Authors on Bluesky

Ten/twelve years ago, when Twitter was at its peak, there were a gazillion people aggressively telling you how to Market Yourself Online.

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You, as an author, had to Establish Your Twitter Brand, along with all its associated reputation, knowledge, experience and expertise. Honestly, it got both aggressive and exhausting, by the end.

Moving onto Bluesky, though, some of the early advice remains true.

1: Don't worry about the numbers.

While they’re climbing madly at the moment, it doesn't actually matter how many followers you have, or how many likes they’ve given you. If you can talk to people and build your community, then you're doing it right.

2: Make friends.

Chat about anything and everything. Follow interesting profiles and starter packs. Have fun. Have energy. Share and celebrate the stuff you like. The nice thing about Bluesky (certainly at the moment) is that it won’t immediately jump on you, calling you a wanker if you happen to like apples and not pears.

3: Talk about your stuff, but don’t spam it.

You can absolutely post about/link to your book, but please, let’s leave the spam on Xitter, shall we? Don’t immediately DM or @ new followers, and don’t relentlessly post link after link after link. It’s a major PR fail, and it’ll just put people off.

4: Support the community.

Post and follow starter packs. Repost the links of others. Answer people, and show an interest in their hobbies and jokes and cats. This was how Twitter started, all those years ago, and it’s a magic we should keep.

5: Share cool things.

Writing requires research. Sometimes it requires an awful lot of research. It also requires pictures, music, inspirations, word-counts, scratch-maps and occasional bouts of headbutting-the-keyboard disaster. With suitable observations for tact, licensing and spoilers, talking about your journey is something every writer can share.

6: Thank people.

If you're an author, you have people behind you that work very hard. Editors, cover artists, publicists, bookstores, bloggers, supporters, proof- and beta-readers, and people who love your stuff. Published or self-published, big or small press, and whatever your sales, saying thank you never goes amiss.

7: Don’t compare your writing journey to anyone else’s.

This is tough one, but the only targets you have to meet are your own. You don’t know what other people’s greeblies or issues are, or how or why they’re doing what they do, and it doesn’t matter. Your deadlines, external or internal, are your own.

8: Don’t dunk on people.

It’s a hellscape out there. If people are sharing little and happy things, for dog’s sakes either join in, or leave them be. If they’re advocating the rise of the jackboot, however (with all that implies), then…

9: Block early, block often.

An echo chamber? Maybe. But mental health, y’know? Times are hard enough. Plus, the more people who block the asshats, the less traction asshattery will get. And that has to be win.

10: Indulge in some cheeky self-promotion.

Yes, you’re absolutely allowed, particularly if your book is brand new and you’re ALL OF THE EXCITED BECAUSE IT’S YOUR BABY AND IT’S REAL. Mostly, people are pretty patient when it’s still THAT SHINY, but do be a bit self-aware :)

At the moment, Bluesky is feeling like all the bits of Twitter we lost. I hope we can keep it that way.

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