We have all heard of what an elevator pitch is. It seems like it is the kind of stuff for some overly eager new sales associates looking to make an impression on the big boss between floors.
But there is more to it than that.
Someone has just turned to you and asked, “You’re a writer. What is your book about?”
Don’t just stand there! You have got to be ready.
Some Ideas for Your Verbal Elevator Pitch
Try something like this on for size.
Imagine if animals started talking, and they told you what to do in a topsy-turvy world.
My book is about Alice; she’s a young girl, a little bored on a sunny afternoon, when she spots a white rabbit. The odd thing about this rabbit is, he’s wearing clothes and talking. She follows him down a rabbit hole, but then she can’t get out.
That is less than seventy words, and the person asking has the basic plot, the name of the main character, and a reason to want to know more.
Also, you do not give away any spoilers with this pitch. Is that important? You had better believe it is.
Your Pitch in Writing
Yes, you need one of these, too. But a written elevator pitch is going to be a little different.
Even if readers know you for writing sweeping, epic sagas, you should still write some short stories. They can be in your universe, or not, although it might help with both marketing and your own personal creativity if they can fit somewhere within your universe.
They do not even necessarily have to be sent out for publication, but they could be good for anthologies. Do not knock that. This is exactly how a lot of people get their starts.
In fact, if you are having trouble breaking in, or want to impress a publisher, try submitting to anthologies. You can get a publication credit and impress the publisher of the anthology. And maybe also impress other publishers.
That is a win-win right there.
Point them there, if someone wants to read a sampling of your work. Do not make them commit to a 100,000 word novel.
Unless, of course, you really feel like alienating a potential customer.
In all seriousness, never, ever do something like that.
How Do You End Both Types of Elevator Pitches?
Why, with a call to action, of course! Why, here’s one right now.
On Balance
Finally, try to have some fun with it. Is your main character funny?
What about quoting one of her best zingers, assuming you do not need to explain the joke (that is key)?
Now that is an off-beat idea for a pitch.
And it just might be memorable enough to snag you a customer.
Introverts, beware. Community management for the independent author is a big, old game of Look at Me.
Hey, Look at Me! Look at Me!
Come on and look!
Ah, marketing.
We have all seen it done well, and we have all seen it done not so well, and even downright poorly. And now, a look at applying it to your extant community. Which could be readers, prospective readers, beta readers, etc.
A poorly executed marketing strategy does more than turn off your preexisting users. It can also get your site marked as a spammer. And the scarlet S can get your site unceremoniously dumped from Google. And that means, essentially, the equivalent of the death of the site.
Spamming on Facebook will, of course, also get you dumped. Eventually.
Long Story Short: Never Spam
In order to effectively market your community, you need to cover three kinds of SEO/Marketing. Those are onsite, offsite and offline. Onsite will be covered elsewhere in this series.
You need good keywords and you need good content for onsite marketing. But after that, your optimization and marketing efforts need to move to something different. As in SEO.
Look at Me Doing Offsite Marketing
Note: this is not offline marketing, such as dropping your book on a train station bench, putting it into a little free library, or asking a bigger brick and mortar library to carry your book.
Offsite can be (mainly) divided into two areas:
1. Search Engines
2. Social Media
Consider Search Engines
You must submit your site to Google. However, do not submit to any other search engines. Why? Because the non-Google share of the market is virtually nonexistent (sorry, Bing). Hence this is a waste of your time, and they will likely pick up your site from Google anyway.
So do not use a blasting service. Heavens, no. You will never, ever need it and it is absolutely not worth it.
Consider search engines in other languages if applicable.
Look at Social Media
Social media implies interactivity, and not just voting links up or down, perhaps laced with the occasional comment.
While there are international ones (and if you have a perfect match between your content and their focus, then by all means establish a presence thereat), you really only care about the following:
• Facebook – an official fan page helps for any number of reasons. First of all, it can make your books and website known to friends, family members, business colleagues and any other connections to your currently friend list.
And you can use it to post photographs and links directly back to your site or where to buy your book.
† Twitter/X – even if your users are not, generally, on Twitter, it is still a useful marketing tool. Try feeding in a slice of the site via RSS. Just like with Facebook, this can expand the network of persons who know about your site and prose.
If X is not a fit ideologically (for you or your userbase or both), then by all means consider Bluesky or the like instead.
• LinkedIn (if applicable) – if your book is nonfiction and is about a going concern or about employment, then at minimum make sure your listing on LinkedIn is correct. You can add website and book buying URLs to your profile.
Furthermore, if going this route, make sure your site blog and social media streams are configured to feed and accept updates.
A Look at More Social Media
† Pinterest – demographics tend to skew heavily female and over thirty-five. Got books about a restaurant? A shoe store? Wedding products or services? A women’s health collective? A feminist bookstore? Go to Pinterest – but only if you have excellent images.
