I love Twitter, and I’ve used it for years. I believe that Twitter is one of the best social media sites for writers, because it’s so easy to engage with people. You can follow, be followed by, and actually chat directly with everyone from readers and fans to editors, agents, and publishing companies.

Another powerful aspect of Twitter is the hashtag. The # symbol (yes, it can also be called a pound sign, number sign, or sharp sign) is called a hashtag when used on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

The hashtag is a powerful search tool. When you click on a hashtag, it brings up every tweet that contains that hashtagged word or phrase. This can be a great way to reach readers, commune with other writers, find other professionals in the book industry, even find new story ideas or writing prompts.

Here are some powerful hashtags that writers of every genre and level of experience can use on a regular basis:

#writerslife

#amwriting

#amreading

#amediting

#writing

#writerproblems

#selfpub

#selfpublishing

#CoverReveal

#BookCover

#WriterWednesday

#WritingTip

#PubLaw

#PitMad

#NaNoWriMo

Hashtags can also be used to specify your genre, so that you can find or attract the right agent, publisher, or reader. For example:

#SFF

#DarkFantasy

#FairyTale

#SciFi

#Dieselpunk

#Romance

#Mystery

#Thriller

#HistoricalFiction

#WesternRomance

#ChristianFiction

#YAlit

There are way more hashtags than these, of course. And new hashtags are created every day, or increase quickly in popularity. The more you use hashtags and follow others who use them, the more you’ll learn about

Quick tip, though: don’t use too many hashtags per tweet. While Instagram thrives with dozens of hashtags per post, on Twitter it’s best to use 2-4 hashtags at most. Otherwise #your #tweet #gets #hardtoread #and #no #one #wantstobotherwithit.

Now go tweet your hashtags and above all, have fun!