Publishing and Twitter
Pratham Books is on Twitter and we have met some really interesting people through it. Interesting people. Interesting news. Interesting Projects. Here is why some of you may be interested on boarding the Twitter train.Publishing Trends has two great articles on how Publishers can use Twitter more effectively.
From “Twitter Isn’t Stupid“
The number-one tip from people we talked to: Publishers shouldn’t be afraid to get personal on Twitter, and their tweets shouldn’t sound like marketing. “The best people using Twitter are the ones who talk back to people, not just the people who are talking about their dumb stuff,” says Brogan.
…The publishers that use Twitter best are the ones who let the person running the account put a personal spin on their posts, not just announcing every press clipping or YouTube clip that comes down the pike.” In fact, rather than having one company Twitter account with the company’s name, it may be better for employees to have individual accounts. “Publishers should empower and encourage ALL of their employees to Twitter, and to talk about what makes them truly jazzed to work with books. There are huge transparency issues publishers have to work through to become comfortable with this, but I believe it would be worth it.”
In addition, publishers trying to spread the word about their books via blogs should take heart in the fact that many of the people using Twitter are the same people reading and writing blogs.
Twitter is also a free research tool for publishers. “Publishers should set up Twitter searches on keywords within the topics or subject areas in which they publish,” says Chris Webb, Associate Publisher of Wiley’s Professional and Trade division and head of its European Technology Publishing Group. “We absolutely should be listening for people talking about our brands, our book series, and our products. Listening provides opportunities for publishers to engage people in conversations where we can provide value—a solution to a problem, a new resource for a reader, or a new book to a new customer.”
And tips from the article titled “@ChelseaGreen Has 2,350 Followers. Here’s Why“
1. Learn from the Community. The main thing we do on Twitter is listen. We learn a great deal about community mood, upcoming trends, interesting news, and influential people. We find and vet possible book topics all day long.2. Network. Through Twitter, we’ve been able to meet and interact with some of the top green editors and writers in the world. (Hi all!) We meet knowledgeable folks from magazines, blogs, TV shows, other publishing houses, and radio. It’s also a great way to search for future authors.3. Get Feedback. Twitter gives us instantaneous feedback from our followers. If we’re waffling on what to title a book, we can log onto Twitter and just ask its likely audience.4. Have Fun. In our “Ask the Expert” question series, we invite our followers to submit questions to our authors. We select one to pass on to the author. We post the question’s answer on our blog and send the questioner a free copy of the author’s latest book. This gets authors involved, connects readers to our online community, and gets our books out into the world.