• Got great images but less of a female-centric slant? Consider Instagram instead.
† Tumblr – demographics skew heavily under thirty-five and even under twenty-five. Got a work about a video game? A work turned into an indie film (or about to be)? Go to Tumblr, but recognize that it is a lot more niche and fandom-centric.
Seeing as MySpace became niche before finally going belly up, you may find that Tumblr feels a little too much on its way out.
• Snapchat – demographics skew toward teens and tweens? Consider this fast-moving site for everything from YA (young adult) to NA (new adult).
† YouTube – longer form video content is a great way to get a message across.
• TikTok – 100% content-centric. Show this slice of the world what you are made of. This is for short-form video content and it is very algorithmically-driven, so you had better tag your stuff extremely well.
Back Linking
Backlinking is where you get others to add your site link to their own websites. Back-links help a great deal as Google gives them weight when determining the importance and influence of your site. And that is directly linked to search placement.
You always do better when more trusted sites link back to you. Do not get spammers to link to you.
Blogs
For your blog, go to other sites you admire. Just as importantly, post comments on those sites. This provides value to those other people, so they are more likely to spontaneously wish to link back to you.
Or link directly to them first, but do not leave it all to happenstance. Approach the webmaster of the other site and politely ask for a back link.
Some people are happy to oblige. Others are not, so remove their links from your site after a reasonable amount of time. Some may simply think about it, so give them a little time.
And be reasonable, but also be reasonable with yourself. If you are not getting link backs, try to figure out why. Are your requests too aggressive? Or do you ask people with wholly unrelated sites?
Do you, perhaps, have no content (or no meaningful content) for them to associate with? Look at your site with a critical eye before throwing in the towel.
Truly Offline Marketing and Optimization
Offline marketing and optimization can mean going back to techniques used before – shudder – there even was an Internet. Before computers even existed.
Depending upon your budget and the overall genre of your book, offline marketing can range from something as simple as business cards or baseball caps or tee shirts with the site logo to a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.
It can even be completely free. After all, any time you mention your site or book to someone else, didn’t you just market it?
Look, sitting back and waiting for your site or books to take off will almost never work. You need to market, particularly in the beginning. Get your name out there!
Want More About Community Management?
If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.
Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.
This post is a riff on a rather old post, Do You Know What You Look Like Online. Essentially, the question is, if you were searching for someone (someone just like you, perhaps), what sorts of judgments would you make? What seems off?
What’s being suppressed, which aspects should you be promoting, and vice versa? Is the picture clear or fuzzy?
The gist of that article is, take control of your information, keep it as a uniform brand and check it every month or so. The corollary to this is one from Shama Hyder Khabani, which is, essentially, don’t spread yourself too thin. Concentrate in only a few places.
My Own Information—What I Look Like Online
Absolutely agreed. When I google my own last name, 40,900 hits come up. And, fortunately, my own website is on page 1 (Yay, SEO!). My Entrepreneur profile (writing I did for work) comes up on the first page of results. So do my Twitter/X and LinkedIn profiles.
Also on the first page are my Facebook profile, and my Amazon author page. Get to page 2 and there’s my profile on YouTube.
Another Angle
Putting my last name into quotation marks yields 6,480 hits. All of the same usual suspects come up on Page One of the results. And nothing is too weird or scandalous. Even MuckRack, which essentially just scrapes for your name, doesn’t have anything bad.
To my mind, checking and rechecking every single month might just be a bit excessive. Is there a need to keep your profile accurate? Sure. Flattering, or at least not damaging? Yes, particularly if you are looking for work.
But to keep it sterile and perfect, as you scramble to make it perfect every moment of every day? Eh, probably not so much.
My own profile is the product of just doing a lot, and it being published. It’s easy to find flattering info on me. What I look like online is competent more than anything else. There’s nothing radical.
As for less flattering stuff, well, let’s just say that I am glad the internet wasn’t around when I was in high school.
Yikes.
But…
I would like to think (am I naïve? Perhaps I am) that potential clients and employers will see the occasional typo and will, for the most part, let it slide unless the person is in copyediting.
I am not saying that resumes, for example, should not be as get-out perfect as possible. What I am saying, though, is that this kind of obsessive and constant vigilance seems a bit, I don’t know, much.
Will the world end if I accidentally type there instead of their on this blog? And, does it matter oh so much if I don’t catch the accident immediately? Even when you consider that I’m a writer. After all, I should know better, yes?
I mean, with all of this brushing behind ourselves to cover up and/or perfect our tracks, and all of the things we are leaving behind, where’s the time and energy to make fresh, new content and look in front of ourselves?
Clean Up Your Presence
To me, there is little joy in reading a blog post or website that looks like the person who put it together was barely literate. But there is also little joy in reading sterile, obsessively perfect websites and blog posts.
A little imperfection, I feel, is a bit of letting the ole personality creep in there. Genuineness – isn’t that what the whole Social Media experience is supposed to be about, anyway?
