I don't know if anyone else gets the Writer's Digest e-mail, but I read an article today that I found interesting. Although the article is mostly Twitter quotes, one quote I found interesting was from @DavidRozansky: "I have acquired more than a dozen potential new authors for our house via Twitter pitches."
I never thought that would be an option. I don't know what publishing house he is with but as difficult it is to write a query letter, writing a "Twitter Pitch" would be even more difficult. So, I tried it with my next project.
I had already gotten the pitch for my next project down to a couple sentences earlier this week. So, writing this Twitter Pitch was not too bad. It was an interesting exercise if you want to try it. Just think on how quick we can get rejected via Twitter. :-)
Oh, no. I hate twitter. Something else I'm going to have to grit my teeth and put up with for the love of writing.
Posted by WBSchmidt (Member # 8533) on :
I agree with you. A blog I don't mind so much (even though I have not posted on mine in a while). I can see using Twitter to run live chats but to keep up with post on a daily basis seems like such a Time Suck that I don't know that I would like that.
Now, if I never get published then I won't have to worry about these things.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
You don't have to use twitter if you find it impossible. It's pretty obvious when you watch twitter for a while who gets the format and who is using it just because they've been told to/think they're supposed to/are doing some sort of weird advertising gimmicky thing. (Not that anyone here would think of such a thing, of course...LOL)
It's just another tool in the toolbox. You don't have to use it. I don't write in first person, for the most part, even though I know how to do it and all that. I just don't care to use that particular tool (but - the important lesson there is: it's worth the investment of your time to analyze the tool and understand how it works/what it's good for, even if you then choose to ignore it.)
Twitter is making a big difference in some literary circles, others it hasn't had an impact on at all. I've been able to get in touch with agents via twitter that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Your mileage may vary.
Posted by steffenwolf (Member # 8250) on :
This is the best reason I've heard to be interested in Twitter, but I just don't think I could do it. Facebook and foruming already take up way too much of my time.
I can see its use as a marketing tool, but for me I just don't think it would be a worthwhile trade for the time I'd put into it. Luckily Anthony does the Twitter thing, so he can use it to promote Diabolical Plots instead of me.
Posted by AWSullivan (Member # 8059) on :
I follow David and he is a twitter-holic for sure. No one spams my twitter feed like he does. On the other hand, he is reaping considerable rewards. In all honesty, I can imagine sending my first novel to him when it's ready.
Twitter, in my opinion, has two potential values.
1) Communication with friends/family/etc. The only way this is valuable is if all your friends and family also use twitter.
2) Marketing. I really think this is where it comes into its own. We use twitter to market Diabolical Plots. I also follow several publications (Apex, Fantasy Magazine, etc) so that I know what is going on in their microcosm.
I think everyone should have a twitter account. you can set them up so that they don't deliver to your phone and then you aren't constantly bombarded by messages. Then read them at your leisure.
~Anthony
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
Is a Twitter account worthwhile if the user logs in a few times a week?
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Twitter, like all online tools, is what you make of it. It can be useful in bursts. Frankly, I'm not able to keep up with my twitter stream in a real-time way, it's way too busy. Instead I use it like a barometer. I look in sometimes to see what people are talking about. A lot of the people I follow do a lot of link posting, so I check out some links (many of the best of which are also on my facebook friendfeed, so I find I can rely on facebook for the highlights of the highlights...)
But absolutely you can use twitter a couple times a week. If you really want to become a part of the twitter community, I think those folks are daily posters/contributers and they respond to other people's posts and re-tweet the content they really like (re-tweeting is usually indicated with an "RT" at the beginning of a tweet.)
