Have you ever taken part in a Twitter chat?
A Twitter chat is a live, scheduled event organized around a hashtag, which is a bit of metadata that people add to their posts by putting a pound sign in front of a keyword, like this: #books.
Using hashtags allows others to find your posts when searching for a specific subject, something that’s very handy in the nonstop flow of millions of tweets that continues around the clock.
So if you schedule a specific time, as BiblioCrunch does for its weekly #indiechat, everyone who wants to participate just needs to log into Twitter and search for their #indiechat hashtag.
I was invited to be the guest at yesterday’s #indiechat and it was quite a bit of fun. The subject was book launches, the tweets were flying by very fast. Before I knew it the hour was up.
Here’s a selection of the tweets that made up this fast-paced, engaging, and informative event. If you’d like to participate, just log into Twitter on any Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time and search for #indiechat. You’ll run into Miral Sattar (@MiralSattar) who moderates the chat, and Kate Tilton (@K8Tilton) who takes care of many of the details.
For archives of past #indiechats, check out the BiblioCrunch Storify archive.
I used HootSuite to set up a filtered stream that only showed tweets tagged with #indiechat. This makes it really easy to follow the conversations that spring up while the chat is going on, too.
Getting ready for #indiechat starting in about 20 minutes, can't wait. Book launches. Twitter. Lots of authors. It's all good!
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Sounds great! RT @bibliocrunch: #Indiechat tonight at 9EST w/ @JFbookman Topic: book launches https://t.co/XfUR7fRfrL
— Duolit SelfPub Team (@duolit) June 18, 2013
Thanks to @miralsattar @bibliocrunch @k8tilton and everyone who came onto #indiechat I could keep going, but dinner is on the table…
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
I've been involved in graphic arts, book publishing, advertising, and direct mail for most of my career. #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
I first self-published in 1986, (yeah, before the 'net!) and sold 10,000+ copies of a very obscure book. #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
If you plan to submit your book to pre-publication reviewers, you'll need to start about 6 months before your pub date #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
I hear the desire to keep writing, but during a launch window it works best if you focus on the launch. #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
RT @yeseniavargas32: @KatGirl_Studio Writing more books is the best marketing <– But you have to market them sometime ! #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
When should you start thinking about your book launch? How about now? #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Get into Goodreads groups now, find ones reading your kinds of books and settle in, that's how you build your platform #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
#indiechat giveaway #2! RT this post and follow our guest @JFbookman for a template from https://t.co/udM52yRDtG! Speaking of giveaways…
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
The most important part of the launch happens beforehand: building anticipation and buzz = "something's coming"! #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Your book launch will use every asset at your disposal: posts, friends, peers in your network, a blog, email list, FB fans #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
You can also do live signing with ebooks now, courtesy of "book cards" from Enthrill and Levada #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
@bputtroff Giveaways are great IF that's what motivates your readers. Like everything else, it's just a tactic, it has to fit #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
In NYC summer book launches even include planes pulling message banners flying over heavily populated beaches #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
MT @jfbookman: Launches are very exciting, you…introduce your #book to your #readers. First problem: WHO are your readers? #indiechat
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) June 19, 2013
Another reason to plan early is to get your media kit, website, review campaign, blog tour and media contacts in place #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
@JFbookman What's the biggest mistake you've seen indies make with a book launch? #indiechat
— Shannon O'Neil (@shanwrites) June 19, 2013
@bputtroff Writing is a different part of the process, where you are the creator. Launching means you become the marketer #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
@Laurawriting @jfbookman I've found giveaways work better to reward current readers than gain new ones. #indiechat
— Breeana Puttroff (@BPuttroff) June 19, 2013
@miralsattar An article about media kits with links: https://t.co/YHFoKOihRF #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
I like bookmarks, but very wary of spending $$ on stuff just because it's "neat" #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
@shanwrites Hi Shannon! At least 3 months if you plan to do a blog tour… and why wouldn't you? #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Best resource I know on blog tours: https://t.co/zQncVUSuCF via @bookmarketer #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
@JFbookman Yes! Blog tours are a book launch must-have in our book! :-) #indiechat
— Shannon O'Neil (@shanwrites) June 19, 2013
Also don't forget OFFLINE events, local calendars, and local media, they can really help #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Get into Goodreads groups now, find ones reading your kinds of books and settle in, that's how you build your platform #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Important during a launch to remember your job is NOT to "sell" the book, but to engage readers on a subject of mutual interest #indiechat
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Fantastic #indiechat ! Thank you to @JFbookman and @BiblioCrunch!! And everyone for all the great tips and ideas!
— ShireenJ (@ShireenJ) June 19, 2013
Thanks to @miralsattar @bibliocrunch @k8tilton and everyone who came onto #indiechat I could keep going, but dinner is on the table…
— Joel Friedlander (@JFbookman) June 19, 2013
Next Tuesday tune in, it’s bound to be lots of fun and very informative. Do Twitter chats appeal to you?