I refuse to believe – I hope and I pray – that a bit of individuality never cost me potential jobs or any company I’ve ever worked for potential clients.
And if it has, then that saddens me, to feel that, perhaps, people are paying a lot of lip service to the genuineness of Social Media but, when the chips are down, it’s just the same ole, same ole.
Genuineness is great. One you can fake that, you’ve got it made? Please, say it ain’t so.
So giveaways can be helpful when you are first starting out. Because people do not know your writing, they might not be inclined to spend too much on your work. Rather than pricing down to nothing, do one better: give your book away as a prize.Amazon, in particular, makes it easy. And on GoodReads, this kind of a promotion costs you even less.
Prizes
A lot of the internet is gamified these days. So, what do I mean by that? Essentially, instead of simply telling you that your LinkedIn profile needs work, that site gives you a completion percentage. And it also pits you against your fellow job seekers. So never mind if they have your qualifications. The competition starts even if you don’t want it to. And this kind of competing tends to spur people to action.
Hence you can provide your work as a prize for really anything. I provide it as one of the prizes for the 24 Hours of G & T Fundraiser, and I’ll even send a signed copy if the winner is in the United States (where the shipping costs less; otherwise, I try to order my work directly through whichever Amazon applies to them and then pay the exchange rate).
So if you have some sort of event, there’s no reason you can’t raffle off your book. Do it for charity, even. Just, get it out there, and into the wild. The more copies out there, the better.
Advance Review Copies
Now, Amazon has been cracking down on this a bit so proceed with some caution. However, no one is stopping you from giving away your book for free. The issue arises when writers provide a copy of their work in exchange for a review (generally referred to as “an honest review“, as the intention is to get the truth out of the reviewer and not bribe them to shower you with unfounded praise).
Hence instead of doing an even exchange, your best bet is to simply provide a copy and ask that someone review your work if they see fit.
Spoiler Alert: for most people, if they have a free copy of your book and they liked it at all, they’ll usually leave some sort of a review. This is even if it’s just in the form of stars.
Impulse Writer Giveaways
Furthermore, you can always give things away on an impulse. Or during the promotions day at various writers’ Facebook groups, I will offer my book for free. All a person has to do is show me their receipt for purchasing another group member’s work. To make my life easier, I limit the time, usually to just one week.
I ask if someone will review both our works if they want to. And then I send the book and leave it. By the way, I’ve gotten three reviews this way. That might not seem like a lot, but I have also made some friends. And that helps in ways that go far beyond promotions and marketing.
Writer Giveaways and Takeaways
Consider opportunities for giveaways, prizes, and gamification of your work. Yes, yes, I know you want to make money from your work. I get that; I really do! But sometimes you need to lay out some of your own funds to make it all work. Don’t be cheap about this. When the time and conditions are right, give away at least a few copies of your work. Because nothing builds goodwill and relationships better, or faster.
When we last left, I was talking about some things not to do. Here are a few more.
You Don’t Have to be Everywhere Online
Don’t become a one-armed paper hanger online. Just like with athletic training, rest (e. g. taking breaks) is a weapon. Furthermore, too many posts will burn you out and they will probably end up hurting each other.
In SEO in particular, too-similar posts can cannibalize each other. And then nothing does well. Of course, you don’t want this.
Now, this does not mean you take three years between blog posts. It does not mean you never tweet! Rather, the idea is to say what you want and need to without overdoing it. You do not need to get back to people in five minutes. Even big-time professionals take some time.
And yes, I am including big-time professionals who have people to do all of this for them. If it bothers you, you can always set an expectation on your blog or Facebook page or the like. But do yourself a favor: don’t be too specific, so as to allow for the occasional weird hiccups in life. If your laptop is damaged during a vacation, you’ll thank me for this.
Don’t Chase the Shiny Stuff
Here is a corollary to the previous tip. By shiny, I mean new platforms. Hot platforms are fun and they can be exciting. Furthermore, it can be helpful to get in on the ground floor, as it were. Or that can be a waste of your time.
Most of us remember when MySpace was big, and Facebook was an upstart. But here we are now, years later, and we can be killin’ it on Facebook without having been there at the very start. So relax. And do some research. Maybe the shiny thing would fit your work and your readership perfectly.
Or maybe it won’t. Experimenting is all well and good. Just take some time and take its temperature and get some metrics.
If it’s not working, stop doing it.
Timing is Everything
We have all heard that expression, and it’s true on social media. But it’s also true in writing. When a big zombie television show stops making new content, for example, readers might be interested in almost continuing the story. I don’t mean fanfiction; rather, I mean similar works in the genre but they do not infringe on copyright. That could be an opportunity to ride the wave.
Or maybe people are sick of those stories, and that’s why the show was cancelled. Without further information, either theory is plausible.
