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Social Media: FollowerWonk Writeup and Links for 3/25/2013

I spend at least a little time each day looking at social media news and new stuff and track the most useful links here. If you enjoyed last week’s Pinterest Analytics post, are interested in using that social network more effectively, and have an hour where you need something to listen to, I recommend this webinar. Among other things, I found out why people do those long tall pictures/infographics (which was obvious once I thought about it, so everyone else in the world may have already figured that out).

So here’s some thoughts after spending some time poking at an app provided by Seomoz.org, Followerwonk, a Twitter Analytics tool.

So – why be interested in analytics of any kind, whether it’s Google, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter? Because numbers let you know what works and what doesn’t in driving traffic to your site. Figure out what works and do more of that. Figure out what doesn’t work and do less.

Followerwonk gives you a number to track, Social Authority, that measures your influence on Twitter. Its formula is based on three factors:

  1. The retweet rate for a user’s last few hundred tweets
  2. How recent those tweets were
  3. A somewhat nebulous thing that Followerwonk explains as “A retweet-based model trained on user profile data), which I believe is their way of saying, “Part of our algorithm is hidden so users can’t game it, but there’s something there, really.”

Personally, I’m wondering whether someone favoriting your tweet has any influence. Based on what they’re saying here, it doesn’t, and it seems like it should.

But you don’t want to know your social authority score so much as someone else’s. Followerwonk is intended to help you identify followers with a high social authority score so you can target them with your message.

With that in mind, here are the main capabilities:

  • Search Twitter bios: Identify people with specific keywords in their bios or other traits such as number of followers, age of account (Followerwonk notes about this figure: “The age of an account is an interesting way to measure value. Users who have been on Twitter for a while are early adopters, and generally more valuable than newbies. As well, there is a higher percentage of spam accounts in newer user segments (as Twitter has not yet cleared them out).”), and Social Authority. This is actually pretty powerful. You can narrow things down by geographical location and set min/max number of tweets, followers, and following.
  • Compare users: Compare several Twitter users in terms of the users they follow or those who follow them. It’s certainly always nice to see a Venn diagram and know those days in math class learning what they are wasn’t wasted, but I don’t know that I found this report particularly useful, except that it did indicate I should be RTing and @connecting more.
  • Analyze followers: Here Followerwonk lets you analyze your or any other user’s followers or who is being followed. You can see them on a map, which is nifty, and I’ve included an example of one. I learned, unsurprising, that my largest group of followers occurs in the same geographical region I’m in, but also, surprisingly, that the next largest group is in the Southern United States. Other ways to sort them includes by gender, social authority rank, follower/following accounts, tweet numbers, language, the time they’re most active, as well as a couple of interesting word clouds generated through bio information.
  • Track followers: Changes to your social graph are presented in this tab, but only if you’re paying for this functionality. Otherwise all you can do is see this data for the Twitter user @followerwonk.
  • Sort followers: Again, paid functionality, which lets you sort a follower list by social authority, tweets, number following/followed by, and account age.
Geographical map showing the Twitter followers for Cat Rambo
Here's a map generated through the Analyze followers tab. Note that there's several caveats, including "This is an inexact procedure and so some points may be mapped incorrectly." and that it's only looking at 5,000 followers. Still, there's some interesting, if perhaps not particularly actionable, data here.

As with many tools, here you’re been given a taste in order to persuade you to cough up for the paid version. If I had the budget for it, Followerwonk is definitely worth paying for, and it’s just part of the tools from a SEOMoz Pro membership – but they run $99 a month, which is going to be outside the reach for most people working on their own publicity. For a deeper look at Followerwonk, try Gianluca Fiorelli’s How I Use Followerwonk and Why I Love It.

Other Social Media Links of Interest:

I’m looking at this tool and will be writing it up in the future: Buffer, which lets you schedule Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and App.net with the free version, and up to twelve networks with the paid version.

An excellent piece on Goodreads for promotion that should interest writers.

A massive trove of SEO links that I am still going through.

Beth Barany provides some tips for shy writers on how to promote your book on Twitter.

Are you a writer interested in finding out how to effectively promote yourself via the Internet? Sign up for my Building an Online Presence for Writers class. It’s taught online via Google Hangouts and the next session is Sunday, 9:30-11:30 AM PST, July 14.

