by Erin Mitchell
As you read this, I’ll be in The Land of the Mouse, cavorting with authors, editors, agents, reviewers and readers at Sleuthfest. They have a super line-up every year, and this year’s no exception, from guests of honor Charlaine Harris, Jeffery Deaver, and Chris Grabenstein to reader favorites (ok, this reader’s favorites) Lisa Unger, Joelle Charbonneau, Sara Blaedel, Lisa Black, Daniel Palmer, Reed Farrel Coleman, Elizabeth Hand, Jamie Freveletti, and more.
As I was using my trusty highlighter pen to mark up the panel schedule and pondering how I could best be in two conference rooms at once, it occurred to me that it would be neat to have a directory of all the Twitter feeds of attending authors. A list, if you will.
So I set about making said list (which you can find here). While I was already following many of the authors on the docket, some were new to me. And I was surprised to find some accounts had either no or non-descriptive Twitter bios and/or the accounts were protected.
Protected? From what? From readers? Those people who might want to buy your book?
Ok, ok…I can see several scenarios that might have made these folks think protecting their tweets was a good idea. Perhaps they thought this was the only way they would know who is following them (it’s not). Maybe they like to send a note to new followers when they approve them (again, protecting isn’t necessary to do this). In the end, if you’re an author and you’re on Twitter and you feel the need to protect your tweets, don’t be on Twitter. Or be on Twitter under a pseudonym. But lose the lock, man.
Which leads me to those pesky Twitter bios. At only 160 characters (including spaces), it’s the shortest bio you’ll ever write. Even so, please, for the love of words on a page, make sure the word “author” or “writer” or even just “write” is in there somewhere. As much as we are each precious, unique human beings, some of us share the same name. And those looking to catch tidbits of your wisdom won’t necessarily recognize your avatar image. Leave the mystery in your books and make your Twitter bio clear.
The whole point of marketing is to introduce people to your stories…your content…to bring them in. So keeping them out or hiding behind a virtual curtain accomplishes nothing. And while you’re at it, make sure your Facebook page allows people to post to your page. Blocking this kinda defeats the purpose of having a page. For all its foibles, Facebook allows plenty of flexibility in how page visitors see your content so there’s no need to stop them interacting.
Happy unblocking!
