So you’ve written your next bestseller. Now what? These days it’s not enough to have your work in print. You also need to have a solid digital marketing strategy to connect with readers and publishers. Here are 35 author hashtags to help you promote your writing.
35 Author Hashtags To Market Your Next Bestseller
What’s A Hashtag?
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag is a word or phrase used with the number sign (ex. #DBIChat).
They are used on the major social networks – including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Essentially, their function is to connect you to the hive mind of people interested in a certain topic on social media.
On every platform, for instance, #AmWriting is a hashtag used to generate buzz for any writing in progress. You might use this to build an audience for your work before it hits the shelves.
But Why Are Author Hashtags Important?
Quite simply, because even great writers need to market themselves.
These days social media is the go-to for many book lovers, writers, and established players in the writing industry. On any platform, you can find writing and reading hashtags for everything from shouting out your current literary favorites to promoting your work in a certain genre.
There are also hashtags for almost every facet of the book writing process.
Whether you are researching the subject of your writing, are in the middle of writing your masterpiece, are actively promoting your work, or are going on a photo shoot for your book cover (Yes, the design phase can be highlighted in your promotional efforts.) A comprehensive strategy for marketing your writing will include finding ways to promote every phase of the writing process.
SEE ALSO: Digital Branding Checklist For Authors
What Hashtags Should I Use?
There are quite a few online resources for finding the best hashtags.
RiteTag is at the top of the list.
RiteTag works by finding the most popular Twitter hashtags related to the ones you search for.
In our example above we searched for “books” (you can search with or without the # sign).
Our results were divided into three categories;
- Very active – Use these to get seen now (green)
- Somewhat active – Use these to get seen over time (blue)
- Not active – These hashtags are not currently active (gray). In other words, there are more valuable ways to use your Twitter character limit real estate.
It is good practice to use a mixture of both very active and somewhat active hashtags. This is because the ones that are very active are often so popular that it’s easy to get lost in a sea of tweets when you use them.
Somewhat active hashtags, on the other hand, have just the right amount of engagement. So you will be seen over time and are less likely to get lost in the noise.
In general, most brands opt to use 1-3 hashtags per post. So you can experiment with any combination of very active and somewhat active hashtags.
Other online resources for finding popular hashtags include:
SEE ALSO: 13 Tasks You Can Outsource To Grow Your Blog
General Hashtags For Authors
The worse thing you can do on social media is to damage your brand by coming across as salesy.
A general rule of thumb to remember when using hashtags is that you always want to add value to discussions. So instead of just using your content as ad space, a much larger percentage of your content strategy should be devoted to connecting with your fellow bibliophiles.
You can do this by joining (or creating) relevant discussions according to your genre or particular area(s) of interest.
Here are the best hashtags for authors:
Twitter + Instagram:
- #Books
- #Novel
- #AmWriting
- #AmReading
- #IndieAuthor
- #Editing
- #Bookworm
- #BookMarketing
- #Writing
- #FridayReads
- #GoodReads
- #NANOWRIMO (National November Writing Month)
- #Ebook
- #MustRead
Instagram Only:
- #Bookstagram
- #Bookporn
- #Booknerd
- #Bibliophile
- #BooksofInstagram
- #WritersofInstagram
- #Bookalicious
- #Reading
- #WritersofIG
- #WritersBlock
- #WritersLife
By Genre:
- #YALit
- #YoungAdult
- #Fantasy
- #Thriller
- #Drama
- #PictureBook
- #ChildrensBook
- #Horror
- #NonFiction
- #Romance
- #Fiction
- #Poetry
- #SciFi
Digital Book Clubs:
Social media is taking the traditional knitting circle book club by storm.
Everyone from Emma Roberts (Belletrists) to Emma Watson (Our Shared Shelf) has a book club. So another option to increasing awareness about your brand as a writer (and think outside of the box of your current marketing strategy) could be to join a book club on social media and interact with other readers.
SEE ALSO: Brainstorming Tactics For Content Creation
Conclusion:
Author hashtags are a great way for you to connect with readers, writers and heavy hitters in the publishing industry. While from time to time you can create content that promotes your writing, a larger chunk of your digital strategy should be dedicated to branding yourself as a writer. Focus on adding value by joining discussions where you can talk about the writing process or your passion for reading and writing.
Do you currently have a hashtag strategy for promoting your writing? What other ways do you recommend?