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WIP: Teaser from "You Remind Me of Summer"

IMG_9664From the SF story I’m working on, “You Remind Me of Summer”. Think it will end up being 6-7k.

Madhur hesitated in the doorway of the bar. No sign on the outside other than a weathered metal plaque set at eye level to the right of the door. It showed a complicated red knot on a chipped white background.

This was dangerous territory but it was also anonymity, a place where no one would be looking at her flags. The privacy field inside kept all such information unavailable.

Someone was coming up behind her and there was nothing to prevent them reading her right now, so she gave the metal knob a twist and pulled it toward her to slip inside.

First impressions: booze-scented brown darkness broken by a single strand of red and green Christmas lights, tables centered in pools of yellow light from overhead lamps, constructions of spiderwire and sickly glow crystals. Along the back wall, a photo mural tried to provide the illusion of looking out onto a great deal seascape from a high cliff, but stains and a few tears made the illusion ineffectual. Underfoot, plas-crete, worn and a little slippery. A dim jukebox pulsing out a watery rendition of “I’ll be Home for the Holidays.”

The air smelled of sweat and alcohol and here and there a whiff of cologne or perfume. The inhabitants were varied ““ even a few nonhumans and mechanicals, but most shared a uniform dispirited look, a slump to their shoulders that made them seem aged and discouraged. Many nursed drinks, but three teenagers lounged at a back pool table, talking trash talk to each other as the balls clacked defiantly against each other.

This morning on the train into the city, she’d looked out the window and seen three young deer, springborn, now nearing fall adolescence, playing with each other by the side of highway running parallel to the track. They darted back and forth; one reared, sharp little hooves flicking out in play, catch me if you can, full of fearless stupidity and no thought for the cars rushing past so close to their play.

Then they were gone, and the landscape kept flickering as she tried to ignore the porter’s stare.

She chose one of the few empty tables, close to the wall, sliding into a wobbly seat, touching a faded video display, freckled with dissipated pixels, alight, tabbing through the choices, contemplating beer and onion rings. Her mouth watered at the thought not just of the greasy food, but the sensation of being unlooked at ““

— then someone sliding into the seat across from her, a woman perhaps two or three decades senior, face unfrozen by the conventional anti-aging techniques, but instead wearing tattoos across forearms and cheeks, purple streaks almost as faded as the menu.

Alarm blared against her nerves, but she refused to let her breath quicken or her tone be anything but bland. “Thanks, but I’m not looking for company.”

“Neither am I if bedplay’s what you mean,” the woman said sharply. Her hair was a silver Mohawk, tipped with blue along the six-inch strands that stood up like a parrot’s crest. She looked strong, was Madhur’s first thought, like some sort of warrior goddess cum blacksmith or stevedore.

“I just want conversation,” the woman said, “and any man I talk to is going to think I’m trying to pick him up, even if I lead with a denial of that. Humor an old broad and entertain me this evening. Unless you really do want to be by yourself, in which case I’ll slide off and leave you alone.”

Enjoy this sample of Cat’s writing and want more of it on a weekly basis, along with insights into process, recipes, photos of Taco Cat, chances to ask Cat (or Taco) questions, discounts on and news of new classes, and more? Support her on Patreon..

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Round-up of Awards Posts by F&SF Writers, Editors, and Publishers for 2020

It’s that time again! Once again I have created this post for consolidating fantasy and science fiction award eligibility round-ups. If you are an F&SF writer, editor, podcast, or publisher working in comics, fiction or games, I hope you’ll let people know what you have that they should be reading. People on my Discord server have already been gently prodded about this.

Past things I have written about why writers should do this include On Awards: To Be Pushy Or Not To Be Pushy (2014), The Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated Awards Process (2015), and To Eligibility Post or Not to Eligibility Post? (2016).

Here are the previous such posts from 2017, 2018, 2019

Here are the guidelines that save us both work. It’s best if you e-mail me to add your name and link. I need to know your name, what categories you fit in, and the single URL that lets people find the works. Fair warning: If I have to click through multiple links in order to figure out your name and which category you should be put in, it will slow me down and make me cranky.

