How to be Twittertastic by Jo Linsdell

July 15, 2014 — Pat Bertram

What is your book about?

How to be Twittertastic is a writers and authors guide to the social media site Twitter. It covers a bit of everything from how to set up your account and personalise your profile to third party apps and getting the most leverage out of your tweets. It’s also packed full of useful resources to help you make the most out of time and marketing efforts.

How long had the idea of your book been developing before you began to write the book?

I got the idea for the Writers and Authors Guide to Social Media series a while ago but as I was working on illustrating some children’s picture books for clients and was also busy publishing a children’s picture story book of my own (The Box) and so I didn’t have time to develop the idea right away.

A couple of months ago I decided that Twitter would be the topic of the first book in the series as it’s the site I use that gains the best results. As soon as I had some free time I started brainstorming and plotting out a rough table of contents. It didn’t take me long to know what I wanted to write.

What inspired you to write this particular book?

I’m a real social media junky and often get asked by other authors for tips on how to market their books online and build their author brand. When you have a passion that also happens to be in high demand it makes it easy to get inspired.

This whole series is designed around the idea of making social media easy for authors to understand and to supply them with information and tips to help them get the most out of their time and efforts.

Social media is used by billions of people worldwide on a daily basis. Our audience is online and can be reached free of charge without us even having to leave our homes. Authors need to be taking advantage of this opportunity to connect with their readers and build their fan base. A lot of authors aren’t using it because they don’t know where to start. Others are using it but not making the most of it. I hope this series will help them build their online presence and give them some ideas for what and how to post.

How long did it take you to write your book?

A couple of weeks. The book is a quick read. I didn’t want to keep repeating the same things over and over (I’ve seen others do that to bulk out a book and found it very annoying) and to be honest, there is only so much you can write about Twitter. The site is designed around the idea of clutter free, to the point, content. I wanted the book to be the same.

Did you do any research for the book? If so, how did you do it? (searching Internet, magazines, other books, etc.)

I researched online using Twitter search to find examples to use in the book, and Google to find statistics, etc… As social media is one of my hobbies as well as a tool I use daily for marketing, I was already quite up to date on most of the details. I’ve also done several webinars on the topic and so already had a lot of notes to work from.

What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?

I’m a mum of two and so I have to grab time to write when I can. I don’t have a fixed schedule as such. I normally try to get some writing done in the morning and then again in the evening once the kids are in bed asleep. As for word count, I tend to ignore the actual number of words written and concentrate more on finishing a segment of the book instead.

Do you have any rituals that you follow before sitting down to write?

I usually get myself a cup of tea or a glass of water to drink and something to snack on. I tend to do this even if I’m not hungry or thirsty. It’s my way of subconsciously eliminating excuses to stop writing once I get started.

What one word describes how you feel when you write?

Happy.

What do you think the most influential change in book publishing will come from?

Writers themselves. We’re no longer at the mercy of the big publishing houses and with companies like Amazon making it increasing easy to self publish we now have control. Authors can choose whether to go the independent route or to go with a traditional publisher or small presses. We have more options than ever before. The publishing revolution is already well under way.