Taming Twitter

My opinion: Social media, including Twitter, are a time-suck. Almost as big a suck as playing games when you should be writing. Have you heard that bitch before? I know I've grumbled and snarled about it ... and I read about it a lot too.

The big question is: What have I done about it?

At this point, I have two Twitter places: my normal one [@kaytheod] and the advertising/promo one. I set up the second one because I got a little tired of sifting through the "Buy-my-book" ones. They've both been up since at least 2010 and have over 2,000 followers. My guess is I engage with only about 50 of them regularly. -- I can beg people to buy my book with the worst of them.

I spend about 30-45 minutes a day on Twitter ... readng, following back, replying, and retweeting

So what good has all the time I've spent done for me?

1) Attracts People to my Websites. This is a flawed measure since the Go Daddy counters go spastic every once in a while, but I do notice an increase in visits when I promote my websites. One of my main enticements are the free short stories I offer. Visit my author website to learn more.

2) "Sells" A Few Free Short Stories. If I promote a lot using hashtags, I get a large increase in the number of people who download my free short stories. My base line comes from my epub The Foiling of Gorsfeld which I only publicize on my websites.

I also promote the links to buy my e-novellas, Troublesome Neighbors and Taking Vengeance. I'm not a stellar seller, but I don't do too badly for a self-published writer with only a few listings. My rank yo-yos worse than a chronic dieter's, but I have risen to the 30,000s in author rank a couple of times. I'm always amazed at how high one sale lifts the ranking of one of my novellas ... for a day.

3) Drives People to My Blog. This is where Twitter shines. If I come up with a catchy title my numbers soar. I post maybe once a day at both of my Twitter accounts. Usually my blogs get over a hundred reads in a week or so. My highest number of views for a blog so far is 600.

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Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be a writer, so what have I written. I did get the package for The Noticed One, a soft horror short story, ready to send off -- if Kindle Singles accepts it for publication -- though I'm still agonizing over the blurb. [Have I ever mentioned I'm lousy at doing promo c**p?

Cover

Current Blurb:

Plain Cassy Mae goes to live with her grandmother in the mountains after her mother died, in spite of GrammyJo’s working juju. But worse dangers lurk in the hills than her grandmother’s herb lore.