Hopefully you took me up on the challenge in my last post and have been using Twitter in your book marketing efforts.  Once you have the basics down you can begin really maximizing your networking potential by utilizing “hashtags.”

What are #hashtags and how do you use them?

Hashtags begin with the # symbol and contain a tag word or phrase (without spaces). They are typically added at the end of the tweet.  Twubs, a website for Twitter groups built around content aggregated from #hashtags, explains hashtags as, “a user-created standard for identifying tweets belonging to a topic.  Simply include the tag in your tweet and other people searching for the same tag will be able to find it.”

Using relevant hashtags in your tweets can help increase the likelihood of others seeing your tweet, which may be promoting your book or garnering the interest of your potential readers in order to increase your Twitter followers (and, therefore, promote your book).

Here are 10 great Twitter hashtags for authors to get you started:

#amwriting
#author
#booktour
#bookreview
#fictionfriday
#pubtip  (publication tips)
#selfpublishing or #publishing
#writechat
#writetip  (writing advice)
#writing