In this post I’ll reveal some of the most useful hashtags for indie authors.
For those not familiar with hashtags they are essentially a keyword beginning with the “#” character. When someone writes a tweet they can include a hashtag to make it easier for people interested in that topic to find their tweets. For example I might include the hashtags #publishing or #writing in my tweets.
If someone searches for #writing at Twitter they will see all of the recent tweets which include that hashtag. It’s a great way to follow any topic and a good way to find people to follow on Twitter.
Would you like to see it for yourself? Click on the hashtag #amwriting to open a stream of tweets using that hashtag in a new window.
I have listed below some of the most useful hashtags for indie authors and publishers. What makes these hashtags more useful? Some key considerations I take into account are:
- how frequently the hashtag is used
- how many potential views the hashtag receives, and
- how frequently the tweets with this hashtags are retweeted.
OK, here they are. Please note that the list is not exactly in order of popularity. I have created some charts below the list which reveal how these hashtags compare in terms of tweets, views and retweets.
#amwriting
An extremely popular hashtag used by writers for all kinds of tweets relating to writing.
#author & #indieauthor
These two hashtags are often used for tweets about authors and their books. Although #indieauthor is much less popular it is frequently used for tweets with helpful information for independent authors.
#writetip & #writingtips
A hashtag for tweets containing tips for writers and tips on writing. The shorter of the hashtags is the more popular of the two.
#writing
A hashtag for tweets related to writing. Far less popular than #amwriting!
#pubtip
A hashtag for tweets with tips on publishing.
#indiepublishing & #indiepub
These two hashtags are also used for helpful information on indie publishing. The shorter of these two hashtags, #indiepub, is slightly more popular.
#selfpub & #selfpublishing
Two more hashtags for tweets related to self-publishing.
The following 3 hashtags are among the most popular hashtags for indie authors. They are used by groups of indie authors who are collaborating to promote each other’s books and tweets.
#iartg
This is the hashtag of the Indie Author Retweet Group. Guidelines for use.
#asmsg
This is the hashtag of the Author Social Media Support Group. Guidelines for use.
#ian1
This is the hashtag of the Independent Author Network. Guidelines for use.
Please keep in mind that #iartg, #asmsg and #ian1, while being more popular, are also more promotional. They may be good hashtags to use when promoting your indie books but if you are looking for helpful information on independent publishing then the other hashtags above may be more useful.
So now you know some of the best hashtags for indie authors to follow and use in tweets. The other good news is that many of these hashtags are also used on other social networks such as Google+ and Facebook.
What do you think? Do you know of any popular indie author hashtags which I missed?
