10 Author Twitter Chats to Join This Week

Twitter is a great way to connect and interact with readers and other authors, but it can sometimes seem like you’re tweeting into a black hole. A great way to avoid this is to join Twitter chats. In particular, finding Author Twitter Chats that interest and benefit you is a great way to foster a sense of community.

The How of Twitter Chats

If you understand the basics of Twitter and how to use hashtags, mentions, and retweets, Twitter Chats will be easy to learn, as they’re basically a bunch of people gathering around a host and hashtag in order to party verbally.

Twitters chats use a set hashtag, and are hosted by a specific person. They usually occur on a predictable schedule, last an hour, and have questions going out at specific times during the event. Participants answer the questions and are encouraged to interact with each other. The key point to remember is that every tweet you make during the chat should include the Twitter Chat hashtag.

Since Twitter can move fast, it can be hard to participate through the standard Twitter app or website. I recommend using a site like Tweetdeck instead. It’s free and makes tracking specific people and hashtags so much easier. When I participate in a Twitter party, I create a column for the host, and a column for the hashtag. That way you don’t miss out on any prompts, but can still see what everyone else is saying.

Here’s a list of 10 writing focused Twitter Chats you should check out:

Weekly General Author Twitter Chats

#writestuff every Tuesday at 9 pm EST – hosted by @PenPaperPad

#createlounge every Wednesdays at 8 pm EST – hosted by @kayla_hollatz

#StorySocial every Wednesday at 9 pm EST – hosted by @storysocialchat

#BookMarketingChat every Wednesday at 9 pm EST – hosted by @BkMarketingChat

#StoryDam every Thursday at 8 pm EST – hosted by @StoryDam

#K8chat every Thursday at 9 pm EST – hosted by @K8Tilton

Monthly General Author Twitter Chats

#writersroad on the 1st Monday of every month at 9 pm EST – hosted by @HeatherMcCorkle

Genre Specific Twitter Chats

#litchat every Monday and Wednesday at 4 pm EST – hosted by @LitChat

#scifichat every Friday at 3 pm EST with preset topic – hosted by @scifichat
**Note: this is usually a 2 hour chat instead of the typical one hour.

#RWChat every Sunday at 7 pm EST – hosted by @rwchat

What’s a list without a few bonuses?
I have two bonus hashtags that you’ll want to check out.

Bonus – Monthly Twitter Prompt Challenge

#WIPjoy – hosted by @simmeringmind
This is similar to Instagram challenges, which are very popular. There is a posted daily prompt list for the whole month. Participants tweet every day about the topic for that day. This challenge is all about celebrating your work-in-progress.

Bonus – Twitter Hashtag to Watch

#mswl – hosted by @manuscriptwlist
One last bonus for those authors wondering what types of manuscripts agents and acquiring editors are looking for. This is hosted by the Twitter account for manuscriptwishlist.com, where you can find list of agents and publishers, along with their wishlists and submission guidelines.

Do you participate in any of these chats regularly? Have any other Author Twitter Chats that should be added to the list?

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