POST UPDATED: 8/2010
Do you tweet?
If you don’t, have you considered it? Or considered it a waste of time?
Twitter is the “word” in social networking these days, and for writers or authors, there are some amazing goldmines to be found here. When I asked twitterer extraordinaire Ashley Ludwig (@wiremamma), author of ALL OR NOTHING, she said, “I’m finding that twitter is great for learning about my industry, talking with publishers, and helping weigh in with the wide world of e-publishing.”
How does a writer do that exactly, you ask? Follow or get involved in conversations. Find literary agents, publishers and the like to follow and pay attention to their twitters. (If you aren’t certain where to start, go to my profile at @jeannieruesch and click on my “following” link. You’ll see a variety of authors, writers, agents, pubs, etc in there.)
On someone’s list of tweets, you’ll find hashtags [ which looks like #greattopic ] to indicate that they are part of a conversation, such as #askagent, which is a conversation where you can ask agents questions and the ones participating will respond. It’s a great opportunity to connect in ways you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
To help you maximize your Twittering and tweeting, I’ve put together a list of conversations that might be of interest, lists of agents and editors you can follow. And a call out to writers and authors (and readers!) — how do you use twitter? What tips do you have to offer?
Conversations you can follow and participate in
- #askagent
- #smallpress — talk about the small press books you recommend
- #writegoal
- #bookpub
- #litchat
- #followreader
- #amwriting
- #writingparty
- #amwritingparty
- #authors
- #writechat
- #thrillerchat
- #editorchat
Twitter Chat Schedules
A full Twitter Chat Schedule can be found here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ No point in trying to keep up with the list. Just click the link – it’s an interactive spreadsheet that allows people to update their information.
Twitter Tools To Help
You might ask how you’re supposed to keep all of these conversations in order without driving yourself crazy. There are a number of great twitter-related tools out there. I’ve retooled this page to be a list of items, so here is the list of tools:
More articles on this:
- The Top 21 Twitter Clients
- 7 Twitter Clients to Watch Rise in 2010
- Discussion of Web Apps versus Desktop Apps
- 111 Twitter Tools
- 2010’s Top 20 Twitter Monitoring & Analytics Tools
Agents & Publishers on Twitter
And finally, a list that’s as complete as I can make it so far (I will add to this list) of agents and editors and pubs you can follow. But first, I want to quote Literary Agent Janet Reid from her blog : “One of the great ways to make twitter a total waste of time is to follow someone who isn’t using twitter for what YOU are using it for.”
Not everyone searches out replies to them. Not everyone does searches by hashtags. Some people use it as an extended version of IM to chat with friends, coworkers and others and pay no attention to anything else. Others use it extensively to converse on topics, offer advice, and such. Check out their pages, see what they tweet about most and adjust your expectations from this accordingly. Twitter can be a great tool– as long as you use it in a way that makes sense for you.
THE LIST
Literary Agents
Allan Guthrie: http://twitter.com/allanguthrie
Alice Tasman: http://twitter.com/AliceTasman
Amy Moore-Benson: http://www.twitter.com/amblit — Added 5/2010
Andrea Barzvi (ICM) http://twitter.com/AndyBarzvi
Barry Goldblatt: http://twitter.com/barrygoldblatt
Beverly Slopen: http://www.twitter.com/slopenagency – Added 5/2010
Byrd Leavell (Waxman Agency): http://www.twitter.com/ByrdLeavell3 — Added 5/2010
Chip MacGregor: http://www.twitter.com/chipmacgregor — Added 5/2010
Chris Richman (Upstart Crow Literary Agency): http://www.twitter.com/ChrisRichman — Added 5/2010
Danielle Svetcov (Levine Greenberg Literary Agency): http://www.twitter.com/dsvetcov — Added 5/2010
