Okay, I got some great feedback from my post about how we were going to set up social networking, and I think the one I heard the most about was Twitter, so we are going to start there!

Basically twitter is a micro blogging tool… what’s a micro blogging tool you ask? Well, it means that you update your twitter page with little snippets of your life and goings on throughout the day.

We are going to start simple today. We will get a twitter account and start updating it. I am not going to give you the awesome list of agents, editors and publishers using twitter just yet, because I don’t want you to add them yet! Instead, I want you to wait and just add fris, family, and of course the girls with pens! This way, you will have time to establish your twitter account and not look like spam, and maybe those awesome agents will follow you back!

So, we start by going to the twitter home page and clicking on the big green join button.

Now, you are on the sign up page… pretty self explanatory… just remember to pick a cool username, because that’s the name everyone is going to call you!

So, it’s official… you’re a member of the Twitteratti! Now, let twitter do the work for you and see if any of your friends are Tweeting! Just fill in your email address and password, and twitter will check to see if your friends are on Twitter! Follow them, because they will help you learn how to use this crazy new service!

Now, for the important part. You absolutely, hands down, without a doubt have to have an avatar. So, go into your profile and add a photo, most of the people on twitter use a picture of themselves, because, twitter is about personal acquaintances. So, find an adorable pic of you that you love and load her up! (for the purpose of this tutorial, I will just use a random image since I am not actually creating a personal account)

Play around in the Profile, and check out the different twitter designs! They have some great ones, and are easy to customize, so have fun with that! But make sure to fill out the Bio and Location (your location can be very general, like say The United States if you are worried about giving too much info away). Just make sure to fill these our, because people want to know about the person they are talking to!

You are officially ready to start tweeting! Click on the ‘home’ on the top right hand of the screen, and tell everyone what you are doing!

Want to follow more people that are interested in the same things as you are?
Check out Twitter Search and type in different stuff to see what people are talking about!

Okay, so you probably need a few people to follow, so here are a just a couple!

There’s me: http://twitter.com/jamieharrington
Another Girl with a Pen, Sarah Jensen: http://twitter.com/sarahjen
And everyone’s favorite anonymous author: http://twitter.com/authoressanon

Remember, start small… tweet a lot, if you find something interesting on the internet! Tell everyone about it!

Now, next week, we will look at a few tools for using twitter and if you promise to tweet, I will hook you up with that list of super cool people in the publishing world that twitter

Good Luck and Happy Tweeting!

Bookmark This