I strongly suggest that you do this in a blog post rather than on social media, for multiple reasons, including: it’s hard for people to find stuff on social media sometimes; not everyone has a social media account; it affects search engine optimization; and the fact that it’ll be easier for you to find it yourself later on. I can and do point at Twitter or FB posts if that’s all that people have, but I think they are shortchanging themselves when they do it.

If you tweet yours and tag me, there’s a good chance I’ll miss it somehow. Feel free to remind me in e-mail so I don’t miss it a second time.

A.C. Wise maintains a similar list here.

Here are the SFWA recommended reading lists. These lists are the suggestions made by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and represent pieces they found particularly read-worthy over the course of the year. Appearance on the list is NOT the same thing as a Nebula nomination.

Novel
Novella
Novelette
Short Story
Games
Bradbury Award
Norton (Young adult/middle grade novels)

Here is the Coyotl Award Recommended List.
Here is the Hugo Award Nominees Wiki
Astounding Award Eligibility

Writers:

  1. Eisuke Aikawa
  2. Phoenix Alexander
  3. B. Morris Allen
  4. Mike Allen
  5. G.V. Anderson
  6. Jason R. Baltazar
  7. Patrick Barb
  8. Devin Barlow
  9. Yaroslav Barsukov
  10. Phoebe Barton
  11. Alan Baxter
  12. Helena Bell
  13. Renan Bernardo
  14. Gautam Bhatia
  15. Derrick Boden
  16. Maurice Broaddus
  17. Laurence Brothers
  18. K.T. Bryski
  19. Andi Buchanan
  20. Cora Buhlert
  21. Stephanie Burgis
  22. Lisbeth Campbell
  23. Rebecca Campbell
  24. H.E. Casson
  25. Minerva Cerridwen
  26. L. Chan
  27. Jordan Chase-Young
  28. Mike Chen
  29. Joyce Chng
  30. Zen Cho
  31. May Chong
  32. Kay Chronister
  33. Nino Cipri
  34. Chandra Clarke
  35. ZZ Claybourne
  36. Katherine Crighton
  37. Brandon Crilly
  38. Marc Criley
  39. Carrie Cuinn
  40. Ray Daley
  41. J.R. Dawson
  42. Aliette de Bodard
  43. Ashley Deng
  44. Tracy Deonn (eligible for Astounding)
  45. Anya Johnson DeNiro
  46. S.B. Divya
  47. Maria Dong
  48. Jennifer Donohue
  49. Vraiux Dorós (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  50. Aidan Doyle
  51. Katharine Duckett
  52. Jonathan Louis Duckworth
  53. Andy Dudak
  54. R.K. Duncan
  55. Anthony Eichenlaub
  56. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
  57. Louis Evans
  58. Corey Farrenkopf
  59. Illimani Ferreria
  60. C.C. Finlay
  61. A.J. Fitzwater
  62. Vanessa Fogg
  63. Susan Forest
  64. Theresa Frohock
  65. Sarah Gailey
  66. Ephiny Gale
  67. R.S.A. Garcia
  68. Emma J. Gibbon
  69. Craig Laurence Gidney
  70. Chadwick Ginther
  71. Lora Gray
  72. J.T. Greathouse
  73. A.T. Greenblatt
  74. R.W.W. Greene
  75. Mika Grimmer (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  76. Eileen Gunnell Lee
  77. Thomas Ha
  78. Elad Haber
  79. Essa Hansen (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  80. Leigh Harlen
  81. Maria Haskins
  82. Kate Heartfield
  83. Joachim Heijndermans
  84. Sylvia Heike
  85. Rhiannon Held
  86. Carlos Hernandez
  87. Alicia Hilton
  88. Stark Holborn
  89. Jessica Jo Horowitz
  90. A.P. Howell
  91. Jennifer Hudak
  92. Andrew D. Hudson
  93. Zina Hutton
  94. Oshahon Ize-Iyamu
  95. Sid Jain (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  96. Jessica Jo
  97. Rachael K. Jones
  98. Anya Josephs
  99. Keishi Kajifune (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  100. Umiyuri Katsuyama
  101. Gwen C. Katz
  102. Ava Kelly
  103. Michael Kelly
  104. L.P. Kindred
  105. Scott King
  106. Benjamin C. Kinney
