FIFTY TWITTER HASHTAGS
When promoting their books over the internet via Twitter, many writers tend to stick with some of the tried-and-true hashtags. These include #Amazon, #Kindle, #ASMSG, #iartg, #books, #ebooks, and a handful of others used by so many authors.
There's nothing wrong with these tags. They are very popular and work well. However, there are a vast assortment of others, when regularly included in your tweets, that can touch many more eyes than just the common hashtags that continue the worn path.
If you use a hashtag tool like http://www.hashtagify.me to check the popularity of other hashtags you'll discover that #free, and #giveaway are more popular than #Amazon (as of a December 2016 check). Also #deals is more popular than #Kindle and #ASMSG (Author social Media Support Group). Better yet, there are several hashtags of interest to authors whose popularity is greater than #iartg, #books, and #ebooks.
Over the past couple of months, I've been conducting tests, varying the use of over 250 different hashtags of interest to writers looking for tips and authors promoting their treasured books. I've varied the use of these tags over different hours of the day and different days during the week. What I have discovered should be quite interesting to many authors marketing their works of art via the web.
Before you check out the 50 hashtags listed later in this section, learn more about how to apply them in your particular case. Each book is different, and the advertisements and other promotional splashes used by each author represent their personal flare with varying results. Not all work as well as others.
For best results for your application, try a little experimentation with lots of different hashtags. Tweet frequently, varying your grouping of hashtags, time of day, and days of the week during different tests to measure the effectiveness for your application. Consider letting your tweets guide interested parties to your book's website, Amazon, or Facebook pages, or any other point of focus you want potential readers to begin their search.
I like to send them to my website, so readers can discover more about my book series and each individual title. I include a wealth of information about each novel and have readily evident buttons to take them to my books' Amazon pages if they choose to buy after learning more about the tales within. Here's a couple of example tweets:
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/ <== Adrenaline-pumping action fills this #thriller #book series with intrigue. #ASMSG #IARTG #IAN1
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/blue-moon.html <== Meet Caru whose take-charge attitude drives her fight against muclones - #Fantasy #eBook #AmazonUK
Note:
Hashtags are NOT case-sensitive so you can tailor your hashtags with upper and lowercase letters to fit your dialog. I often use the uppercase letters to emphasize the target of the tag as with #AmazonUK.
Each book and an author's targeted audience can be different. It's more helpful to a writer of romance novels to use the #romance hashtag than #crime. Gear your selection of tags to those that best fit your goals and the readers you want to draw to your books. Once you discover the most beneficial hashtags for your cause, use those most frequently but still continue using those of lesser popularity.
Why not just stick with those that create more activity? Eventually, most of your target customers who monitor the most-frequented hashtags will have seen your post at one time or another. Once, twice, maybe three times isn't bad, but seeing the same title(s) any more than that can grow tiresome and create a negative reaction.
By using as many different hashtags over time, you give your promotion the best chance to be viewed by many more and different eyes. Don't get me wrong. Use the most effective hashtags most frequently, but don't leave the others out of the loop. You want your book's cover and title in the minds of as many different people as possible. including readers in as many countries as feasible.
So, you don't translate your works in other languages other than English? That's fine, there's lots of English-speaking people in a lot of countries. Many authors publish their book in only one language but can still find readers in many other locations than their country of origin.
Here's a list of 50 different hashtags that readers, writers/authors, librarians, film writers, publishers, people looking for promotions, and even some international parties may find interesting. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a sampling of 10 interesting tags within each group below. These are listed by their hashtag "popularity" within each group as of December 2016.
There's nothing wrong with these tags. They are very popular and work well. However, there are a vast assortment of others, when regularly included in your tweets, that can touch many more eyes than just the common hashtags that continue the worn path.
If you use a hashtag tool like http://www.hashtagify.me to check the popularity of other hashtags you'll discover that #free, and #giveaway are more popular than #Amazon (as of a December 2016 check). Also #deals is more popular than #Kindle and #ASMSG (Author social Media Support Group). Better yet, there are several hashtags of interest to authors whose popularity is greater than #iartg, #books, and #ebooks.
Over the past couple of months, I've been conducting tests, varying the use of over 250 different hashtags of interest to writers looking for tips and authors promoting their treasured books. I've varied the use of these tags over different hours of the day and different days during the week. What I have discovered should be quite interesting to many authors marketing their works of art via the web.
Before you check out the 50 hashtags listed later in this section, learn more about how to apply them in your particular case. Each book is different, and the advertisements and other promotional splashes used by each author represent their personal flare with varying results. Not all work as well as others.
For best results for your application, try a little experimentation with lots of different hashtags. Tweet frequently, varying your grouping of hashtags, time of day, and days of the week during different tests to measure the effectiveness for your application. Consider letting your tweets guide interested parties to your book's website, Amazon, or Facebook pages, or any other point of focus you want potential readers to begin their search.
I like to send them to my website, so readers can discover more about my book series and each individual title. I include a wealth of information about each novel and have readily evident buttons to take them to my books' Amazon pages if they choose to buy after learning more about the tales within. Here's a couple of example tweets:
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/ <== Adrenaline-pumping action fills this #thriller #book series with intrigue. #ASMSG #IARTG #IAN1
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/blue-moon.html <== Meet Caru whose take-charge attitude drives her fight against muclones - #Fantasy #eBook #AmazonUK
Note:
Hashtags are NOT case-sensitive so you can tailor your hashtags with upper and lowercase letters to fit your dialog. I often use the uppercase letters to emphasize the target of the tag as with #AmazonUK.
