#Awesome Guide to #Hashtags for #Writers
By Shawn Thomas Anderson (with research assistance from our intern, Gino DiGioia)
When it comes to social media, I view Facebook as a family reunion, and Twitter as a glorious cocktail party where you can mix, mingle, and build your own writing community. It's a place where I like to connect with other writers, potential readers, and industry professionals. Where the @ symbol is used for individual Twitter accounts, the # is a means of tagging and grouping communications and conversation threads regarding a specific theme, making it an essential tool to organize information and thoughts.
Below, I’ve pulled hashtags together from various lists and publications on the web. Some of my favorite hashtags were not any lists, so I've included those with a little explanation.
1. I use #5amwritersclub almost every day, and I use it as close to 5am as I can muster. It’s a supportive community for early morning writers to help motivate you and other writers to get and keep your butt in the chair. You can follow @5amwritersclub to connect to this group.
2. Another one that I use is the writingchallenge.org hashtag. The hashtag changes every month based on the month we are writing in — examples: #decwritingchallenge, #octwritingchallenge, #maywritingchallenge. There’s also a spreadsheet in the FAQ section at writingchallenge.org to record your daily progress. The goal is 500 words or 1 hour of editing each and every day.
3. Not really a writing-specific hashtag, but one that I use for story inspiration is #folklorethursday — there’s usually a fun theme and everyone contributes myth and lore for you to research further. It's a great place to learn from, like, and retweet posts. Follow @folklorethursday to see how it works.
4. Then there are special events and pitch contests, like Pitch Madness run by @brendadrake hosts twitter pitch parties using #PitMad during key times. For these, know the dates that this hashtag is active and make sure you follow the rules: If you LIKE something, you are actually requesting it, and if you are not an agent or editor, that could be awkward. Instead, if you like a pitch, RETWEET it to give it more visibility. Again, RETWEET only, to show your support! Pitch Wars #PitchWars is another Brenda Drake online contest worth checking out.
The best way to master the use of hashtags is to jump right in. First, search a hashtag on Twitter and follow the conversation to explore how people are using it. If the conversation seems relevant to what you are doing and you feel comfortable using it, go ahead and include it in some tweets. You could start a conversation and meet new people.
Guide to Hashtags for Writers:
-123-
#5amwritersclub #99c (to offer or pick up an eBook bargain) #140Poem #1K1H (write one thousand words in one hour)
-A-
#ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) #Amazon #AmEditing #AmRevising #AmWriting #AskAgent #AskAuthor #AskEditor #Author #AuthorRT #Authors
-B-
#Biopic #BookBuzzr #BookGiveaway #BookMarket (Thursday’s at 4 pm ET) #BookMarketing #BookReview #Books #BookWorm
-C-
#Comedy #CopyWriting #Creativity #Crime
-D-
#DarkFantasy #Dystopian
-E-
#eBook #eBooks #EditGoal #Editing #ePubChat #eReaders #Erotica
-F-
#FaithLitChat #Fantasy #FictionFriday #FlashFic #FreebieFriday #FreeBook #FreeDownload #FreeReads #FridayFlash (flash fiction on a Friday) #FridayReads #FollowFriday
-G-
#GetPublished #GreatReads
-H-
#HistFic #History #Historical #Horror
-I-
#IAN1 (Independent Author Network) #IndieAuthor #IndieAuthors #IndiePub #IndiePublishing #IndieThursday #iPad
-J-
#JournChat (chat at certain times)
-K-
#KidLitChat (chat at certain times) #Kindle #KindleBargain #Kobo #KPD (Kindle Publishing Direct)
-L-
#LitChat (chat every M/W/F) #Literature #LitFic
-M-
#MemoirChat (every other Wednesday at 8 pm ET) #MGLit (middle grades literature) #MSWL (manuscript wishlist) #MustRead #MyWANA (writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb) #Mystery
-N-
#NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month is held every November) #NonFiction #Nook #Novel #Novelines (to quote your own work) #Novelists
-O-
-P-
#Paperbacks #Paranormal #PBLitChat (Picture books only) #Poem #Poet #Poetry #Poets #PoetryMonth (Each April in the USA) #PoetTues #PromoTip #PubIt #Publishing #PubTip (publication tips) #Publishing
-Q-
-R-
#Romance #RomanceWriter #Romantic #RomanticSuspense #RWA (Romance Writers of America)
-S-
#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SciFiChat (chat at certain times) ScribeChat (chat at certain times) #ScriptChat (screenwriters) #SelfPub #SelfPublishing #Shortreads #ShortStory #SmashWords #Sony #SteamPunk #StoryCraft (chat at certain times) #StoryFriday #StoryStarter #Storytelling #Suspense
-T-
#TeaserTues #TrueStories #turtlewiters
-U-
#UrbanFantasy
-V-
#VSS (very short story)
-W-
#WANA (We Are Not Alone community) #WebFic (web fiction) #weblit (web literature) #WhatToRead #WIP (work in progress) #WomensFiction #WordAThon #WordCount #WriteChat #WriteGoal #WriteMotivation #WriteQuote #Writer #Writers #WriterWednesday (or #WW) #WritersBlock #WritersLife #WriteChat (chat at certain times) #WriteTip #Writing #WritingBlitz #WritingParty #WritingPrompt #WritingTip #WritingTips #WroteToday
-X-
-Y-
#YA #YALit #YALitChat (chat at certain times)
-Z-
#ZineChat
Shawn Thomas Anderson is a copywriter and brand specialist by day, writer of young-adult and middle-grade fiction by night, early morning, and whenever he can find the time to get the words written down. He loves writing short stories and has published several in various anthologies. Shawn attended the University of Vermont undergrad, and has his master’s degree in Communications and Integrated Marketing from Emerson College in Boston.
He lives a far-flung corner of the state known as Northeast Kingdom. It’s a magical place where moose, bear, and deer wander through your backyard, and everyone rocks flannel. It’s a great place to work, raise children, and write, write, write.
Follow Shawn on Twitter at @ShawnTWrites and check out his website at shawnthomasanderson.com.