Use Your Spots But Don’t Be Annoying
What? While you should not be a 24/7 advertising channel (nobody likes that, not even born advertisers), you can and should take advantage of certain spots and placements. For example, when you add a picture to a blog post, what do you put in the alt= attribute? Nothing?Sacre bleu!
Excuse me for a moment while I swoon in horror. At the absolute minimum, put your blog post title in there. Even better, add your name or your blog’s name.
Or, are you published and your work is available on Amazon? If it is, then you need to take possession of your author page. Make it so that, if someone clicks on the author name (that would be your name), then they get somewhere. Somewhere with a bit about who you are, and what you are working on next. It is foolish to let this free real estate go.
When people click on the author’s name, they want information. So feed it to them.
But don’t force-feed them, by providing a Twitter stream that is a nonstop ad for your work. That brings me to my next point.
This is a Community. Act Like It.
Way back, when I was a kid (so, the late 1960s, early 1970s), suburbia was where you could borrow a neighbor’s hedge clippers. Or they would come over for coffee and bring a cake and you would temporarily take possession of the plate it was on.
In both instances, you would return the articles as soon as possible, cleaned and ready for reuse. If you broke either, you told the owner, you apologized, and then you presented them with a brand-new one. Or if their kid had a recital and they invited you, you did your best to go. If your dog got loose, they helped find the beast. You get the idea.
People still help each other, of course. And I grew up far from Mayberry. So the concept here is: build each other up. Don’t break each other down. Got praise? Then tell everyone. Got criticism? Then tell the writer privately. Don’t lie on your public reviews, but don’t tear people new ones, either. Even bad writing can be considered unique or ambitious.
And that reminds me: if you get someone’s book, either free or cheap or used or at full price, review it!
Don’t Sacrifice Writing Time for Social Media
This one is important. Yes, you need to promote, and social media is a part of that. Promotions can also include holding book signings, or donating your book to your local library, or handing out bookmarks. But don’t lose your writing time because you’re out socializing (Or in. You know what I mean).
I use my calendar program and I just make a daily appointment with myself. Now, I don’t always keep those appointments. And the one hour I set aside sometimes means 2,000 words and sometimes it means 20. But the appointment is still there.
I urge you to make a recurring appointment so that writing is as important to you as visiting the dentist or changing the batteries in the smoke detector.
And Finally from Social Media Writing Part 3 …
Hard work is everything.
Overnight success stories take years.
You are worth it.
This has been Social Media Writing Part 3. Now back to you, in the comments section. Did I leave anything out of Social Media Writing Part 3 (of 3)? Do tell.
Want More About Social Media?
If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.
Let us return to our discussion. In the first part of this post, I talked about the current state of social media, more or less. Numbers are high. The avalanche won’t let up.
Now is the time to talk about you.
Yeah, you.
Your Definition of Success Will Define Your Book-Related Happiness. Choose It Wisely
What am I talking about?
What I mean is, if you go into writing thinking you’re going to become wealthy, stop right there, turn around, and go to actuarial school or something.
Actuarial?
Er, I don’t know. Bear with me, okay?
Just, don’t consider writing as a super-lucrative career. That is rare, which is why most of the people who have become wealthy from writing are household names.*
Furthermore, two of them, JK Rowling and Stephen King, both started in grinding poverty. They both played what I like to call Bill Roulette, where you have five monthly bills but only enough money to pay four. So you mentally spin a big wheel and choose who you’re going to stiff that month.
Although they probably both dreamed of making it big, I imagine their initial goals were things like paying all the bills or getting the transmission fixed on the car.
*Note: there are people who write to market and can do rather well. And you should see how much they spend on ads, promos, covers, etc.! If you get there, great. But do not expect to get there. It is a ton of work. In particular, if you have a day job, it is likely to be out of reach.
Icons
Think you’re going to become iconic, like Harper Lee? You might, yes. It’s not wholly outside the realm of possibility. But don’t go into writing with that as your primary goal. For you will surely be disappointed. Furthermore, before your death, how do you even measure iconic status? If it’s by number of books sold, then you’re back to the fame and fortune dream, supra.
SMART Goal Success FTW
Instead, try defining success in bite-sized terms. And try defining it objectively. Usually that means books sold or reviews obtained.
Goal: sell 50 books. Get 20 reviews. Average 3 1/2 stars or better on the reviews.
There. That’s reasonable, attainable, and measurable. It’s a good old SMART goal. And it’s useful, because at a certain number of ads, Amazon starts serving the link to your book in more places.
You may or may not want to add a time component, but I personally would not. Why not? Because you’ll just make yourself crazy with a self-imposed timeline.
What if, for example, your most devoted and reliable readers end up being middle schoolers? They might not have the time to read for pleasure during the school year. So if you limit your goal to the school year, you could end up feeling like a failure. And then summer would save you. So avoid the heartache and just excise the time element. You’ll be a far happier person.
