I have never been particularly computer savy or overly excited about new technology. However, walk me by a stationary story and I will salivate. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the title "I Hate Twitter" gleaming on the powerpoint screen, especially since the speaker was young, svelt, energetic author/illustrator Katie Davis. If she hated Twitter, then my disdain was not as prehistoric as I thought.
But it was false advertising. Katie Davis tweets! And loves it!! And she was about to teach the members of the Rochester Area Children's Writers and Illustrators how social media can benefit them.
I may be skeptical, but I am all for learning new ways to help my career and make me a better writer. That's why I started this blog. I wanted to find out if I could say something pithy every week. (Not once a day. I do have a life.) So I listened intently as Katie led us through the process of signing up, logging on, and finding friends to tweet to.
Believe it or not, I went home that night and tweeted. Actually, I couldn't sleep so I got myself up out of bed and slogged down the stairs and figured it out in the middle of the night. And if you know me, you'll know that I prize sleep well above taxing my brain in the early morning hours. Katie Davis gave a compelling and humorous arguement for Twitter. And this old dog learned a new trick.
I learned that I should purchase domain names of my book titles to link to my website.
I learned that if I begin to Twitter now, I can build up a list of people with similar interests, so when the book comes out, I can spread the word through them, reaching a wider audience very quickly.
I learned that my tweets should be helpful to others rather than self promotion (at least until my book comes out).
I learned that I can navigate a twitter page on no sleep and half a glass of wine.
I learned that by the time the wine glass is empty, so is my enthusiasm for Twitter.
However, I will tweet again. Look for me. I'm Pegtwrite.
Thank you Katie.
No comments:
Post a Comment