You’re #Following All Wrong & Open Your Damn DMs! @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA @NonnieJules

It is a must that I share my thoughts today. You see, I’m all about helping my fellow writers and authors.  I believe in the “each one, teach one” motto – I work it and I live it, so when I find something that might be beneficial to you, I share it.  In turn, I hope that you will share it with others, as well.

I’m on Twitter more than I’m on any other social media platform, and what I am noticing about some of you authors, is troubling me to my core.  I’m laying out those troubles down below in two points.

Point #1:  You’re following all wrong.  I see Twitter bios that read “I only follow authors.”

I cringe.

Here’s my problem with that.  Those people who you are shunning because they don’t wear an author hat, are also readers.  So, when you proudly post, “I’m not going to follow you unless you’re an author,” they move right along to the next author who realizes that everyone is a potential reader for their book. 

Fix your bio!

Point #2:  You’re blocking your blessings.  I see Twitter bios that read “NO DMS!” or “My DMS are closed,” or “I only respond to DMS from authors.”  Here again, you’re going about social media all wrong.  I understand that SPAM finds its way into our DMS from time to time, or other unsolicited nonsense, but, when you close off your DMs, or you publicize that you don’t read your DMs, you’re letting {sometimes} lucrative opportunities pass you by.  Just yesterday I posted a tweet that read:  I’m not sure what every1 has against DMs, but u might want 2 re-think shunning ALL DMs. Sometimes, ur gr8est opportunities will come by way of ur DM. Don’t block ur blessings, people. Most often, they only come knocking once. So, as long as ur not spam, my DMs R always open.  A young man replied to that tweet with something like, “I agree,” and in that moment, I checked out his bio, which was extremely interesting, and then popped into his DM to invite him to be a guest on our LET’S TALK ABOUT IT! Show at RRBC!  

When I invite someone to appear in my 12 Days of Authors series, which by the way I hope to return just in time for Christmas (Yayyy!), I go into DMs to send those invites because I don’t have everyone’s email address, and I sure as heck am not going to post that invite publicly.  I can only recall one author turning down my 12 Days invite, and that was due to a scheduling issue – I mean, who would miss out on an opportunity to introduce their book(s) to the masses?  That’s like saying no to free book promotion.

If I want to tell you how poorly edited I found your book to be before I post the review to Amazon, do you want me to announce that in an open tweet, or, would you prefer that I share that info with you privately, via your DM?

Yes, there are annoyances found in our DMs but for the most part, there are a ton more blessings waiting there.  

Stop following the crowds.  Some of you don’t even know why you’re posting about your “closed” DMs, you simply saw someone else posting that and did the same.  Don’t be like them.  Right now they could have an invite from Oprah waiting, asking if they’d like to be interviewed on live television for her book club, but, they’ll never know about it, because their DMs are closed.

Open your damn DMs!

I hope you’ve learned a little something here today.  I also hope you’ll share it with your friends.  Leave me a comment below and let me know how you handle your own DM situation online.  Lastly, be sure to follow me on Twitter – as long as I can understand the language in your bio, I’m pretty sure I’ll be following you back! @NonnieJules

Take care…

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