Deirdre Knight: http://twitter.com/DeidreKnight
Elaine Spencer (Knight Agency): http://twitter.com/ElaineSpencer
Elana Roth: http://www.twitter.com/elanaroth
Elizabeth Evans: http://www.twitter.com/EMEvans11 — Added 5/2010
Ellen Papus: http://twitter.com/ellenp
Emmanuelle Alspaugh: http://twitter.com/Emmanuelle15
Evan Marshall: http://www.twitter.com/evanmarshall – Added 5/2010
Folio Literary: http://www.twitter.com/FolioLiterary – Added 5/2010
Ginger Clark: http://twitter.com/Ginger_Clark
Greg Daniel: http://www.twitter.com/DanielLiterary — NEW 5/2010
Haylee Yeeles (Pollinger Unlimited): http://www.twitter.com/HayleyYeeles — Added 5/2010
Holly Bemiss (The Susan Rabiner Literary Agency): http://twitter.com/BeMissH
Holly Root (Waxman Literary): http://twitter.com/hroot
Isabel White: http://www.twitter.com/BourbonKid — NEW 5/2010
Jacquie Flynn (Joelle Delbourgo Associates): http://www.twitter.com/BookJacquie — Added 5/2010
Janet Kobobel Grant (Books & Such Literary): http://www.twitter.com/janetkgrant — Added 5/2010
Janet Reid (FinePrint Literary Mgmt): http://twitter.com/Janet_Reid
Jason Ashlock (Movable Type Literary Group) : http://twitter.com/jasonashlock
Jennifer DeChiara :http://twitter.com/4writers
Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown Literary): http://twitter.com/literaticat
Jennifer Rappaport: http://twitter.com/jennyrae
Jennifer Weltz (Naggar Literary Agency): http://www.twitter.com/JVNLA – Added 5/2010
Jenny Bent: http://twitter.com/jennybent
Jessica Faust : http://twitter.com/BookEndsJessica
Jessica Regel: http://twitter.com/jessregel
Jill Corcoran: http://twitter.com/JillCorcoran
Joelle Delbourgo: http://www.twitter.com/JLDelbourgo – Added 5/2010
Johnson Literary: http://twitter.com/cjlitagency
Jonny Geller: http://www.twitter.com/jonnyagent – Added 5/2010
Kae Tienstra: http://twitter.com/Bookfan
Kate Epstein: http://www.twitter.com/EpsteinLiterary – Added 5/2010
Kate Lee: http://www.twitter.com/katelaurielee – Added 5/2010
Kate McKean (Howard Morhaim Literary): http://twitter.com/kate_mckean
Kate Schafer Testerman (KT Literary): http://www.twitter.com/DaphneUn — Added 5/2010
Kathleen Ortiz (Lowenstein Associates) http://twitter.com/KOrtizzle
Kelly Mortimer: http://twitter.com/KellyMortimer
Kim Lionetti (BookEnds): http://twitter.com/BookEndsKim
Knight Agency: http://www.twitter.com/KnightAgency
Launch Books: http://www.twitter.com/LaunchBooks – Added 5/2010
Lauren MacLeod: http://twitter.com/BostonBookGirl
Lauren Shults: http://www.twitter.com/Laurenshults – Added 5/2010
Literary Agent (anon): http://twitter.com/literaryagent
Lisa DiMona: http://www.twitter.com/lisadimona – Added 5/2010
Lucienne Diver (Knight Agency): http://twitter.com/LucienneDiver
Marlene Stringer: http://twitter.com/MarleneStringer
Matt Wagner (Fresh Books): http://www.twitter.com/mattwagner – Added 5/2010
Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich Literary): http://www.twitter.com/MichaelBourret – Added 5/2010
Miriam Goderich (Dystel & Goderich Literary): http://twitter.com/MiriamGoderich
Natasha Kern: http://www.twitter.com/storyseller — Added 5/2010
Nathan Bransford (Bransford Literary): http://twitter.com/NathanBransford
Nephele Tempest (Knight Agency): http://twitter.com/NepheleTempest
Nick Croce: http://www.twitter.com/thecroceagency
Noah Lukeman: http://www.twitter.com/LukemanLiterary – Added 5/2010
Paige Wheeler (Folio Literary Mgmt): http://twitter.com/pwheeler_agent
Peter Cox : http://www.twitter.com/AgentPete — Added 5/2010
Peter Tallack (The Science Factory): http://www.twitter.com/petertallack – Added 5/2010
Rachael Gardner (WordServe Literary): http://twitter.com/RachelleGardner
Robert Brown (Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency): http://twitter.com/agentrobert
Ross Grossman (Affinity Artists Agency): http://twitter.com/AffinityArtists
Samantha Haywood: http://www.twitter.com/samjanehaywood – Added 5/2010
Sarah Such: http://www.twitter.com/sarahsuch – Added 5/2010
Scott Waxman: http://twitter.com/scottwaxman
Serendipity Literary: http://twitter.com/serendipitylit
