This post, from Bryce Beattie, originally appeared on his How To Self Publish A Book site on 9/27/10 and is reprinted here in its entirety with his permission.
I’m just going to assume here that you post fiction on your blog, and that you want more exposure for it. With that extra exposure, hopefully you’ll sell more books. Here’s five ways to promote your fiction using Twitter.
Oh, wait, before we get down to brass tacks here, let me just make sure you’re starting from the right spot. You need a Twitter account, and you need to make sure it is public.
One more thing – if you are looking to use your fiction as a way to gain readers and hopefully fans, you are almost always best off writing a serial of some sort. The hope is that readers will come back to find out what happens next.
Tweet #1 – Five Second Fiction
This is where you tell a whole story in a single tweet. And you don’t even have a whole tweet to do it, because you have to put #5secfic in your tweet. I’m pretty sure you get bonus points for working a pun into the story.
So that fans can discover your *ahem* longer pieces, make sure you have a link to your website/blog in your twitter profile.
Examples
#5secfic Bubba put down the wrench and put the baggie in his pants, giving new meaning to the term “Plumber’s Crack.”
#5secfic If only Jim had at least sent flowers he would still have a windshield and all of his left shoes.
Tweet #2 – Pimp My Story
Every Saturday, kira at EpiGuide puts together a digest of recent releases in of web fiction serials. To participate use the hashtag #pimpmystory when tweeting about your latest chapter.
Example
The Journey of St. Laurent: In Chapter 38, it’s finally time for UFOs vs Survivalists. http://bit.ly/dqCuzM #pimpmystory
For the complete skinny on “Pimp My Story”, check out the official rules: http://www.epiguide.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14866
Tweet #3 – Tuesday Serial
This is another way to promote the most recent chapter in your online serial. To participate here, sometime during the week tweet about the latest installment of your epic alien romance story using the hashtag #TuesdaySerial, then on the next Tuesday, go visit http://tuesdayserial.com/?page_id=1527 and submit your entry following the instructions on that page.
Example (of the tweet)
The redone and expanded Chapter 38 of The Journey of St. Laurent is up http://bit.ly/dqCuzM #TuesdaySerial
For complete details, visit: http://tuesdayserial.com/?page_id=7
Tweet #4 – Friday Flash
Here’s what you do. You write & post a piece of flash fiction (about 1,000 words or less) then you tweet about it using #FridayFlash. You can also submit it to the weekly collector: http://www.jmstrother.com/tiki-view_tracker.php?trackerId=2 (just click “insert new item”)
Example:
#FridayFlash A New Year’s Revolution http://bit.ly/9uM7Fo
Tweet #5 – Web Fic Wednesday
This one is a little different. This is one you can’t do yourself. You have to write something good enough for somebody else to tweet about it. They just put the hashtag #WebFicWed and a link to your site or a page with some of your fiction.
Every week, the #WebFicWed links are digested and posted by JanOda on http://www.ergofiction.com
Don’t be lame and start a new twitter account just so you can suggest yourself. Seriously. Although, I think it would be fair to mention somewhere on your blog/website “If you like this fiction, please tweet me for #WebFicWed”. I guess I’m not so awesome, because nobody had ever tweeted me up for this.
Example:
Check out J. Dane Tyler for #WebFicWed. Great short horror stories. http://jdanetyler.wordpress.com
New! Tweet #6 – Very Short Story
Thanks to Anke for pointing this one out.
Just like #5secfic, except you use #vss.
Example:
Jon looked down to see the laundry gnome dancing in his washing machine and burning socks. He closed the lid and went back to bed. #vss
Bonus Tweets.
Here’s another few general use hashtags that readers search for when discovering new fiction. Just sprinkle them in whenever you tweet about your stories.
#webfiction
#weblit
#fiction
#nanofiction, #microfiction, #TwitFic – like unto #vss & #5secfic
Now stop reading this and go write some fiction.