Nobody Wants to See or Read a Nonstop Advertising Stream
Seriously. Stop doing that. That’s why people are on the Internet in the first place. If they wanted ads, they would be watching network television.
If the only thing you have to talk about is where to buy your book, then I’ve got news for you.
You’re boring.
So please don’t do that.
Instead, divvy up your time. And spend 30% or less of it on self-promotions. For your other time, take 40% for promoting others. And take no more than 30% providing more personal information. Don’t talk about the weather or your lunch, but if you just broke through writer’s block, I bet your audience would love to know that.
Me, I use my personal info percent and a bit of my promoting others percent by writing information/instructional stuff. You know, like this post.
Social Media Writing Part 2 Isn’t Done Yet!
Egad, I had no idea I would write this much! Time for part 3!
Want More About Social Media?
If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.
Teasing is a subtle art. It is a lot like a fan dancer’s moves or a shy person’s come-on.
Teasing should feel like a movie trailer because that is exactly what movie trailers do.
Teasers are usually a bit longer than blurbs and are meant to generate excitement. They often end with a question, but they don’t have to. Think of how films are teased if you’re stumped for ideas.
She was spoiled, rich, and beautiful, until the Civil War ended it all.
Scarlett O’Hara has lost nearly everything.
But there’s a rich man who’s interested, and he might even love her.
Can she win Rhett Butler and save her beloved home, Tara?
Revealing Too Much
Don’t get too obvious! In this case, you do not do yourself any favors by spoiling your own book. Notice how the above teasing for Gone With The Wind does not go past maybe the middle of the film?
And how it never mentions Ashley or Melanie Wilkes, the burning of Atlanta, or Scarlett’s first two husbands? In short, it stays focused.
I deliberately left the teaser off at just about when the first big reel ends. It used to be, in the theater, Gone With The Wind would have an intermission, the film was so long. This teaser ends just about a minute after intermission ends.
In fact, this is at least part of how the actual film was edited. The book gives Scarlett two children before Bonnie—one each from her first two husbands. But Wade and Ella aren’t in the film.
Then again, they aren’t in the book that much, either.
Revealing Too Little
This is another problem. If I just said Scarlett was a wealthy woman living a life of luxury on the brink of the Civil War, that would feel a bit incomplete.
I can go a little further, plus adding Rhett Butler’s name to the teaser brings in the chief male character (he’s kind of a main character, but if I had to choose, the main character would be Scarlett).
Marrying Rhett is one of Scarlett O’Hara’s main character drivers, whether it is to secure finances for her family or due to love on her part.
Bringing Rhett into the conversation means the listener or reader gets an even better idea about who Scarlett is, and what motivates her.
So, providing her motivation really cinches it.
The Bare Bones
We have something of a framework here. Of course, none of this is set in concrete. But these elements seem to matter the most.
1. Mention the main character by name.
2. Give a brief background to orient the reader to time and place.
3. Introduce the problem/conflict.
4. Add one driver of the main character’s behavior.
5. Wrap it up with tying the first, smaller driver to the most important driver of the main character’s behavior.
A Teasing Sample
To wit:
Alice is just plain bored, so she gets to daydreaming. When she sees a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch, it piques her interest.
She follows the rabbit when she hears it talk, and ends up in Wonderland. But Wonderland is odd, exasperating, and often downright confusing.
Can Alice get out of Wonderland with her sanity intact?
Here’s a Second Teasing Sample
Kansas is dreary and nothing ever seems to happen there. It’s a tough place for Dorothy, a girl with big dreams. When a twister drops her, her little dog, and her house into the land of Oz, things seem to be looking up.
But Oz has perils for both Dorothy and her dog, Toto. And Dorothy realizes she misses Kansas and her family after all.
Can Dorothy and Toto get back to Kansas and the people they love?
Practical Teasing Practice
I love practicing on classic works because just about anyone you talk to knows them, even a little bit. And, because they aren’t your own work, the pressure is off. That is, messing up the teaser won’t result in you losing sales or other opportunities.
Less internal pressure can help you be more creative, too. So, consider the following exercise.
Can you write a teaser for a classic work? Try it in the Comments section, and let’s see how you do!
How do you go about starting a Twitter stream? Should you plunge right in, or hang back? And what about oversharing?
Yes, I know it’s called X now. Oh, and a lot of these tips are perfectly good for Bluesky as well!
Your Twitter Stream Account
You will need a name! Let’s say you’ve taken my advice (or you have decided this on your own), and gone with an account just for writing. If you want a personal account, or you already have one, then you would want to make a second one.
Fine, but you need a name. How about a word like writer or author somewhere in there? You can’t go beyond 15 characters. Fortunately, you’ve got both letters and numbers, so you could conceivably add wr1ter or auth0r if you liked.
Go as short as you can while remaining coherent and unique. An abbreviations like wrtr is well-known, so you don’t have to worry about people getting confused.
