The Best of #CorgiYA, And The Benefits of Social Media Silliness
Back in August, my wife jokingly suggested that we make a Twitter account for our dog, Augustus. I'd been occasionally tweeting about him being my "assistant" at P.S. Literary, and she thought it might be funny to make a profile of him doing just that.
And now he has over 1,200 Twitter followers. For a corgi tweeting his life goal of being a literary agent. The Internet is a wonderful place.
One of the quirky things I've been doing with Auggie's Twitter account, is Photoshopping corgis into YA books. Poorly for the most part, and sometimes spending WAY more time than I should on others. #CorgiYA was born, and it's a fun way to distract myself.
To celebrate his 1,000 follower landmark, I offered up a query critique contest. The best #CorgiYA would win a query critique from me and Augustus. Mine will be real, Auggie's will be silly. And much to my surprise, a bundle of people jumped in to play along! Authors, editors, agents, publishers... it was a very fun few days on Twitter.
And I can't talk about doing a social media game without pointing at the analytics of the fun.
With over one million impressions and the reach to over 600,000 people, over 250 folks participating in favoriting, retweeting, talking about and creating their own images... a lot of people were engaged in having fun with this thing. It pulled in about 100 new followers for Auggie's account and my own.
Remember, writers in the social media world. It doesn't all have to be "BUY MY BOOK" to get people paying attention to you and sharing your stuff. In fact, it shouldn't be. No one is on social media to be promoted at. They are here to have fun.
Do things like this. Have fun.
I also have to call out Ashley Ruggirello in particular here. She made some of my favorites in this game. I know she does freelance cover designs, and my goodness, her Photoshops during this were gorgeous. If you're looking for a designer, please drop her a line.
As for winners, my three winners were from Lyndsay Ely, Ari Faye, Ashley Ruggirello, and The Book Voyagers. "Eric wait that's four." I know. I may have seen a query from one of these folks and given them notes already. So one is an honorary winner.
Here are the best of the best, starting with my four winners. Enjoy!
WINNER: From Ash Ruggirello
WINNER: From Lyndsay Ely
WINNER: From The Book Voyagers
WINNER: From Ari Faye
From @LyndsayEly
From The Book Voyagers
From The Book Voyagers
From Riata Brown
From Lexa Hillyer
From The Book Voyagers
From Ernie Chiara
From Kelly deVos
From Kelly deVos
From Gwen Katz
From Paper Lantern Lit
From Ash Ruggirello
From L. Ryan Storms
From Ari Faye
From Ash Ruggirello
From Ari Faye
From Maria Vicente
From Ari Faye
From Ari Faye
From Ash Ruggirello
From Ash Ruggirello
From Ash Ruggirello
From Ash Ruggirello
From Kelly DeVos
From Kelly DeVos
From Kelly DeVos
From Lyndsay Ely
From Ash Ruggirello
From Ash Ruggirello
From Carrie Cuinn
From Ash Ruggirello
From Jay Elliot Flynn
From Lyndsay Ely
From 3D Pat
From The Book Voyagers