Why I Deleted Half My Twitter Lists

Three years ago Twitter was my favorite site for connecting with people. I read a lot of blogs and retweeted any I found helpful. It was fun to pop on, see if anyone was drinking loads of coffee (like I do on a regular basis), say "hi" to friends and hopefully learn some new writing tricks through the links others shared.

I followed new people every day and they followed me too. It became harder to keep track of all these new people, so I made lists. But the lists grew large--too large. I created more lists.

Then I found myself reading fewer blogs at the same time many of my favorite bloggers stopped posting. It seemed like my Twitter feed no longer had fun snippets regarding silly cats, a lack of exercise and excess coffee consumption. It was link after link after link.

I never stopped checking in on Twitter, but I wasn't engaged.

I'm still not engaged.

Yesterday I went on Tweetdeck and wondered about some of the people I "conversed" with years ago. Was I missing something by not making more of an effort? 

This led me to reviewing my lists. Wow. Some of them were full of people I've never exchanged a tweet with. Others had duplicates. And some I wondered why I created in the first place. I had so many lists, I couldn't add them all as columns in Tweetdeck, which meant I never checked them.

Over the course of two hours, I consolidated my lists. I deleted over half of them. When I finished, I made sure Tweetdeck had a column for all of my current lists. Now I can actually see every list's feed when I log on. Isn't that the point of making them? *yes*

I don't know if I'll become more engaged on Twitter or not, but I took a step in the right direction. That's the thing about social media--sometimes we outgrow what worked for us in the past. It doesn't mean we have to quit, but we should tweak it to make it useful to us now.

Have you ever become overwhelmed by a social media site you used to enjoy? What did you do?

Have a fabulous weekend!!

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Aspiring Authors DO Have Something to Offer

Every Friday I like to chime in on social media, and today we're talking about a major concern many unpublished authors have about starting a blog before they're published.


Aspiring authors get conflicting advice about blogging. It's a hotly debated topic, one which writers, agents, and editors have differing opinions. Since the publishing industry stirs many personalities together, there can be no one right answer. Ultimately, starting a blog is an individual choice and should be made with care.

The two worries I hear over and over from authors who haven't taken the plunge to build a platform are:

1. If I start a blog, what do I, as an unpublished author, have to offer?
2. How can I find the time to do all that social media stuff and still write? (I'm not answering this today, but time is a big factor in building a platform and should be considered before signing up for a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and any other site. Check out Jody Hedlund's When Social Media Becomes a Time Suck for advice on not letting it overtake your life.)

Honestly, I get sad--my heart actually hurts--when I hear that anyone would think an unpublished author does not have anything meaningful to offer. Yes, I know there are some uninspired blogs (or blogs still finding their sea-legs, as I like to think of them), but the vast majority of blogs I read are written by aspiring authors, and the posts make a difference in my life.

Whether I'm reading an author's opinion on a writing technique, a personal essay about her writing struggles, a funny breakdown of the Grammy Awards, or a quick two-sentence line that the author is busy and promises to be back next week, I'm connecting with that author. I'm reading in someone else's viewpoint, and I'm learning from it.

The aspiring authors' blogs I come back to over and over offer three valuable things:

1. Friendship
They follow me back, and even if we can't read each other's posts all the time, we chat on Facebook and Twitter to stay connected.

2. Support
We shout out congratulations to other bloggers, we interview our friends during book releases, and we reach out when life throws grenades.

3. Information

I've learned grammar tips, conference ettiquette, agent news, contest information, writing craft nuggets, inspirational quotes, motivational devotions, and any number of items that have helped me on my writing journey.

You have so much to offer.Please, if you are an aspiring author and you think you will have nothing to offer until you're published--throw that thinking out. Seriously, erase it. That's like telling a student in high school she shouldn't volunteer at the local hospital until she's finished with her nursing degree. Or telling an eight-year-old not to enter the fair with his art project because he's not a real artist yet.

Here's another fact--many of the blogs I started following two years ago were written by aspiring authors. Now they aren't. They're written by authors who have gotten agents, sold books, and entered the realm of published authors. Do they have more to offer now than they did two years ago? No. They have something different to offer now. How fortunate to have received their wisdom all this time!

What do you think? Do aspiring authors have anything to offer?

Have a fantastic Friday!

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One Tip for Writers Starting a Blog

If you're a writer and considering taking the plunge into the blogging world, I have one piece of advice.



Use your author name in the URL and the title.

I know, we all want our blogs to stand out. We want the title to be clever--a good thing--and catchy--another good thing. But failing to include your author name in the URL and the title will cost you.

There are two reasons to use your author name in the URL and title of your blog.

1. From a platform perspective:

You're starting to build a web-presence to help you either get published or get readers. Will agents, editors, or readers Google an obscure title? No, they will Google your name. We want every online effort to reflect back to our author name. Let's make it easy for search engines to find us!

2. From a reader's perspective:

I follow hundreds of blogs, and I read them in Google Reader. The title of the blog shows up along with the title of the post. If your author name isn't in the title of your blog, it makes if very difficult for me to connect you as the author.

A few days ago, in the name of researching this post, I counted how many blogs I follow that feature a play on the word write in the title but no author name. Twenty-five! My memory for matching authors with blog names is very limited.

If I see Julie Musil: New Blog Post, I'm more likely to read it because I know and like Julie's posts. (If you don't follow Julie Musil, go on over to her blog. She's terrific!) Plus, I connect Julie's name to her Facebook profile and her tweets on Twitter. Whenever someone retweets or shares one of her posts on a social network, I see her name with the title of the post.

On the other hand, it's very hard to remember that Write Bucket is written by Susie Sunshine. Even if I adore Susie's posts, I'm less likely to read them because I've forgotten Write Bucket belongs to Susie. (I made up Write Bucket and Susie Sunshine--my apologies if this is an actual blog.) If her post is retweeted, I don't see Susie's name in the title of the post, making it less likely for me to click on it.

If you already have a blog, consider altering the title to include your author name. It won't affect old followers (any existing links to your site from other blogs will still show up under your old title), but new followers will have an easier time coming back. In Blogger, simply click on "Settings" and type in your new title, example--Susie Sunshine: Write Bucket.

If you follow many blogs, do you have a hard time remembering who the author is if the name isn't in the title? Does it affect your reading habits?

Have a fabulous weekend!

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