Your Look
Settings are important in X as they are with every social network. X moves them on occasion. Every large site does beta testing, where they experiment with different layouts and looks to see what you’ll click on more often—this is normal.
Currently, they are under where it says “More”.
But you change your profile image from the profile page. Add a profile image and make it a head shot or at least a picture of the cover of your book, if you have one. Don’t keep the egg!
A background image is nice but not strictly necessary. X has some pretty decent generic images if you are unsure of how you want things to look.
Who do you Follow?
Following is as much a part of starting a Twitter stream as tweeting is. After all, you’re going to be answering people on occasion, not just blathering to the wilderness. Er, you do realize that now, don’t you?
Spend a little time chasing hashtags. #amwriting, #amediting, and #MSWL are great for getting started. Know an author you like is on X? Then follow him or her!
Publishers and agents are also good choices, as are your friends from NaNoWriMo or Wattpad or the rest of the writing community, even the fan fiction writing community.
Follow people who put words together into sentences and stories. Applaud their efforts and read what they have to say. It matters.
Your First Tweet for Starting a Twitter Stream
Yes, I still call them tweets. Don’t most people?
There’s no reason not to just say hi. It doesn’t have to be momentous. Be kind and supportive. Other writers are not your enemy and they’re generally not your competition.
That is to say, you can own both Untrustworthy (note shameless plug) or the Twilight books. Owning one does not make it impossible to have the other. A book collection is only limited by space, taste, and budget. It’s not like pie.
More to come later!
Want More About Twitter AKA X?
If my experiences with X resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about Twitter/X. While it’s now got a new name, and has changed considerably, a lot of these tips will still work. And they will often work with other social media platforms as well.
When NOT to Post on Social Media Platforms? Timing, as you might expect, is everything when it comes to posting on social media platforms.
After all, if you, say, tweet when your audience is sleeping, they won’t see your tweet. It’ll be lost in the mountain of missed social media communications.
We all have such a mountain of missed communications and connections. Social media just moves way too quickly for us to see, comment on, share, and experience everything. We’re only human, and of course that’s fine.
Your mission, though, is to post when your audience will be around, not when they’ll be offline, or busy with work, or settled into bed for the night.
Note: this information is from a few years ago. Yet a lot of it is still valid.
And even if the information (the actual times) is imperfect, it should give you an idea of what will work. Or what will not work. Because that’s important, too.
Zzzz AKA La La La I Can’t Hear You!
According to Kate Rinsema of AllTop (Guy Kawasaki‘s great site), the following are the most godawful worst times to post.
• Facebook – midnight to 8 AM
† Instagram – midnight to 8 AM
• LinkedIn – 9 AM to 5 PM
† Pinterest – 1 to 7 AM and 5 – 7 PM
• Tumblr – 12 AM to 12 PM
† X – 8 PM – 8 AM
But pay attention to your audience. Because maybe they’re night owls. Or maybe they live on the other side of the planet.
I’m Here and I’m Listening
These are reportedly the best times to post on social media platforms:
† Facebook – 1 to 4 PM
• Instagram – 5 PM to 6 PM
† LinkedIn – 5 PM to 6 PM
• Pinterest – 8 PM to 11 PM
† Tumblr – 7 PM to 10 PM
• X – 1 PM to 3 PM
What About Social Media Platforms and Different Time Zones?
Articles like this often vex me, because there usually isn’t any consideration taken when it comes to customers, readers, and audience crossing time zones.
My suggestion is to take these times as your own, for your own time zone, unless your audience is on the other side of the Earth.
Try for some wiggle room, e. g. if you’re on the East Coast of the United States, like I am, you might want to time things for later during the window if you’re aiming for an audience pretty much only in America.
But for a European audience, you should aim for earlier in the window but recognize that, with a minimal five-hour difference, you might not hit the window perfectly.
Or, you could set at least your tweets to run more than once. If you do this, though, I suggest spreading them apart by a day, say, posting post #1 on Monday at the start of the window, and post #2 at the end, and then switching them on Wednesday or the like.
But repeating other postings could turn out to be overkill for your audience. Try using the #ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) tag when repeating your posts.
Or, it could be fine. Because we all know that we miss scads and scads of stuff online. Maybe your followers will be fine with a little repetition. Hell, many of them probably won’t even notice it.
Caveat marketer.
Want More About Social Media?
If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.
Mental energy is a mood, but can also be defined as ability or willingness to engage in cognitive work.
So, essentially, what I am talking about is the cerebral labor of writing. That is, as opposed to writing about it.
It’s Like Pie
Pumpkin pie slice representing mental energy. Image is for reference purposes only.
Wait, what?
So, hear me out.
The thing about pie is, of course, that it is finite. Never mind that you can always buy either a ready-made one or the ingredients for same. That is not what I am talking about.
