Publishers, writers and book lovers around the world are using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to connect and share information about new releases, book tours, book promotions and simply talking about books, reading and the craft of writing. Australian authors are no exception.
Australian Authors on Facebook
Many writers are taking advantage of the Fan Page facility on Facebook to establish a professional profile page rather than making their personal Facebook profile accessible to fans. Writers across a variety of genres including chick lit, contemporary women’s fiction, YA fiction, children’s novels and picture books and non-fiction are using Facebook pages to promote their recent releases and book tour details and generally engage with readers regarding their works.
To find authors on Facebook, conduct a simple name search using the Facebook. Tim Winton, Andy Griffiths, Lisa Heidke, Kylie Ladd, Anita Heiss, Gabrielle Wang, Dee White, Tania McCartney, Katrina Germein, Chris Morphew and many others have pages where they interact with readers. It is worth noting that some pages are simply place holders with an excerpt of the author’s Wikipedia information and are not actually linked with the author personally. Occasionally writers will start fan pages for a specific book or series in addition to a personal page.
Facebook pages for Australian Book Review, Sydney Writers’ Centre, Queensland Writers’ Centre and similar writing associations and festivals including the Brisbane Writers’ Festival and Sydney Writers’ Festival will also provide links to numerous writers and book-related pages through their favourite pages links and discussions in the page comments.
Australian Writers on Twitter
Many writers are active on Twitter, engaging in conversation with other users about a variety of subjects. They also use this forum to post links to recent reviews or information about book signings, book tour dates and other promotional activities.
As with Facebook, the first step to finding a writer is to simply search for their name using the Twitter search facility. Once an author is found, reviewing the list of who they are following will generally provide links to other writers. Many authors, publishers and book bloggers have lists where they have tagged writers. Following or checking these lists will generally yield a number of writers as well as other Twitter users who are linked with the publishing industry or books in some way.
Australian writers can also be found by following regular writing and book group hashtag discussions, such as #spbkchat (South Pacific Book Chat) and #pblitchat (Picture Book Chat. Following groups or organisations associated with writing such as the Sydney Writers Festival (@SydWritersFest) or Australian Book Review (@AustBookReview) is also likely to provide links to writers.
Many publishers are also active on Twitter promoting their latest titles and often offering giveaways and prizes. Allen & Unwin (@AllenAndUnwin), Random House Australia (@RandomHouseAU), HarperCollins Australia (@HarperBooksAus), Penguin Books Australia (@PenguinBooksAus), Arcade Publications (@ArcadeGazette), Text Publishing (@Text_Publishing), Black Dog Books (@BlackDogBooks), Hardie Grant Egmont (@HGEgmont) and several other Australian publishers regularly use Twitter. Australian booksellers Boomerang Books (@BoomerangBooks) and Booktopia (@Booktopia) are also very active on Twitter and frequently promote and link to Australian authors.
Writer Blogs and Websites
Many authors maintain a website and/or blog where they keep an updated list of their publications and various other professional details. If the authors are active on Twitter and Facebook, they will generally include a link on their site.
Australian Authors Online
Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be used to great advantage by both readers and writers. Contacting favourite authors online via social networking can be a wonderful way to connect with a writer whose work a reader particularly appreciates or enjoys. For writers, this contact offers an opportunity to receive feedback and interaction with readers in a casual public forum that might otherwise not occur or be far more time consuming.
For both readers and writers, the use of social media can make reading or writing a book a far more interactive and enjoyable experience.
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