How to use Twitter to get published
The secret usefulness of the twittersphere for aspiring writers…
The struggles of being an aspiring young writer are well known. And the consistent, vague advice that people get around things like ‘knowing your worth’ and ‘build your network’ are all very well, but don’t actually address the root of the problem. Where do you go to find the network? Who do you ask for advice around how much you should charge? Where are all the paid opportunities being advertised?
I’m relatively new to twitter having joined at the beginning of lockdown as an attempt to stay connected to society and, yes it does have it’s (mostly anger-related) faults. But there’s a secret business world within it that seems to have boomed throughout the course of coronavirus. In the same way that instagram is a growing platform for finding jobs, events and collaboration opportunities, twitter is the same. However, it’s more conversational. It’s more open. It’s more relationship-focused and in a way, democratic.
And the writing world and its elite heavily use twitter as a public conversational platform. Which makes sense — they are, by nature, compelled to write everything they think and feel and twitter is more suited to this behaviour, rather than the more visual platforms of insta or tik tok. So if you’re an aspiring writer and you’re trying to find all the opportunities and networks, it could be that if you don’t have twitter, you’re missing a trick.
These are the 5 best things I’ve learnt about the industry via twitter that you can use to further your career…
‘open to pitches’ & ‘looking for writers’
This is absolute gold. Hit that search button with these terms in and you’ll be able to scroll through endless posts from publications or individuals asking for people to write for them or submit article pitches. It’s an incredible resource. Hit the search button and select people/accounts only, and you’ll see a list of people who have these phrases in their account bios, meaning they are constantly looking for writers to work with.
Here’s what happened when I searched both terms:
#journorequest & #prrequest
These search terms are amazing if you’re looking for people to interview or to take part in research. They are essentially universal hashtags that mean you’re a journalist looking for someone to talk to about a topic. I have my own podcast (What The World Thinks, in case anyone is interested!) and I need at least 15 people per episode to send me voicenotes. This is how I get these people. It’s phenomenal for reaching people across the globe and getting an immediate response, especially if you’re time poor.
It’s also incredible if you’re looking to do some self-promotion. For example, if you want to promote yourself as an environmental expert, simply search these hashtags along with a key word. Here’s what I mean:
[insert publication title here] & DM sliding
You may have some publications in mind that you’d like to write for. But you have no idea how to pitch, or you have little faith that anyone will pick up your email if you send something into the generic ‘info@publication.com’ email address. There is another way. You gotta find the people who work there on twitter and slide into those DMs.
This is easy. Most people who work at better known publications have twitter accounts and use them very regularly. So, let’s use The Economist as a neutral example. If you type in ‘The Economist writer’ into the search bar on twitter and hit the ‘people’ tab, this is what comes up:
Now, you can follow those that are relevant for you. They are unlikely to follow you back (on twitter, you need people to follow you back in order to be able to DM them), so simply send them a tweet, asking if they can follow you back so you can DM them about something. This step is particularly useful if you’re looking for a mentor too — I wrote another article about getting a mentor that can help you take strides forward in your career, so have a read of that article if you want to go down this route.
Some editors actually have bios that say they are open to pitches from new writers in their bios too, so keep an eye out for these people. Here’s an example:
Threads & crowdsourcing are underrated
This is what a thread is. This is what crowdsourcing is.
If you’re looking for advice and help, twitter is a great place for it. The level of off-the-cuff conversation and openness of the conversation is unique. Look for the threads that will help you find writer allies and advisors on twitter. Reading these threads will give you inspiration, solidarity and encourage you to understand how people use twitter too. At the same time, look for crowd-sourced advice about writing topics. You will pick so much up from this. Here’s a couple of examples:
Champion a cause & get involved in the conversation
This is more about your personal brand. If you want to start building a network and specialising in a single area, this is where you can start. Building a network is easier if you start by becoming part of a specific community that rallies around a single idea. Then your network will grow from there. For example, it’s hard to make a name for yourself as an environmental journalist because there are lots of them out there and it’s a very broad term. It’s easier to start by being a specialism journalist in UK rewilding, with abilities to report on wider environmental issues. It simply makes it easier for people to categorise your career skills and specialisms. It also makes it easier for you to build networks with people who are more established in the broader field you’re interested in. So, if The Economist chief environmental reporter has a piece on UK rewilding, you can offer them help and you can start forging a relationship with them. Key things you need to do to start establishing your brand:
- Be clear about your specialism and interests as a writer in your bio
- Follow other writers who overlap with your area and get involved with their conversations where you can — retweet, like, reply
- Follow all established editors/commissioning editors and get involved with their conversations where you can — replying to their tweets is an effective way to get on their radar
- Follow charity and initiative accounts that are linked to your specialist area so you can retweet their relevant posts to show you’re engaged in the industry progression and updates
- Get involved in any threads/crowdsourcing/responses you can
- Tweet yourself at least once a day — don’t do any self-promo, these tweets need to be authentic and from the heart. Recommended you tweet your views, questions and concerns about industry news or something personal about your work life
Your aim here is to become part of a community. The general rules with community is you get back what you put in, so be active. This is an investment in your career.
This article has actually been turned into a workshop by the author Sam and her business partner Mae. Watch or listen to them chat through the reasons for creating the article and how they’ve actioned these points in their own lives here.
This workshop is the first in a series titled ‘The Career & Self-Development Series by ERIC’. Click here to see the rest of the workshops — all are action-focused and designed to not only help you know what you want from a career but also find companies that are hiring, get in touch with them, interview with them and find people who can help you get the future you want.
Mae & Sam run ERIC together, a community that empowers Gen Z creatives through career & self-development content.
ERIC are launching a career and self-development app. Sign up to be an app tester at meet-eric.co/app.