Simon Trewin: http://www.twitter.com/simontrewin – Added 5/2010
Strothman Agency: http://www.twitter.com/StrothmanAgency – Added 5/2010
Stuart Krichevsky: http://twitter.com/skagency
Ted Weinstein: http://twitter.com/twliterary
Tracy Marchini (literary agent assistant, Curtis Brown Ltd): http://www.twitter.com/TracyMarchini
Tom Wilkens (The Jeff Herman Agency): http://twitter.com/tomwillkens
Upstart Crow Literary Agency: http://www.twitter.com/upstartcrowlit – Added 5/2010
Wendy Goldman Rohm: http://www.twitter.com/Wendy_G_Rohm – Added 5/2010
Wendy Lawton: http://twitter.com/wendylawton
William Gladstone: http://www.twitter.com/wgtwelve – Added 5/2010
Publishing Industry
Agent Query: http://twitter.com/agentquery
Angela James/CarinaPress: http://twitter.com/angelajames
AuthoressAnon: http://twitter.com/AuthoressAnon
Bantam Editor: http://twitter.com/BantamEditor
Barbara Vey/PW: http://twitter.com/barbaravey
Book Pubs: http://twitter.com/bookpubs – Added 5/2010
Books Reviewer: http://twitter.com/BooksReviewer
Colleen Lindsay: http://twitter.com/Colleen_Lindsay
Jodi Meadows (slush reader): http://twitter.com/jodimeadows
Kirkus Reviews: http://twitter.com/KirkusReviews
LitChat http://twitter.com/litchat
LitMags http://twitter.com/litmags
Moonrat (acq editor at NY pub): http://twitter.com/moonrat
MJ Rose: http://twitter.com/MJRose
Publisher’s Weekly: http://twitter.com/PublishersWkly
Publishing Talk: http://twitter.com/publishingtalk
Query Shark: http://twitter.com/QueryShark
Ranty Editor: http://twitter.com/rantyeditor
Self Pub Review: http://twitter.com/selfpubreview
Sue Grimshaw: http://twitter.com/SueGrimshaw
Writer’s Digest: http://twitter.com/WritersDigest
Writers2Follow http://twitter.com/writers2follow
Book Publishers
Absolute Publishing: http://twitter.com/Absolute_Books – Added 5/2010
Alonquin Books: http://www.twitter.com/AlgonquinBooks
Amber Quill Press: http://www.twitter.com/AmberQuillPress
Aqueous Books: http://www.twitter.com/aqueous_books
AVA Publishing: http://twitter.com/avabooks – Added 5/2010
Bantam Dell: http://twitter.com/bantamdell
Bloomsbury Press: http://twitter.com/BloomsburyPress
Crown Publishing: http://twitter.com/crownpublishing – Added 5/2010
DK Publishing: http://twitter.com/dkpublishing
Dorchester Pub: http://twitter.com/DorchesterPub
Dutton Books: http://twitter.com/DuttonBooks
Echelon Press: http://www.twitter.com/echelonpress
Forever Romance: http://twitter.com/ForeverRomance
Grand Central Pub: http://twitter.com/GrandCentralPub
Graywolf Press: http://twitter.com/GraywolfPress
Hale Publishing: http://twitter.com/HalePublishing – Added 5/2010
Harlequin Books: http://twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
Harper Studio: http://twitter.com/harperstudio
Lily Roth Publishing: http://twitter.com/LRPublishing – Added 5/2010
Little Brown & Co: http://twitter.com/littlebrown
Medallion Press: http://www.twitter.com/MedallionPress
Osprey Publishing: http://twitter.com/OspreyBooks
Penguin Books: http://twitter.com/PenguinBooks
Potomac Books: http://twitter.com/PotomacBooks
Random House: http://twitter.com/randomhouseinc
Samhain Publishing: http://www.twitter.com/samhainpub
Sapphire Blue Publishing: http://twitter.com/SapphireBluePub – Added 5/2010
Seedpod Publishing: http://twitter.com/seedpodpub – Added 5/2010
Softskull Press: http://twitter.com/softskull
Simon & Schuster: http://twitter.com/simonschusterUK
Story Publishing: http://twitter.com/StoreyPub – Added 5/2010
Stylus Publishing: http://twitter.com/StylusPub – Added 5/2010
Tor Books: http://twitter.com/torbooks
Tradewind Books: http://twitter.com/tradewindbooks – Added 5/2010
Turner Publishing: http://twitter.com/TurnerPub – Added 5/2010
White Rose Publishing: http://twitter.com/WhiteRosePub – Added 5/2010
More links to authors to follow:
Another place to locate folks to follow:
http://wefollow.com/. (Hint: You should also be listed here!)
And of course, the most important ones of all: mine. 🙂
Are you a writer on twitter? Let’s start a conversation… Use hashtag #writerstweet and tell me how you use twitter.
