By now you have at least heard of Twitter hashtags, although many authors remain confused about them.
So what the heck is a hashtag anyway? It looks like a pound sign and is placed before a keyword or phrase in your Tweet relevant to your subject matter like this: #author or #dentalhygiene. It is meant to label a topic making it easier to search for on Twitter.
Twitter hosts a large community of authors and writers, and it’s time for you to get out there and get acquainted. Hashtags are like those sticky name tags you wear at events that tell people who you are and make you easier to approach. You want to be easy to approach, right?
General Hashtags
These are highly popular general categories you can use when tweeting content. Everybody uses them, which makes the crowd large, but when you combine these general hashtags with targeted ones within each tweet, you are more likely to reach the audience you are looking for.
- #author – Label yourself or a fellow author you are promoting
- #writer – Same idea as above
- #amwriting – If you are tweeting about a book in progress, offering a writing tip, working on a blog post, or anything of that nature
- #amreading – Great way to promote what you are reading and who wrote it
- #book and #books – Use when promoting yours and others (you ARE promoting fellow authors?)
- #ebook and #ebooks – Same idea as above
- #kindle – For your ebook version on Amazon
Targeted Hashtags
By targeted, I mean hashtags that are specific to your subject, genre, expertise, or branding. You may need to do some research to figure out the right hashtags for you. Two suggestions: go to www.hashtags.org and enter different words to see if anybody else is using them, how often, etc.; and find similar authors on Twitter and see how they hashtag their books and subjects. For one client, I discovered that writers of historical fiction often use #histfic and #histnov to label their genre.
The list below offers targeted hashtags more specific to certain subjects. I can’t possibly list for every genre and expertise out there, but you’ll get the idea.
Common Genres
- #paranormal
- #romance
- #scifi
- #horror
- #mystery
- #fiction
- #nonfiction
- #thriller
- #fantasy
- #inspirational
Narrow it down more
- #vampire
- #civics
- #ancientegypt
- #medical
- #WWI
- #erotica
- #zombies
Create your own based on branding
- #AuthorU
- #KneeExpert
- #RomanceGuru
Employ the right Twitter hashtags and get you and your work noticed by readers looking for something specific and by fellow authors who will promote your Tweets.