#This! A writer’s Social Media Friend

Check out John McCarthy’s posts & other publications and follow @JMcCarthyEdS or Subscribe for news about his new instructional book coming in early 2017.

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I like to write at my favorite watering hole: Starbucks. The place might vary but the “feel” is the same. So much so, that every Starbucks I spend time in is like a reflective copy of “the one” I visit in the multidimensional worlds. It just so happened that I ran into one of my writer friends and fellow Deadwood Writer, Diana Hirsch @dianahirsch (See her publications at http://dwhirsch.com). She also seems to live and travel among Starbucks, but usually in different dimensional paths than me. Her travels are well recorded. What makes mentioning her in this particular post serendipitous is that Diana does great work with social media marketing regarding her publications and life as an author.

An author is metaphorically and in reality an independent business. Self promotion is integral to their making a living. One author once recruited me to be her publicist for a novel. She said, “I need you to promote my book so that I can focus on writing my next book. I only want to write, not do the promotional work.” I gently turned her down. There is no better promoter than the author. Yet, I understand her feelings as the process for marketing is daunting. Where to start? How do you get the word out? Hashtags is one answer.

In social media, hashtags (or the # pound sign) represents categories for conversation. People follow the ones that represents their interests. For example, I follow:

#2Write

#AmWriting

#Dwriters

Here is a sample from Caitlin Muir “44 essential twitter hashtags every author should know”

#AmEditing

#WordCount

#WriterWednesday

#WritersLife

#YALitChat

#LitChat

#MemoirChat

#BookMarket

#ScriptChat

#PoetTues

#ZineChat

#WritingParty

#IndieAuthors

#WriteChat

#NaNoWriMo

#PBLitChat

Hashtags work with many social media tools such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Search for them and follow the conversations. When you are ready, reply back or share the posts in your social media of choice.

For authors looking to promote their published work, add hashtags to a social media post. That way, those who follow the hashtag will see your post. Share the post 3 times in a week for 3 weeks. Use different social media tools to get out the word.

Not using hashtags is like shouting in a dark auditorium. You have no idea who heard you, nor if anyone is around. A hashtag lights of the room and ensures that all who are listening (to the hashtag) gets the message.

Upcoming Posts This Month

• June 2: Erica Stensrud – Do We Remember?
  Here is a special post to honor the men and women who enlist. They are all important and should be remembered. Read the first from Erica, a new voice, who we hope to see more posts in the future.
• June 5: Jeanette A – Fallout 3: WTF Moments
  Ever played the games Fallout 3 or Fallout Vegas? Here’s a unique look at the game by a writer who plays the games in an unorthodox and successful way.
• June 6: Barbara Pattee – The Trip of a Lifetime: Australia and New Zealand – Part 2
  The adventures continue as Barbara regales us on her amazing travel halfway across the globe from home.
• June 8: Karen Kittrell – Give it to me straight: Fates and furies, Part 1 of 3
  Sequential plots, fractured plots, and story arc – Karen has it all in this deconstruction of a novel that gives insights into author craft. Read alongside her with a critical author’s eye.
• June 15: Jon Reed – Bones
  Jon has the gift to make a true story about a fractured bone compelling and humorous. Become drawn into his latest personal adventure.
• June 18: Diana Hirsch – @dianahirsch – Coffeeshop Chronicles
  Follow the monthly caffeinated escapades and explore life, opinions and values through coffeeshops, even if you’re a tea drinker.  You never know.
• June 21: Claire Murray – Chautauqua
  It begins by asking what do you think when you hear the name Chautauqua, Chautauqua, New York? It talks about The Chautauqua being an adult educational experience in the 18th and 19th centuries and how Road Scholar has continued that tradition. It ends by agreeing with Theodore Roosevelt that it is “the most American thing in America”.
• June 24: Sue Remisiewicz – @SueRemi – Lunch With a Stranger
  Will a casual encounter during lunch become something more for Alice? Find out in this new piece of flash fiction.