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September 15, 2017

Poking a Toe into Twitter


By Elizabeth Sumner Wafler


A week after holding my first baby, In Robin's Nest in my arms--delivered not by stork, but by UPS--I realized that if others were going to know that the book actually existed, I would have to engage in DIY marketing.

A month later I had invested in a WordPress domain and begun tacking away at my own website. I opened a facebook fan page. And then someone asked me if I was on twitter, in a way that sounded as though if I wasn't on twitter, I must be on crack. "Twitter is the real way to build followers," said she. I twitter searched a celebrated author. She had 100K followers. I had four.

 I spent the next six months toiling over pithy, yet 140 character tweets, in which I alternated between tooting my own (book) horn in clever ways, i.e., photographing my dog "holding" my book, and fretting over whether one person out of the 320 million twitter users might read my tweets. I dreaded even pulling up Twitter.

And then I read that for every four tweets, only one should be self-promoting. You must engage, the experts said. Writing is a lovely, yet lonely occupation, and the thought of engaging with others in the trenches was appealing. I began to spend less time composing, and more time reading, and in the process, I discovered hashtag games.

Unlike reindeer games, in which the Rudolphs may be excluded, anyone can play. There are hashtag games (sponsored by cool writers) for each day of the week, i.e., #lovelines on Mondays and #onelinewed on Wednesdays, in which you can share a favorite line from your work in progress, and even for each day of the month, i.e., #authorconfession where the sponsor posts a monthly calendar of questions.

Now this, I could do.

Answering questions like "What is your weirdest writing habit?" is fun, quick and easy. And considering queries like "What is your MC's greatest fear?" has made me think more critically about my characters, their desires and motivations--all the "whys." I am honing my craft.

I now have 1,200+ followers, a million fewer than John Grisham, a couple more than your teenager. But I actually know a number of my followers. I've developed connections with them: writers with whom I share common struggles, small victories, and great triumphs, a band of cheerleaders who share my belief that a rising tide lifts all the boats.

Don't be afraid to traverse the waters of Twitter. Poke a toe in, then plunge in--up to your waist. Like a June pool, the water warms up quickly. It can change your perspective and maybe even your career.
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On the heels of a twenty-year teaching career, Elizabeth Sumner Wafler’s passion for a story told with heart led her to write her own fiction. Her first novel, In Robin’s Nest, is one of love, loss and reunion; secrecy and truth; and ultimately redemption. The author is currently seeking representation for her second manuscript, A Faculty Daughter, the coming-of-age story of a girl reared on the campus of a boys' prep school. Wafler lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband and Cairn terrier, Mirabelle. She can often be found at a local farmer’s market in search of the perfect tomato or bouquet of flowers, or at one of the area’s beautiful vineyards enjoying a glass of Virginia wine.


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