Author Chat Day on Twitter

Now this might be fun, a chat day with authors. This was posted on Facebook and came to me in an email:

Dear Friends:

Kim Castillo (Organizational and Internet Guru to many best selling romance authors) and I are planning a really amazing day on Twitter for romance fans - a special day where you can chat with your favourite romance authors.

Taking our cue from the wonderful #askagent chat days on twitter we’re going to be running a chat day with lots and lots of terrific romance writers!

THE NAME OF THE CHAT DAY:

#askromancewriter

THE DAY:

Wednesday Aug. 5th
Start time: when the clock strikes midnight on Aug. 5th
End time: when the clock strikes midnight on Thurs. Aug. 6th.

THE PLACE: Twitter

THE RULES:

It's easy. All you have to do is sign up to Twitter and get familiar with it before the day. Should take no time at all!

Every question/query you make you must include the exact phrase #askromancewriter so it can be tracked and searched by everyone participating. That means so we can follow along with what everyone is chatting about! The # sign signals a hashtag which is a way for us to search out topics on twitter.

And guess what – the more people involved the better. We might even become a “trending topic” on twitter. If you don’t know what that means now you will - ‘cause it’s very cool! Trending topics sometimes break out into the mainstream news media as news stories.

So between now and Aug. 5th – we’re encouraging you to join twitter – set up your account and get familiar with twitter.

It’s a nice complement to facebook and a great way to connect with fellow writers and fans.

You can even download an application (I think it’s on facebook) that will automatically update your facebook status from twitter. So they work well hand in hand.

If you’re a fan you can ask your favourite author a question simply by typing @theirnamehere

And of course everything has to be under 140 characters (that’s a challenge for us!) but you can continue in a follow up question (I do that all the time! - no shame in that – as long as we keep using the hashtag moniker #askromancewriter – which counts as characters BTW).

This is twitter so u can use abbreviations/numbers whatever it takes to get it all in!

Here’s an example:

@EloisaJames Luv Desperate Duchesses! R u going 2 write about DD kids in future books? I.e. Jem & Harriet’s daughter #askromancewriter

Or

@Lisa Kleypas How long did it take u 2 hit NYT best seller list? Advice on how 2 get there? #askromancewriter

If you’re an aspiring writer you can ask any question you’d like of a specific author by doing the above. If you're an emerging author you can get advice from the seasoned pros. Romance writers are also fans - so feel free to ask those questions about fave characters/books etc...

Or feel free to ask general questions and include #askromancewriter and one or more authors will answer. (I do that on #askagent days and I get many wonderful and informative answers to my queries).

But remember - because it’s a chat the rest of us want to be able to read the Qs and As as well so you must include the hashtag #askromancewriter in your Question or Comment so the rest of us can search and read the comments on twitter.

If you sign up now and try it out with other topics you’ll see what I mean – One of the biggest trending topics lately is sadly Michael Jackson or MJ so if you type in those words under SEARCH then you’ll see what all the comments are that people have been making regarding Michael Jackson.

As you get to know twitter you can do other cool things like post pictures (twitpics) and articles (using short urls)

Many of you access twitter through other applications such as tweetdeck and you can use that too for the chat as long as you continue to use the #askromancewriter hashtag.

WHY HAVE A CHAT DAY ON TWITTER?

We thought it would be a great idea to create a way for fans to be able to connect with as many of their favourite authors all at once (and not have to get out of your PJs **G**) just like a fan convention but this one will be online. It will also help foster the wonderful positive spirit in the romance community - between writers and their fans.

We’re signing up authors who'll be participating in #askromancewriter day on twitter: If you’re an author – make sure you’re on this list! :D You can e-mail either Kim or myself if you want to take part. We'll e-mail a list of authors closer to the date just so you'll know who is taking part.

Oh, and when you join twitter – you're welcome to follow Kim and myself and we’ll follow you – it’s a wonderful thing!

http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://twitter.com/JoannaDangelo
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://twitter.com/KimSCastillo


If you have any questions feel free to e-mail us at
joannadangelo@sympatico.ca
kimscastillo@msn.com

Cheers,
Joanna D’Angelo
Kim Castillo