Rather, what I mean is the concept of—this is it, it’s all I’ve got. That’s all there is, and there ain’t no more, if you will.
We Live in a Finite Universe
We have finite days and finite lives. Also, we have finite capacity. No matter how young you are, or your physical condition, you’ve got to sleep, right? At the same time, no matter how smart you are, inevitably you have to study at times.
Even if that just means opening a book, memorizing it, and calling that “studying”.
Er, that’s not studying.
But I digress.
No matter what, we are talking about something that is excruciatingly finite. So, until we develop time travel, or some way to stretch time, then guess what? We have all got the same 24 hour mix to play with.
Why am I Talking About This Right Now?
When I first wrote this blog post, I was looking at Wattpad, and came across a passage in a work about NaNoWriMo.
The passage essentially said that there’s always going to be someone or other who claims they wrote 100,000 words on the first day of November and is sitting pretty and essentially laughing at the rest of us poor peasants.
It’s a form of trash talking. I ignore it, and I urge everyone else to ignore it as well.
But, why?
Well, for one thing, it’s not likely to be the whole truth. Evidently, the fastest anyone has ever typed is 216 words per minute. Voice recognition isn’t necessarily any quicker, because you have to say the punctuation, formatting, and line breaks.
So, let’s do some math.
Only a little. I’m not insane. 😀
Math Time
So, 216 wpm * 60 minutes = 12,960 words/hour. And 100,000 ÷ 12,960 = just under 7.72 hours. So, it’s technically possible. But is it likely? Probably not, as this is assuming a person is typing at blazing speeds every second.
No breaks, no fatigue, no distractions, no editing, and no writer’s block.
Even people with exceptionally detailed outlines will have a moment or two or twelve in there where they aren’t certain of where to go next. They will also get up to visit the facilities or pet their dogs, kiss their children, or make themselves a sandwich.
Why am I Talking About This Braggadocio?
It’s because of this. I have little doubt that those 100,000 words need a ton of editing. That’s the part which I think some folks want the rest of us to forget when they make such claims.
Writing takes time and serious mental energy.
You spend it…
• Getting inspired
† Planning
• Writing
† Editing
• Packaging (i.e. marrying your manuscript to a cover, or to a title, or putting together a series, that sort of thing)
† Querying
• Marketing
† Thinking up your next great thing
This is the finite piece. And now we go back to the pie example.
The Finite World We Live In
You can’t make the pie any bigger. Something’s got to give.
Banging out 100,000 words in a little under a full work day, without going over it, means typos. It means inconsistencies. And it means the last parts in particular are dominated by labor from a person who is exhausted. You cannot drink coffee or take speed, etc. your way out of it forever.
If you don’t spend time planning, you’ll spend it writing. And if you don’t spend time writing, you’ll spend it editing. If you don’t spend time editing, then packaging becomes enormous and takes longer. If you don’t work on packaging and spend time on it, then querying will take longer, because you’ll be faced with more rejections.
And finally, if you don’t spend time querying, and just take what you can get (and that includes self-publishing—no slam on it, but it is something we do without spending any time on querying), then you will spend that time on marketing.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
The energy will have to be used, and it will have to go somewhere. You will not be able to get away without doing the labor.
Shrinking That Finite World Down Even More
I’ve got a full-time job. I didn’t when I wrote Untrustworthy. But I do now. And that means eight (usually nine) hours are spent working. And I don’t even commute!
Unless you count walking from the bedroom to the office.
Hence let’s pull a third of a day out and toss it. I can’t spend it on writing this way. And neither can most people who have full-time employment.
Sleep? Cut another third of the day right off the top and 86 it. Even if you don’t sleep the full eight hours, it will catch up to you eventually. Not getting enough sleep means you’re not performing at peak efficiency. Plus, that can make you sick, so you would be out of commission for that reason, if nothing else.
So, even if you’ve got, say, an extra two hours, it’s likely that you’re not able to produce within those extra two hours (or several other hours, for that matter) if you don’t get enough rest.
What’s Left?
Personal hygiene, fitness, and meals tend to lop off at least another two hours, maybe as many as four. Household stuff like cooking, washing up, paying bills, cleaning, etc. can average out to around one-half to one hour per day. Even if you’re independently wealthy (or really lazy) and have someone else to do those things for you, you still need to eat, and you still need to clean yourself.
Again, it’s a matter of health. Any time you’re saving by not showering (eek!), you’ll most likely end up spending going to a doctor to get rid of a rash or an infection or worse. Do not do such things to yourself!
And this doesn’t even get into spending time with family or pets, or other forms of socializing, whether in person or online. Don’t put that stuff off forever, or your mental health will suffer, big time.
So, Where Do You Find the Time and the Mental Energy?
Most of the above isn’t just a drain on time. It’s also a drain on—you guessed it—mental energy. A long day spent, say, preparing tax returns, can wipe you out.
But I’ve got the weekend, you say.
