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Keywords and Hashtags

With the advent of Twitter came the use of hashtags and now they are everywhere. When promoting your book, hashtags are now used as keywords. It's important to get them right. So what are they and how do you use them?

Here a hashtag, there a hashtag, everywhere a hashtag. 

It all starts with the hashtag symbol # plus descriptive words. All keywords are not created equal. If you start to type a hashtag word on Twitter, the number of posts per day will appear, for example #WritingCommunity might say 100 posts today or 100 posts in the last hour.

You should ascertain if your chosen keyword is something people are entering into search engines. When using keywords to promote books, make sure they are popular terms that are used enough that it will generate sales. For example #paranormalromance is better than #love or #relationship.

If a keyword is extremely popular, there may be too much competition for the word. If so, your book may generate at the bottom of a very long list. #Romance is a good example. There are millions of romance novels on the market. So think of popular keywords that make your story stand apart. 

Amazon has an auto-suggest system in its search bar. You begin typing in a word or phrase and Amazon (and Google too) suggests a list of words to finish the phrase. Play with that and see what happens. For example, if you type in Romance, you might see:


Make a list of auto-suggested phrases that relate to your novel. 

When it comes to promoting novels on social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-In, there are popular hashtags. Pick two to four. You can always re-post the post with new keywords since the traffic on those sites buries your posts within hours. Using different keywords can attract different audiences. However, don't be obnoxious with it. Twenty times in one day is a bit much. There are limits as to how many times someone who follows you wants to see the same content. 

Here are a few of the hundreds of hashtags for books and writing:

#NaNoWriMo, #RomanceWriter, #amwritingromance (or any other genre), #SciFiChat, #KidLitChat, #RWA (Romance Writers of America), #Romance, #Horror, #YA, #History, #WritingTips,  #ammarketing, #amediting, #GetPublished, #BookMarket, #BookMarketing, #PromoTip, #SelfPublishing, #SelfPub, #Publishing, #IndiePub (or #IndiePublishing, #BookMarketing, #WritingPrompt, #StoryStarter, #FridayReads, #BookGiveaway, #MustRead, #LitChat, #StoryFriday, #MustRead, #TeaserTues, #WritingCommunity, #writingcommunity, #writing, #WriteTip, #writingtips, #amwriting, #selfpub, #Kindle, #Kindlegiveaway, #FreeBook, #FreeDownload, #Kindle, #Nook,  #Kobo, #Booksellers, #writersandbooks, #hffrocks, #blackwritersofinstagram, #writersofinstagram, #asgoodasitgets, #novels, #bookbooksbooks

Find the keywords relevant to your book. Every genre, and subgenre, has a hashtag. Use the keywords in your book description on Amazon and on self-publishing sites. Include them in social media posts. Include them in book promotions. You can make one up for your title. It may catch fire. Who knows? Instagram and Bookstagram and TikTok are gaining popularity over Twitter. You may want to add them to your arsenal.

Also remember to tag yourself (@Yourself) on promotional posts too. Your address for Facebook is different from Twitter, Linked-In, and Instagram. Make sure you know your address. It might not be your name. Most people forget them as soon as they sign up. Make a list of your social media and online profile addresses and keep it easily accessible.

Here are a few more lists to work with:

https://top-hashtags.com/hashtag/books/

https://socialmediajustforwriters.com/2020/10/05/105-hashtags-for-writers/ 

https://www.julesbuono.com/330-bookstagram-hashtags-for-instagram-copy-paste-to-grow-fast/

http://best-hashtags.com/hashtag/books/



Posted by Diana Hurwitz, author of Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict, Story Building Blocks III: The Revision Layers, and the YA adventure series Mythikas Island. Her weekly blog, Game On: Crafting Believable Conflict explores how characters behave and misbehave. Visit DianaHurwitz.com for more information and free writing tools. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.



Comments

  1. I learned something interesting about Kindle Vella yesterday. Use your author name as a keyword so readers can more easily search and find your books on Amazon. The platform has very weak search functions right now, but that little tool helps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Diana. Promotion really is an art-form in itself (with a dash of science, I suppose, in the form of technology and algorithms).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Definitely always tag yourself and use your title as a hashtag. Just because it isn't popular yet, you shouldn't leave it out.

    ReplyDelete

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