Don't be a Twitter Twit

Twitter is a fun playground for many authors, agents and editors. They're a very open and giving community, willing to participate in designated Twitter chats where you can ask questions about the industry, trends and anything else that your heart desires relating to the topic.

This fab group also respond to individual tweets in you may have sent them - as long as it's not a creepy tweet or an unsolicited pitch.

Following agents and editors on Twitter allows you to get a glimpse at their personality and an idea if you match up personality wise, which can be important for the agent/author/editor relationship to work.

However there can be a pitfall here. You, and the hundred of other aspiring authors following them, can come to feel like you know these people and expect that when you query them they will automatically offer you representation because you have exactly what they are looking for (according to their tweets).

So here's some things to remember:

• It's not cool to pitch via Twitter to an agent or an author unless they are holding a specific contest that requires it.
• Getting on well with an agent/author on Twitter will not guarantee you'll get a publishing deal.
• Don't rant on Twitter bagging out an agent/editor for rejecting your work. It'll get back to them and score you a bad rep - hello google alerts!
• Remember that the writing industry is subjective. A rejection doesn't mean that your work is not good, it just means that they didn't feel strongly enough about the project you're querying on to take you on (a friend of mine is getting published and scored her agent on around the fourth manuscript she'd queried her with - don't give up, keep writing).
• You can follow these guys on Twitter, but it doesn't mean they want to friend you on Facebook.

Take advantage of what Twitter has to offer writers, but keep it real and be cool about how you engage agents, editors and authors in that space.