Jake Bible Fiction

There is a fine line for authors when it comes to promotion and marketing. And I wish I knew where that line is.

I am currently working out my Twitter strategy by using a program called TweetAdder. I know, I know, it is one of those programs. But it does help me a lot. I can create tweets that get sent on a regular basis and also get repeated. While for some, this may seem like that dreaded douchebaggery, for me it is essential. I have had a couple followers tell me they know I’m repeating some tweets, but the cool thing is that even a tweet I have sent out ten times still gets new responses from folks that didn’t see it before.

This is good.

Part of what Twitter is about is to strike up a conversation. Sure, I use it to promote my work, but only a small percentage of my tweets are promotion. What it’s really good for, at least for me, is connecting with fans, friends, and colleagues. But, I also have a day job and must be writing during down time, so I can’t be tweeting all day. Using something like TweetAdder lets me send out tweets and then respond and reply to anyone that replies to me. I start a conversation, and with a little monitoring in my “mentions” feed I can see if people are conversing back. It is great.

But, is it really helpful? Am I losing an audience when they see the same tweet today that they just saw two weeks ago? Am I gaining anything by automating my Twitter persona? I don’t know.

The other thing TweetAdder allows me to do is look at other authors’ follower lists and poach them. Well, not really. Ok, sort of. I am able to import those lists and start going through them and following their followers by checking out profiles and tweets. That has been a huge help! I am getting messages now from fans of mine that I started following that didn’t know I was on Twitter! Because I have gone through other authors’ lists I have been able to connect with fans that wouldn’t have discovered me on Twitter on their own.

TweetAdder also lets me go over my list of those I follow and see who I haven’t had conversations with ever/sometimes/often, as well as those I follow that aren’t active on Twitter or may be bots. (No offense to any bots reading this. I know you’re working hard to get me hard and sell me SEO services.) I haven’t really used this feature at all. I do plan on it and will be culling my list that I follow soon. My timeline is getting messy.

So why call this post Delicate Douchebaggery? Because it is the Internet and everyone has their set of rules and procedures and laws and commandments and WAYS THINGS MUST BE DONE BECAUSE THE INTERNET IS ONLY FREE IF YOU ACT EXACTLY AS A TOTAL STRANGER WANTS YOU TO.

That’s why.

While some who read this won’t give a rat’s ass made out of styrofoam, there are others that will be OFFENDED GREATLY. Which is the exact reason I am talking about this. I want it out in the open that this is how I play the Twitter game (no need to talk about the Facebook game because there isn’t one. Facebook is just necessary suckage). I use certain tools to help me maximize my Twitter use. And so far the tools work for me. They may not work for you. They may not work for Joe Hill or John Scalzi or CC Chapman or Neil Gaiman. But they work for me. And that’s what matters.

And that’s really all I have to say. So if you see a tweet that you’ve seen before then feel free to call me out on it on Twitter. I don’t mind at all. It gives me a chance to strike a conversation with you. Who knows, maybe we’ll discover we have some things in common. Or that I really am a douchebag. Or both. We’ll see.

Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids. He is the author the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash), Bethany and the Zombie Jesus, Stark- An Illustrated Novella, and the YA horror novels Little Dead Man (November 2012) and the forthcoming Intentional Haunting (2013). Check out Friday Night Drabble Party every week! Free drabbles for all!  His Twitter handle is @jakebible.