Twitter Troubles - What Authors Can Do
EPISODE SIXTY
Twitter has taken a big dive over the past few weeks. I've seen many authors post that they aren't sure what they are going to do now that Twitter's survival is in question. In this episode I'm going to walk you through a few key factors authors can consider.
Podcast episode cover image photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash.
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Transcript
Twitter has obviously taken quite a nosedive over the past few weeks. And with the fate of Twitter really being in question, many authors have asked, Where should I go once Twitter goes away or if Twitter goes away? So in this episode, I want to address a few of the key questions and issues that authors should be aware of and how to actually solve this problem.
My name is Jenn Hanson-dePaula, and I'm the co-founder of Mixtus Media. And the purpose of this channel is to empower and educate authors with the best book marketing, social media and newsletter information available. I am really good at helping authors simplify the book marketing process and helping them to find their readers specifically on social media. So let's get started.
If you're an author who has been actively using Twitter to share your messaging, to create engagement, and to connect with other authors and readers, this might feel like a very chaotic time for you and when you think about moving on from Twitter, you might be wondering, how do I actually do that? Where do I end up?
So the first thing that I would suggest that you do is to really talk to your Twitter audience. Ask them, where else are you online? What other social media platforms do you use? Because when you can really find out and get some solid information from your audience on where they're going to go. You can know that you will have an active audience wherever they end up as well. So really survey your audience and see what their next steps and their plans for the future are.
One of the easiest ways to actually survey your audience is to do a poll. It's a very straightforward and easy way to get that information, and it's easy for your audience to actually participate in. And the second thing you can do is just do a regular post. Ask them to leave a comment on where they are going to be online, what other social media outlets they plan on joining.
So the second tip that I have for authors that are moving off of Twitter is to realize that you can adapt your current Twitter strategy into what you're going to be using on Instagram or TikTok. You can actually repurpose and reuse some of those old tweets and turn them into posts that you can share on the other platforms.
And that actually leads into the third tip, because many authors that I have seen leaving comments on Twitter, talking about how they don't have beautiful photos or they don't want to take the time to have this elaborate spread where they have images of books and they don't necessarily want to be on camera. They think that that is what Instagram and TikTok are all about. And it's actually not. This has really changed even over the last five years. People just really want to see authentic and real images and videos of other authors of the books that they're reading and going in and experiencing Instagram or TikTok for yourself to see. What are other authors sharing? What is it that is getting a good response and really seeing how you can adapt that for yourself is going to be key.
So I would really encourage you to create an Instagram account and a TikTok account and see which you feel most comfortable with. If a video is something that's completely new to you, I would stick with Instagram to start with because photos are incorporated more there, even though they are skewing more towards video. But it is a good place to start.
And my fourth tip is to understand that you do not necessarily have to be in the videos and the images that you share on Instagram and TikTok. This is something that I hear from authors all the time. I know that many authors favor Twitter because it's written. Your writer's writing comes very naturally and you don't necessarily want to be in pictures or in videos. And so to understand that you can create amazing TikToks and amazing Instagram reels and images that you don't even have to be in, or that just take very little time.
In fact, I have a resource that was created specifically for this. We've created a reels and TikTok template that you can use to create beautiful reels and TikToks very, very easily through Canva. So if you'd like to check out those templates and see how you can make them work for you, you can click HERE.
So to recap, the first step is that we need to ask our Twitter audience, Where are you going to be on social media? The second tip is to realize that you can adapt your current Twitter strategy to other social media platforms as well. Third, you want to experience the other social media outlets to see what is going to be the best fit for you and to know where your audience is and forth. You can actually use text within your visuals instead of you being on camera.
So what's happening on Twitter is a good reminder that we do not own our social media connections, and we don't want to always put all of our eggs in one basket. And we also need to focus on growing our newsletter list. We always want to be driving our connections from social media to sign up for our newsletter. So this is just another great reminder that we need to keep that in mind as well.
So again, if you're wanting to get started with Instagram and TikTok, but don't really know where to start. Be sure to grab my Reels and TikTok Templates for Authors. That's going to help you get things started and to start to see results right away.
But if you also want to have an added community and added support, and additional resources to help you with your book marketing, your social media, and growing your newsletter, be sure to check out The Author Circle. It is a fantastic community of other authors that are in the same boat as you, and you get some amazing resources to help you successfully market your book and sell more books.
(Automatic transcript by Adobe Premiere Pro’s Speech to Text)