Sure you do. And you may be spending it on writing. But there are likely other activities where you’re spending your time.
If you don’t spend time or mental energy on one, then you will spend it elsewhere. Maybe it’s dates or chauffeuring kids around or food shopping. It could be catching up on your sleep, too. Or maybe you’re binge watching something or other. Candy Crush may be calling your name.
Or, you just kind of zone out and suddenly it’s 8:43 PM when you thought it was only 6:43. Not that I’ve ever done that… Heh.
You could be a weekend warrior for fitness or maybe that’s when you clean your house. You do you. But at least there’s a little bit of time in there.
Here are a few places to slip it all in. And no, I am not suggesting that you go nonstop and work yourself to death. Don’t be silly.
The Shower
We all do this. It’s something to do with the relaxation and the rhythm of water. Our minds wander, and we can come up with ideas. This is, of course, not the time to edit. But remember all the stuff I mentioned above, about needing to market, etc.? Some of your shower time can be spent on that.
You can’t write anything down, so it’s not a good place for the specifics. It’s more for the big picture. It’s for the lightbulb moments of, hey, I could advertise on TikTok.
The Commute
Mine is nonexistent these days, but it didn’t used to be. You’ve got your phone with you, right? Then if you think of something on the bus or train, why not email it to yourself? Or put it in a document on a drive you can access from both work and home. The details are yours to figure out.
If you drive, then you can get more creative. Maybe you can essentially dictate while driving, and send the documentary product of voice recognition to yourself. But keep in mind—voice recognition often requires a lot of massaging. The tech is great but imperfect.
So, look around you. In particular, people watching can be extraordinarily inspiring. Why do people make the fashion choices they do, or wear their hair a certain way? And why do they take their kids to a restaurant, say—maybe you can do something with that. Or, why do they use smaller words, or speak a different language when it’s just them?
There are countless ways to consider the human condition, and they can mainly come from observation. Find your person to watch. And then think of a character who could be like that. Or, come up with a scenario to throw that person into. For example, what happens when the guy running a food truck has to go to war?
Exercise and Mental Energy
Now, this won’t work for fitness classes. But if you’re busy riding a stationary bike or chugging along on a treadmill, or walking in the woods, again, you’ve got your phone, yes? Working with your phone also means taking photos if need be.
This is another occasion to watch people.
First Thing in the Morning
This is something I will often do. I get up, do my ablutions and exercise. Then, I hit the laptop and write for a while. How much? Probably somewhere between 85 and 385 words on average. Then I turn off the home laptop, turn on the work laptop, and go downstairs to get breakfast. By the time I am back upstairs I’m in work mode.
During November of 2021, 2022, and 2023, I was getting up 30 minutes early. Not much, but it was something. Since you need to write at least 1,667 words per day on average to hit 50k by the 30th, it was helpful to have 200 – 250 or so words banged out already. 250 words is just under 15% of the absolute bare minimum. Not bad for something like 15 – 35 minutes.
It is highly likely that I will continue with this sort of a November schedule, as it’s a proven winner.
Right Before Bed
Don’t use your phone for this, as you’ll diminish the quality of your sleep. So, get a small pad of paper and a pen and scribble. Ideas, sentences, titles, character names, whatever. And keep that pad and pen next to your bed, for the next slot.
Middle of the Night Mental Energy
Have you ever had this happen to you, where you’re sleeping away and you wake up at maybe 3 AM with some sort of amazing idea? Or that dream had some narrative you feel you can harness.
Write that stuff down. In particular, this may help with insomnia. You won’t be laying there, trying to keep from forgetting something or other.
However, I do want to point out that sometimes your amazing middle of the night revelation is something like:
The Cold War on Toast
Well, they can’t all be gems.
Distribute Your Time and Mental Energy the Best Way Possible
This is reality, folks. You cannot be 100% on, all the time. Your body naturally cycles through peaks and troughs.
Know yourself. If you’re a morning person (I mainly am), then getting up early is for you. But if you do better at tea time, then take a work break if you can for 30 minutes, and do your thing. And then make up the time, of course.
And if you are truly terrible at some of the writing tasks, then there’s no shame in outsourcing them and paying someone to do them for you. As in—editing, marketing, and packaging. You may be able to hire someone to write your query for you or at least to help you polish yours.
And ghost writing has a long and semi-noble tradition. But where’s the fun in that?
Some Last Bits of My Own Mental Energy, Beamed Straight from My Brain to Yours
Insert weird sci-fi sound effect here.
This entire post is essentially about setting your priorities, when you get right down to it. Decide what you value in your life. And if that’s spending time with your child to the exclusion of a lot of other things, then hey, that’s fab. You do you. But also recognize that this means it’ll take longer for you to write and get to whatever you feel is your own personal finish line.
After all, you can always put your slice of pie in the freezer, to have another day.
Your writing mental energy is finite. Use it wisely.
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