Dana Lynn Smith – Twitter, Tweeting, and Re-tweeting: Twitter Book Marketing

On January 22nd, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with book marketing guru Dana Lynn Smith about exploiting the potential of Twitter for marketing your books. Dana Lynn Smith, owner of Texana Publishing Consultants, LLC, has 15 years of experience in publishing and 25 years of marketing experience. She specializes in developing marketing plans for nonfiction books and teaching authors how to promote their books online. She is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides, a series of ebooks on book marketing topics. Talking points include:

How does Twitter work
Why do you think Twitter is a valuable tool for authors?
What common mistakes do you see authors making on Twitter?
Twitter profile for a minute – what suggestions can you offer?
Can you give us some tips for attracting followers on Twitter?
A lot of people who use Twitter wonder what they should be tweeting about. Can you give us some suggestions?
I know there are several different types of messages that can be sent on Twitter. Can you explain the difference between Replies, Mentions and Direct Messages?
How often should authors tweet?
How can Twitter work with FaceBook or MySpace?
How can I run a contest with Twitter?

Dana ‘s professional background includes:

Overseeing book production, marketing, fulfillment, and bottom-line profitability at Hoover’s Business Press, with distribution channels including direct sales, library sales, online bookstores, and retail bookstores.
Writing search engine optimization content for a group of travel web sites.
Managing and promoting conventions and tradeshows for the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Hospital Association, and other associations.

She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing, and is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Writers League of Texas. A fifth-generation Texan, Dana enjoys exploring Texas and the world, and she writes a Texas travel column for Examiner.com. She and her husband live on a small ranch near Austin, Texas, where they raise cattle and goats