Props, Shouts and Tweepin' Out

Social media rocks. This is probably the millionth article to start off with that sentence - most likely because it's true. I've been fully involved in social media since last April, when I published my first novel, Sunrise on the Pier. Most of my time is spent conversing on Twitter. Love it, love it, LOVE IT! Endless conversation. Every La. girl's dream. How can I hang out on Twitter when I'm supposed to be writing? Tweeting no longer interrupts me. After being distracted for a week or two, I found that what works best for me is to tweet from my cell rather than my laptop. On my laptop, I felt compelled to pay attention to each tweet as it came up. Now that I'm using my cell, I choose when to take a break and tweep out. Odd, I find I write longer now that I have my tweep breaks. Every time I tune back in to the page (or screen, in my case), it feels like a fresh start.

There is a down side though. I get so caught up in spontaneous conversations and interesting tweets that I want to learn from and retweet; I neglect to take care of the etiquette and business aspects of being hooked in to the Twitter network. I need to give props to the highly deserving authors and publishing industry professionals I converse with, share my own news, and tout my published book. How can I do that and still have time for the endless conversation? You guessed it - I've taken advice from social media experts, a few of whom are in my list, and set up scheduled tweets!

Time is a very precious commodity for most of us, and I'm honored by every person that decides to spend a little of theirs by reading my tweets. Now I know I won't forget to respond with a personalized thank you and a shout out on #followfriday. There are also my lists of amazing tweeple, firms and organizations that I follow; some of whom follow me. I know I won't forget to mention them now and again. Oh and by the way, I'm a self-published author, which makes me solely responsible for selling my book. It would help tremendously for me to mention it from time to time - before the lights get turned off. I'm able to address these needs using my schedule twelper of choice, enabling me to enjoy guilt-free real-time conversation. One thing you can be sure of though - whether they're scheduled or real-time tweets, they are all one hundred percent me. TGFT (thank goodness for Twelpers)!
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NOTE: Speaking of giving props, my scheduler of choice is @SocialOomph and the technology for my book sample is courtesy of @BookBuzzr. I may not have been in position to share my published book if not for @Smashwords. The best thing? They're all free! I'm sure there are other self-publishing sites and schedule twelpers. Leave a comment about them if you'd like. If there are other book sharing technologies, please leave a comment about them as well.