A Little Twitter Advice

I’ve been in the indie publishing game long enough now to see a trend or two come and go. Unfortunately one that seems to remain  is the in-your-face marketing strategy on twitter. You know, these are people who randomly mention you in a tweet with a “look at my blog”, or they follow you, and as soon as you follow back your message box is flooded with a “Nice to meet you, please like my FB fanpage, buy my book here, and here’s my website.”

Why people think this is a good idea is beyond me.

This is like going to an office party and being introduced to your co-worker’s husband. You smile and shake his hand, but before you know it he’s cornered you with a monologue on who he knows, what he’s done, how great he is, and why you should bow before him and kiss his feet.

Hey, buddy. I don’t know you. And from my first impression, I don’t want to, all right?

So here’s my little piece of twitter advice. The reason why it’s called social networking is because it’s just that … social. Take a tweet or two to find out if your new twend is even interested in the genre you write. Get to know them first. Take some time to find common ground.

I’ve met some incredible people on twitter, and I can say with certainty that none of these relationships started with a tweet that said “hey world, look how great I am!”

*End of rant*