them and visit the sites that are being linked but I’m always behind with visiting the sites on my Feedly and keeping up with everything makes me kind of crazy like running in a thousand directions at once.
That said, I think it’s wonderful that you were able to connect with Robin, Kathy. This just shows the power of the Internet in bringing people together. I love it! Great story.
NO ,Grace,you are not weird for not being a fan of Twitter! It is an individual preference. I love your description of “an impending sense of bombardment”…which is very realistic and understandable. For me , it has been like taming a beast and training it to work for me, not the other way around. But I started out liking Twitter and wanted to make it work for me. We all have to go with what works for us. It’s nice that we have many options, other than Twitter,to do so. I’m glad you enjoyed the story of meeting with Robin. Thanks , as always for stopping by and for your ongoing support.
This is so inspiring, Kathy. I’ve been AWOL from Twitter lately, but at the same time I’ve been gaining followers and following interesting-looking people. Your post makes me want to get over there and see what I’ve been missing. Thanks!
Hey, Lynne, Nice to see you! Glad you enjoyed the story of how Robin and I found each other on Twitter. Good things happen when like-minded people hang out on Twitter!