By no means am I the guru of Twitter or Instagram, but I did learn a few things over the years. Here’s  a few tips for managing  social media.

Twitter:

1. Make sure your Twitter name is the same as your author name. For example: I’m @lzmarieauthor ( lzmarie was already taken ) on one and @azlynrichards on the other.
2. Write a great bio.  Tweak as needed. Include relevant hashtags. These are mine. Include website link.

3.  Upload a cute pic of YOU. No dogs, cats, wedding pics, or cartoons. Readers want to see YOUR face.

4. Upload a great header. It can be your upcoming or latest release, or a photo of all your books. If you’re not published yet, use the header image from your website. Folks recognize images so keep social media images/headers/colors/font consistent. I plan on running a contest soon so I’ve even designed the contest photo to have the same thematic look as my website.

Twitter basics:

1. In the beginning, you’ll have to mine/excavate/dig for followers. That’s easy.
2. Go to the search bar and type in a key word, for example your genre, ( use # ) and follow anyone ( well, use your discretion ) who used it. This is done best on the computer, not your phone, because you can read their bio.
3. Find authors in your genre, click their followers list, and follow their followers.
4. Follow back people who follow you! Unless their spammers or people with a zillion followers who follow only a few.
5. Follow book bloggers. Search #blogging or #blogger. I’ve found the more followers I had the more likely a book blogger would follow me back.
6. Mine regularly.
7. Building followers takes time. Mine for followers while standing in line at grocery store, watching TV, or waiting for the pasta to cook.
8. Tweet times. There are stats on best tweeting times. I do best with morning and evening.
9. Answer back—engage.
10. See what and how authors in your genre are tweeting. Do what they do if they have a lot of engagement, RT’s, and likes. Remember, anything JK Rollins or James Patterson says will be popular, so don’t use them as a model.
11. Don’t use an auto message. Nobody likes those. They’re annoying. When a new follower tweets that they followed me, I tweet back *waves hello*
12. Use one or two hashtags More is obnoxious. #amwriting #amreading or your genre ( #romance) are good to use.
13. Use photos or GIFS. People like pics.

The truth: The more followers the more likely what you tweet is retweeted or your blog read. Use #mondayblogs on Mondays.  It’s a numbers game ( isn’t it ALL a numbers game? ) And yes, I have sold books and found book bloggers because I engaged on twitter and instagram.

Instagram

It’s a medium eschewed by the older crowd, which is a shame because there are TONS of book bloggers on Instagram with HUGE followings.

1. Make sure your Instagram name is the same as your author name. Name recognition is important. I have a good friend who has a funky and forgettable Instagram name so I can never find her. Not good.
2. Write a great bio. Include your website.
3. If you’re amazing and have oodles of time on your hands curate your pics. ( Mine isn’t. ) That means giving it a stylized look by using common colors and specific filters.
4. There’s not a character limit in the comment section so you can write lots.
5. Hashtags are KING on Instagram. Use the search bar, tap TAGS, and and begin typing. Use as many as apply. For #historicalfiction there are 29,561 posts. There are 7,640,310 for “romance.” Yowza! Aim for about 10 hashtags. Look what comes up when I type in #book.

6. Create a hashtags list and keep it in your NOTES section on your phone so all you need to do is a quick cut & paste when uploading a photo/video.

Managing social media

I use twitter and Instagram during my non-writing hours. Some folks like creating tweets and pics for the week but my brain doesn’t work that way. Real time tweets and posts are better for me.

Aim for a least a tweet a day and 3 posts a week on instagram. Sometimes that’s challenging. I much prefer thinking about my WIP than about a pithy witty tweet or instragram pic. But once you embrace it, you look at everything you do and see as a way to engage with followers. That’s the key. That empty coffee cup? Can you snap a pic and make a witty comment about it—relate it to your WIP or upcoming novel? See how I hash tagged a bar of soap?

Below are a few tips for making the most of your ‘free’ time, especially for those with a full-time job. LOL!!!

Prioritize the few hours of available writing time.

Maximize your creative brain power during that time.

So….before or after work?

Whether you work morning or evening, many of us deal with brain drain… you know, that I’m-so-tired-I-can’t-think brain. Some days are worse than others. It’s absolutely critical to know what you are capable of creatively ( or not ) so you can determine the best task. That way, whether you are brain dead or on creative fire you will make some kind of progress.

Here’ a 100% unscientific look at the creative mind.

Cold Brain: The least creative thinking. Use this time to tweet, take pics for instagram, scroll through Facebook, read blogs and email, research and take notes.

Warm Brain: Dribs and drabs of creativity. Use this time to work on plot or marketing ideas. Some writers are able to revise,  line edit, and fine-tune sentences.

Hot Brain: Creativitus  Maximus. Use this time to plot, outline, and write first and second drafts. Dinner isn’t happening! Neither is laundry nor any other household task.

Do’s & Don’ts

• Do learn your own brain’s rhythms. For example, it’s tough for me to think creatively after our 7pm dinner on the weekdays. Once I’m home, I throw down my book bag, grab the computer, and start writing.
• Do honor your own writing pace. For example, 1st drafts required my most creative brain, and I get the most work done on a weekend.
• Do stick to a schedule. Make writing a habit not an afterthought. I say it’s my second job and treat it as such.
• Don’t beat yourself up trying to write 2000-words a day if you’re mentally exhausted. Just choose a cold brain task.
• Don’t try to solve a plot problem when you’re brain dead.
• Don’t waste valuable HOT Brain time on actions or interactions that steal your best creative time.
• A word about weekends and days off: Work ’em for all they’re worth.