by Jemi Fraser
Many writers have Twitter accounts and we use those accounts for all kinds of reasons. Calista Taylor did a great Twitter 101 post a while back.
Today, I thought I'd focus on 3 Twitter hashtags I find fun and useful.
1. #askagent
There are a LOT of agents and editors on Twitter and they often have impromptu chats under the #askagent hashtag. There are some variations on the theme (#askyaagent, #askeditor) as well. The #askagent chats aren't scheduled and the agents, editors and other publishing people who attend them vary. I keep an #askagent column open on Tweetdeck so I can catch the ones that happen when I'm available too. Sometimes there are rules about what not to ask ('trends' & 'what are you looking for?' come to mind), but generally it's an open chat. Another rule (and good manners) is to never pitch an agent or editor during a chat (or any time that is not a contest). I've learned a LOT from lurking and participating in these chats.
2. #editortips
Adrien-Luc Sanders is an editor at Entangled Publishing and he runs this hashtag. Many week nights at 7:00 p.m. EST he will post several editing tips. As an added bonus, he's hilarious. His Twitter handle is @smoulderingsea if you want to follow him (which I'd highly recommend). I keep this as an open column on my Tweetdeck too.
3. #amwriting
A lot of writers use this hashtag to connect with other writers. It's not a chat or an advice column, more of a communal meeting place for writers to chat, vent, share, ask for help/advice, and have some fun. Johanna Harness (@johannaharness) created the hashtag and the website that goes with it.
I'll do another post on other hashtags one day. Any ones you use regularly you'd like me to include? Do you use any of the three I've mentioned?
Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of romantic mysteries. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.
52 comments:
Thanks for the great into!
I use #1k1hr to word war for an hour with other writers, really helps me focus!
I follow #10queriesin10tweets
Occassionally agents will go through their inbox and tweet in general terms what they like or dislike about queries. It can be quite informative and sometimes funny.
Although please God don't let them be talking about mine...! :)
I know I don't twitter and haven't a clue about such things - but it's great to know there are these helpful guides for writers in twitterland too! Yay! Take care
x
I have used the #amwriting before! Will look for Adrien.
A hilarious editor? I might have to check out that hashtag. :D Thanks, Jemi!
The #askagent hash tag is one of my all-time faves. Also a big fan of the #10queriesin10tweets one. Fun stuff! :D
Vik - I've never used that one! That's like the NaNo word sprints - great motivators for sure.
AW - I know the terror! I love Sara Megibow's #10queriesin10tweets too. She gives such helpful information.
Old Kitty - the Twitterverse can be very helpful - but like all social media, it can also be a time drain. We all have to choose what works for us :)
Alex - he's really great - you'll love his sense of humour!
Dianne - he really is hilarious - and very, very smart too!
MarcyKate - I love those 2. I'll definitely add Sara's to the next post! :)
I'm not great with my hashtag usage. I could be better. Thanks for more insight into these ones.
I use #amwriting the most. But I also use #editingtips and #writingtips and #writers. The other day I started using one and realized it wasn't quite what I thought. Oops! Always good to do a little snooping into what the hashtag really is so you aren't unknowingly advertising for some organization!
One of the key points to me is that hashtags are akin to twitter addresses; you can follow them. I'll admit, I hadn't really looked at them that way. Sometimes I create a column in Tweetdeck to follow a hashtag, but later get rid of it. I might need to establish a couple I always follow.
This is great, Jemi. I use #amwriting and sometimes go to #yalitchat or #kidlitchat
Okay -- dumb, novice Twitter user question: I was able to follow the editor and amwriting one, but didn't see a link to "follow" the agent one. How do I follow it if there's no follow link? -- LucidDreamer
I've caught a few #askagent chats and, like you, found them to be so helpful!
Awesome advice Jemi. I'll save this post and check out these hashtags when I get on Twitter.
Jean - too funny! I agree - best to check them out first! I haven't used any of those ones!
Matt - I can't remember who mentioned to me to add the hashtags as columns in Tweetdeck, but I love the idea - keeps it all organized for me!
Tricia - I like the chat ones too - I figured I'd do another post on those ones - they're great!
Lucid - do you use TweetDeck? I find it's the easiest. I click on the Add Column icon in the top left and then type in the hastag I want to follow.
Johanna - those chats really are helpful! There's often a ton of really useful information!
Natalie - glad I could help. Twitter seems overwhelming at first, but once it's organized, it's much easier to use!
Hi, Jemi. I never remember to use hashtags when posting on Twitter. Will try to remember to give these hashtags a try. Thanks!