Each book and an author's targeted audience can be different. It's more helpful to a writer of romance novels to use the #romance hashtag than #crime. Gear your selection of tags to those that best fit your goals and the readers you want to draw to your books. Once you discover the most beneficial hashtags for your cause, use those most frequently but still continue using those of lesser popularity.
Why not just stick with those that create more activity? Eventually, most of your target customers who monitor the most-frequented hashtags will have seen your post at one time or another. Once, twice, maybe three times isn't bad, but seeing the same title(s) any more than that can grow tiresome and create a negative reaction.
By using as many different hashtags over time, you give your promotion the best chance to be viewed by many more and different eyes. Don't get me wrong. Use the most effective hashtags most frequently, but don't leave the others out of the loop. You want your book's cover and title in the minds of as many different people as possible. including readers in as many countries as feasible.
So, you don't translate your works in other languages other than English? That's fine, there's lots of English-speaking people in a lot of countries. Many authors publish their book in only one language but can still find readers in many other locations than their country of origin.
Here's a list of 50 different hashtags that readers, writers/authors, librarians, film writers, publishers, people looking for promotions, and even some international parties may find interesting. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a sampling of 10 interesting tags within each group below. These are listed by their hashtag "popularity" within each group as of December 2016.
POSSIBLE HASHTAGS FOR YOUR TARGET READERS' EYES:
#romance
#book
#ebook
#fantasy
#humor
#thriller
#mystery
#read
#crime
#apocalypse
#book
#ebook
#fantasy
#humor
#thriller
#mystery
#read
#crime
#apocalypse
FOR WRITER/AUTHOR EYES:
#ASMSG (Author Social Media Support Group)
#IARTG (Indie Author Retweet Group)
#IAN1 (India Author Network)
#authors
#writers
#writetip
#writerslife
#indiepub
#selfpublishing
#bookmarketing
#IARTG (Indie Author Retweet Group)
#IAN1 (India Author Network)
#authors
#writers
#writetip
#writerslife
#indiepub
#selfpublishing
#bookmarketing
FOR FILM WRITER, PUBLISHER, OR LIBRARIAN EYES:
#film
#Hollywood
#indiefilm
#library
#webseries
#filmmakers
#publishers
#screenwriter
#literaryagents
#movieproducer
#Hollywood
#indiefilm
#library
#webseries
#filmmakers
#publishers
#screenwriter
#literaryagents
#movieproducer
FOR PROMOTIONAL USE:
#free
#giveaway
#Amazon
#deals
#Kindle
#ComingSoon
#99cents
#NewRelease
#freebooks
#5stars
#giveaway
#Amazon
#deals
#Kindle
#ComingSoon
#99cents
#NewRelease
#freebooks
#5stars
FOR EYES BEYOND THE UNITED STATES:
#UK (United Kingdom)
#India
#Canada
#Australia
#AmazonUK
#DEbk (German Books)
#AmazonCA (Canada)
#AmazonIndia
#AmazonAustralia
#AmazonJapan
Note:
The above country-related hashtags are a limited sampling, but are not a recommendation of one country over others not listed. While these may be some of the more popular international tags, I'd recommend trying as many different country-related hashtags that you can find. Use your broader list during your tests to see which may help your personal promotions the best.
Try many of the hashtags that are different from what you've been using. Then I suggest tracking what I do after each test: measure your ebook and paperback orders, your Kindle ebook pages read (if you're a KDP Select author), and the number of unique visitors and webpages viewed for your website. This will give you a measure of the effectiveness of each variation of hashtag groupings for your specific promotional application.
Caution: Don't overuse the same exact hashtags more than a couple of times spread across a day, or you may be flagged as a spammer and "blocked" from some hashtags. You don't want to abuse using highly popular hashtags and risk being restricted from their valuable availability to you in the future!
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the uses of other social media choices. For now, I encourage you to look at the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.
#India
#Canada
#Australia
#AmazonUK
#DEbk (German Books)
#AmazonCA (Canada)
#AmazonIndia
#AmazonAustralia
#AmazonJapan
Note:
The above country-related hashtags are a limited sampling, but are not a recommendation of one country over others not listed. While these may be some of the more popular international tags, I'd recommend trying as many different country-related hashtags that you can find. Use your broader list during your tests to see which may help your personal promotions the best.
Try many of the hashtags that are different from what you've been using. Then I suggest tracking what I do after each test: measure your ebook and paperback orders, your Kindle ebook pages read (if you're a KDP Select author), and the number of unique visitors and webpages viewed for your website. This will give you a measure of the effectiveness of each variation of hashtag groupings for your specific promotional application.
Caution: Don't overuse the same exact hashtags more than a couple of times spread across a day, or you may be flagged as a spammer and "blocked" from some hashtags. You don't want to abuse using highly popular hashtags and risk being restricted from their valuable availability to you in the future!
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the uses of other social media choices. For now, I encourage you to look at the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.