  107. Gwendolyn Kiste
  108. Zelda Knight
  109. C.H. Knight
  110. Shawn Kobb
  111. Joanna Koch
  112. Jordan Kurella
  113. Jamie Lackey
  114. Lavanya Lakshminarayan
  115. N. R. Lambert
  116. C. J. Lavigne
  117. J.H.R. Lawless
  118. Eileen Gunnell Lee
  119. P.H. Lee
  120. R.B. Lemberg
  121. Jessica Lévai
  122. L.D. Lewis
  123. Mina Li
  124. Monte Lin
  125. Marissa Lingen
  126. Darcie Little Badger
  127. Monica Louzon
  128. S. Qiouyi Lu
  129. Catherine Lundoff
  130. M. Evan MacGriogair
  131. Clara Madrigano
  132. Usman T. Malik
  133. Lyndsie Manusos
  134. Marshall Ryan Maresca
  135. Anna Martino
  136. J.A.W. McCarthy
  137. Jo Miles
  138. Lawrence Miller
  139. Samantha Mills
  140. Premee Mohamed
  141. Aidan Moher
  142. Ben Monroe
  143. Elisabeth R. Moore (eligible for Astounding Award)
  144. L.H. Moore
  145. Sunny Moraine
  146. Mike Morgan
  147. Ilana C. Myer
  148. Ray Nayler
  149. Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
  150. Celia Neri
  151. Mari Ness
  152. Wendy Nikel
  153. Leah Ning (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  154. Christie Nogle
  155. Julie Novakova
  156. Claire O’Dell
  157. Sandra Odell
  158. Aimee Ogden
  159. Tobi Ogundiran
  160. Anya Ow
  161. Suzanne Palmer
  162. Rhonda Parrish
  163. Irette Patterson
  164. Shari Paul
  165. Charles Payseur
  166. Robert G. Penner
  167. E.A. Petricone
  168. Aimee Picchi
  169. Sarah Pinsker
  170. Hailey Piper
  171. Vina Jie-Min Prasad
  172. Mary Rajotte
  173. Cat Rambo
  174. Jenny Rae Rappaport
  175. Arula Ratnakar (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  176. Julie Reeser
  177. Jeff Reynolds
  178. Joyce Reynolds-Ward
  179. Endria Issa Richardson (eligible for Astounding Award)
  180. Lauren Ring (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  181. Rebecca Roanhorse
  182. Karlo Yeager Rodríguez
  183. Josh Rountree
  184. Frances Rowat
  185. Jed Sabin
  186. Malena Salazar Macia (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  187. R.P. Sand (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  188. Jason Sanford
  189. Lynne Sargent
  190. Erica Satifka
  191. A.T. Sayre (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  192. Edmund Schluessel
  193. Adam R. Shannon
  194. Jennifer Shelby
  195. Sameem Siddiqui
  196. T.R. Siebert
  197. Elsa Sjunneson
  198. Prashanth Srivatsa (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  199. Carlie St. George
  200. Caitlin Starling
  201. Mats Strandberg
  202. Sonia Sulamain
  203. Bogi Takács
  204. Jordan Taylor
  205. Kristina Ten (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  206. R.J. Theodore
  207. Sheree Renée Thomas
  208. M. Elizabeth Ticknor
  209. Steve Toase
  210. E. Catherine Tobler
  211. Rebecca E. Treasure (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  212. Eugenia Triantafyllou
  213. Sienna Tristen
  214. Marcus Vance
  215. Hilary Morgan Ventura
  216. Elaine Vilar Madruga (eligible for the Astounding Award)
  217. Kelly Washington
  218. Izzy Wasserstein
  219. Paul Weimer
  220. M. Douglas White
  221. Rem Wigmore
  222. Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
  223. Fran Wilde
  224. Brittany N. Williams
  225. A.C. Wise
  226. John Wiswell
  227. Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
  228. Caroline Yoachim
  229. Ramez Yoakeim
  230. Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko (eligible for the Astounding Award)

Editors:

Publishers:

Podcasts
If This Goes On (Don’t Panic) (Alan needs to give me the link to this post, hi Alan 🙂 )

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