Susanne - I hope they help!! :)
I need to pay more attention to chats and such. I also need to remember to use hash tags more.
Joy - the chats are great - there is so much info to learn. I'll include more of those next time. :)
Twitter is one of the social time sucks I've abandoned but maybe I shouldn't have.
I don't have a favorite- but I found the ones you mentioned helpful and I look forward to trying them.
~Jess
Susan - we all have to choose what works and what doesn't for us. I've never joined FB or Pinterest because I don't have the time either :)
Jess - these are helpful ones - and there are lots more. I'll cover a few more next time!
I've used #amwriting but never done the agent and editor ones. I'm totally setting up columns in TweetDeck. Thanks for the awesome tips.
Kari - you're very welcome! I love using all of these! :)
These were great Jemi. I follow Adrien Luc Sanders. He is hilarious. And #amwriting is a great place too.
Good stuff, Jemi!! Love this. Great hashtags. There's so many out there, but I agree those are the main ones!! Great post. Also, Adrien is awesome ;o)
I use the third one frequently. I'll check out the first two.
Denise - he really is terrific - smart, concise & fun!
Erica - I think his tips are my favourite part of Twitter :)
Medeia - I hope you find them fun and useful!! :)
Great information! Thanks for sharing:). There's still so much I don't know about Twitter.
I don't even know what you're all talking about. Very out of it this summer. Hash tags. Nothing to do with hash, I see. I have a Twitter account, neglected along with my blog, poor thing, but I am writing all the time, though, so maybe I'll check out #am writing, whatever that is.
I need to reestablish Tweetdeck. I lost it during a computer crash. As a result, I'm not on Twitter like I used to be. And clearly, I need to be following some of these hashtags!
Maria - the Twitter-verse can be a little murky at times! Thankfully everyone is always willing to help :)
Yvonne - writing is by far the most important thing!! The hashtags are just ways to order and organize the tweets you get. In Tweetdeck, you can have multiple columns for different hashtags (topics). Once you've got it working, it makes sense! :)
Helen - I can't even imagine trying to be on Twitter without Tweetdeck. It's a life saver!! :)
VERY helpful! Thanks, Jemi. I haven't started Twitter yet, but plan on learning the ropes soon so this is a great start. Thanks!
Thanks, Jemi! I only really know about the third one. :)
Jackee - twitter is fun! I couldn't do it without Tweetdeck though. When you join up, use it to make life easier! :)
Lydia - you're very welcome - I'm so glad I could help! :)
I'm not a regular Tweeter but it's fun discovering new hashtags - maybe one of these days I will REMEMBER them when I finally remeber to check Twitter again after three weeks have passed... loved Adrian's tweets, I just checked out a couple!
Thanks for the reminder on the first two. Though at the moment I don't have much time to hang out on twitter. Xx
Margo - he is a very smart man with a manner that entertains and informs! :)
Michelle - it's HARD to find time to do it all. I figure if the writing gets done, the rest will fall into place somehow!
This is pretty awesome advice!
www.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Gina - thank you! :)
You've sold me - they all sound great!
Beth - thanks! I love these ones - so helpful :)
I've used the #amwriting but haven't heard of the others so thanks for that. Twitter is great in so many ways.
Rosalind - you're very welcome! I don't spend a ton of time on Twitter, but I like it for all the great connections I can make! :)
Probably my favorite hashtag is for the #indiechat, I've just met so many amazing people there :)
-K8
http://froze8.blogspot.com/
I used to be pretty good at #amwriting. For some reason I've become sloppy. I shall reform.
K8 - that's definitely one I'm going to list next time - there are a lot of great people who use that one - and lots of great info too!
Leslie - LOL - we all find what works for us. And finding time to do everything is impossible - so I figure we do what works best.
If I remember I like to use #ww and #WritersRoad. Of course, I use #yalitchat because I"m a mod there and support what that group is doing.
I just need to remember to use those ##### Thanks Jemi
Lee - I've got #yalitchat lined up for my next post! :) Didn't even think of #ww though! Oops!
Very helpful post! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
Ashley - you're very welcome! I'm going to add a few more in October that a lot of people like too!
Thanks for this post! I hadn't heard of #editortips before. I'll definitely check it out.
As for other writing hashtags, I follow/use #editreport, a monthly-ish round-up of comments about submissions from Carina Press editor reports, #querytip, and #pubtip. There's also #MyWANA, which is sort of like #amwriting in terms of content.
ME - Adrien's editortips are awesome! I just found out about #MyWANA & I've been following it for a bit now. Great people on there. I'll have to check out #editreport too! thanks :)
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