Twitter’s Magic Symbol, the Hashtag

Twitter’s magic symbol is the little tic tac toe pound sign known in Tweet-speak as a hashtag. Categorize messages by placing a hashtag in front of keywords. Click on a hashtag word to bring up the other tweets in that category or type it in the search field. When you sweeten your tweets with hashtags they are seen by more

tweeters. Be polite and follow good twitter etiquette. Don’t use more than three hashtags in a single tweet are you will look like a spammer or hashtag hogger or something equally boring. Here’s an example of hashtag use and please feel free to retweet it. #Writers Lens blogging #contest – win Zen In the Art of Wriitng & #Steampunk model Airship http://www.thewriterslens.com/.

As we all know writing is a lonely profession, but we can share our progress and offer help to other writers with the following popular hashtags: #wip, #author, #pubtip, #authors, #editgoal , #critique, #writing, #revisions, #writetips, #editing, #writenow, #writegoal, #wrotetoday, #writingtips, #amwriting, #amediting, #nanowrimo, #amrevising. So other people will know how wonderfully you’re progressing and how hard you’re working. It doesn’t matter that these people don’t know you, they are still proud of you and encouraged by your progress. I use #amwriting all the time and I’m not the only one. It seems like someone besides me should know I’m writing.

To fish for readers in your genre draw from these hash tag hooks: #YA, #yum, #vss (very short story), #ufo, #nerd, #blog, #wolf, #goth, #xoxo, #sexy, #teen, #poem, #poet, #poems, #teens, #smexy, #yalit, #scifi, #story #ghost, #genre ,#novel, #novels, #erotic, #kidlit, #series, #sequel, #indies, #webfic, #weblit, #creepy, #horror, #yasaves, #review, #fantasy, #mystery #undead, #turnon, #zombie, #poetry, #hotguys, #fiction, #erotica, #chivalry, #twilight, #thriller, #chilling, #romance, #vampire, #zombies, #suspense, #novelists, #kissable, #kidstoday, #haunting, #vampires, #werewolf, #romantic, #dystopian, #steampunk, #werewolves, #longreads, #anthology, #livingdead, #paranormal , #bookreview, #truestories, #historical, #apocalyptic, #shortstories, #youngadult, #shortthriller, #releasedate #indieauthors, #ghoststories, #romancenovel, #contemporary, #romanceauthor, #vampirebooks, and #paranormalromance. There are plenty of hashtags swimming in the twitter sea to help you net and network with readers.
Some of the best hashtags for authors are ebook and epub tags: #wifi, #nook, #ipad, #sony, #apps, #kindle, #tablet, #scribd, #mobile, #ereader, #99cents, #amazon, #publishing, #blackberry, #goodreads, #smashwords, #librarything, #selfpublishing, #kindlebooks, and #kindlebargain,

Hashtags are for readers too. Booklovers, share what you are reading every Friday with #fridayreads. Other fabulous hashtags bookworms will love are #read, #review, #reading, #readthis, #booklook, #mustread, #bestseller, #literacy, #paperback, #amreading, #nowreading, and #summerreading.

Next time you chat about reading or writing let your fingers do the talking on Twitter with handy hashtags. This is not a full list so keep your eyes open on twitter for other hashtags to help you target fellow tweeters who share your interest.

Please comment or post questions below for a chance to win this week’s prizes. Include your email so we can contact you if you win. The prizes for this week are listed in the post directly below this one.