Twitter for Writers Part 2 with Corey Rosen Schwartz by Tina Cho

Welcome to Twitter for Writers Part 2. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. Today I'm sharing my interview of Corey Rosen Schwartz, the popular picture book writer, and how she uses Twitter to market her books. Her most recent are The Three Ninja Pigs, Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears, and Ninja Red Riding Hood, out this summer.

Just to show you how great social media is--I even interviewed Corey using Facebook messages back and forth, rather than email! 

As a published author, how do you use Twitter?

Corey: I mainly use Twitter to connect with teachers and school librarians. They are very easy to find through hash tags such as #1stchat, #2ndchat, #titletalk, etc. These are usually educators who are very active on Twitter. I follow as many elementary educators as I can. Most follow back. Sometimes I also check out who THEY follow and follow some of them, too. Once I've made a connection, I offer them bookmarks for their students. This often leads to Twitter Q & A's, handwritten thank-you notes, and Skype visits. The relationships that develop are amazing! Lots of these teachers have already pre-ordered my next book. And I love thinking of new things to send them...stickers, activity guides, etc... 

Do the students send you class Tweets of questions or compliments?

Corey: Yes! I've gotten lots of students' responses. You can see student responses of Ninja Red Riding Hood here. This is the type of thing I get. This came by email. That's definitely that type of thing that Twitter leads to.

Do you think Twitter is better than Facebook for teachers to connect with you?

Corey: ABSOLUTELY! It took me a LONG time to get Twitter, and I still sometimes can feel a little lost there. But I have totally managed to find a way to make it work for me. I am also very lucky because my book is fairly well-known. So when I do follow someone, they often write back and say, "Wow, we've read your book, and my students love it." So that definitely helps. Gives me an "in" to say, "Oh, well would you like Ninja Pig stickers?" 

Facebook or Twitter?

Corey: For me, I ENJOY Facebook much more. But Twitter is an incredibly useful tool for reaching the "influencers" in the school community. 

You mentioned previously you have a manageable system for Twitter. Can you share that system with us?

Corey: Not sure I actually have a "system," but I have managed to find a way to connect with educators. I read a ton of PBs and MG so I use Twitter to spread book love. I look for and make book recommendations and once relationships have developed, I OFFER educators some type of swag, stickers, bookmarks, and activity pages. I mail them out a package and this often leads to Twitter Q & A's, Skype sessions, etc... 

Teachers will often tweet back pics of their classes holding the swag I sent. 

Or they will tweet a photo of the swag to thank me. (This helps create more buzz for the book.)

Thanks so much, Corey, for answering my questions and helping us get a better idea of how authors and illustrators can use Twitter. 

You can find Corey here:
blog
Twitter: @CoreyPBNinja

Corey is the author of THE THREE NINJA PIGS (Putnam 2012), GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS (Putnam 2014), and NINJA RED RIDING HOOD (Putnam 2014). Corey has no formal ninja training, but she can sure kick butt in Scrabble. She lives with three knuckleheads in Warren, NJ.