Okay, #authors / #writers, eventually someone's going to come along and try to sell you on a how-to book promising to teach you how to use Bluesky to sell your writing. Let me save you some money by telling you here and now. 🧵 If you're reading this, you've done the first thing and joined BS. (1/) - ThreadSky

mbaileywriter.bsky.social • 13 days ago

Okay, #authors / #writers, eventually someone's going to come along and try to sell you on a how-to book promising to teach you how to use Bluesky to sell your writing.

Let me save you some money by telling you here and now. 🧵

If you're reading this, you've done the first thing and joined BS. (1/)

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empheliath.bsky.social•13 days ago

Honestly, this thread applied to all kinds of #artists. Replace writer with "painter", "actor", "sculptor", etc and the advice still applies.
Which reminds me, I need to be better about not just liking, but reposting the art of other artists that I like....

jessicamaclean.bsky.social•13 days ago

Thanks Mike! As someone still trying to get the hang of it over here this was really helpful.

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

2: Pick a username that isn't JohnnyBunchanumbers1234. Use your real name, or your pen name, because that's the first step toward building name recognition. It's harder for #readers to find your stuff if they don't know who wrote it.

3: Write a bio that highlights the fact you're a writer. (2/)

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

Include some personal tidbits so you're less likely to be mistaken for a bot or spam account, and include a link to your website -- which you should have, BTW.

4: Add a user pic of yourself if you're not shy or private by nature. If you are? Use some #coverart from one of your #books. (3/)

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

5: Add a banner image, ideally one featuring your books.

6: Start posting, and not just about your #writing (but absolutely post about that, and do so often). Post about your life. Post about issues of concern to you (and don't worry if it drives some people away; that's a good thing). (4/)

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

But you need to post here, regularly if not necessarily frequently, to show people yours isn't a ghost account.

7: Follow other users you actually want to follow, because you like what they post. Don't mass-follow other users just to score reciprocal followers. The ROI isn't great. (5/)

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

You also risk glutting your feed, making it increasingly clumsy, bloated, and unusable.

8: Interact with other users, and engage meaningfully. Don't become a Reply Guy, because on Bluesky, they get blocked fast. Have real conversations.

9: Be patient. Give yourself time to build a following. (6/)

mbaileywriter.bsky.social•13 days ago

Whenever I see users griping that their Bluesky experience is dead, I see accounts with few posts, almost always days or weeks apart. You get out of Bluesky what you put into it, so don't think all you have to do is build it and they will come.

10: Remember that there is no algorithm. (7/)

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