15 comments
I don’t use twitter. I’m worried it will become too much of a time suck but I also think I’m missing out on networking possibilities and marketing strategies. *sigh* Not to mention that my life is really boring and I doubt people are interested. LOL.
However, I’m about the bite Apple and upgrade to an iPhone, which means I could actually tweet while stuck places without a computer so I’m thinking more seriously about it. This is a great post, Jeannie, and I’ll definitely use it for reference when the time comes. (Yes, I said *when* not *if* – lol)
Okay. I succumbed. I am now https://twitter.com/silverwriter Who knew Silver James was “popular” name. LOL
*tries to figure out how to follow Jeannie*
Good for you, Silver!! My advice to a twitter newbie — don’t try to learn it all in one day. You won’t. Sign up, look around for a few people to follow and sit back and watch for a while.
See what people do, how they get involved. Watch for discussions you enjoy, and if someone tweets about something you think is worthy, Retweet that.
I’ve been on Twitter for about two months now and just NOW feel like I’ve figured out how to use it to my advantage and fit it into my schedule.
Jeannie – EXCELLENT POST.
I bow at your superior abilities to catalog, dissect, and disseminate information. 🙂
@wiremamma spent her morning chasing a blue heron out of the yard while trying to write my daily word count.
I even had a few “tweet backs” while doing so.
The best part about this is, meeting people you wouldn’t ordinarily speak with. For example – I had a “Tweet” conversation with an author I greatly admire – @jamesscottbell – and floated on that for about a day.
NOTE: Allow folks to follow you as you’re comfortable – but select who YOU follow with care. It makes the posts you review much more valuable.
Excellent, and I’ll be posting the link to twitter through Tiny URL shortly.
~Ashley
@wiremamma
Hey Ashley! I totally agree with your statement — select who you follow with care. I know some people say it’s “rude” not to follow those who follow you, but I don’t agree. It’s not a required thing.
When your time is limited, you need to be able to focus your attention.
Wow, Jeannie! This is fabulous info. I am on Twitter, but have not used it at all. Really haven’t been using it to its potential, that’s for sure.
Thanks for the post!
Renee
[…] — Ashley Ludwig @ 9:27 pm Reading along with my friend Jeannie Ruesch today, at http://www.happyendings.com – where she blogs about writers using Twitter to their […]
Hey Renee! As mentioned above, start off slow. I started by following people first. I made a few (very few) tweets myself, just getting the feel for the program, how I wanted to use it, how I thought it would serve me. And I watched discussions happening, kept up with other people’s tweets.
If you take it in strides, it’s easier to work your way up to having it be a part of your day. It’s definitely on par with my routines of checking email, blogs, twitter in the am and then again later in the day. NOW. LOL
This was the most helpful blog I’ve read about Twitter. Thanks–I learned so much!
I’ve been sort of thinking about Twitter. This post is moving up my thinking process. I like the recommendation of taking it slow.
Lot’s of information Jeannie. Thanks
Great information, but I’m still *scared*. LOL I have My Space but don’t use it but every couple months–still can’t really figure it out and barely want to, and forget about Facebook. I may have to give Twitter a try though. It’s the time thing I worry about because my family thinks I’m on the computer too much the way it is, so the time I do get, I’d rather be writing.
Jeannie, what an incredible list of Tweeple!! That must have been an enormous amount of work. Thanks for doing it.
Silver, you’re exactly right on both counts: Twitter is a major time absorber if you’re not careful, AND it’s very easy easy to Tweet with an iPhone.
Some other Hashtags to follow:
#litchat – meets three times a week for about an hour… Follow @litchat for more information
#FollowReader – meets once a week to discuss the publishing industry, and usually will post a synopsis of chat the following week.
#FridayReads – Book Clubs discussing — what everyone is reading, genres, book stores, etc.
~Ashley
Another one… #pubtip
This is extremely useful information. Thank you for providing such a detailed list of contacts/information and dividing them into organized categories!
I follow Twitters advice: Follow everyone who follows me (as long as they write in a language I can read and their tweets aren’t repugnant.) I totally agree with your point, that by doing this, the main stream of Tweets aren’t of interest to me. I resolved that issue by identifying those involved with writing and creating a special followers list for them (I call it ‘Writing-Related’.)
When I have a few minutes to scan Tweets, I click on my ‘Writing-Related’ list and then only the tweets from those individuals with related interests pop up. However, my personal tweets still go out to a larger audience. This methodology is in line with my personal philosophy that “You never know who knows somebody worth knowing!”
Thanks again for a great article. BTW… I’m now following you, too!