95 Authors to Follow on Twitter
It’s been 6 years since I joined Twitter upon hearing that J.K. Rowling was on the social media platform and that she (!) tweeted (!) things (!) for us commoners! It was all very exciting (I know, I know, but I was 17, can you blame me?).
In these last 6 years, however, I have come to appreciate authors on twitter for much more what 17yo-me wanted. Yes, you sometimes chance upon Neil Gaiman doing a live Q&A, Margaret Atwood answering fans’ questions, and Roxane Gay doing giveaways of her books, but I am thankful, more than anything, for learning something enlightening and significant every day from these authors: about the publishing industry and what it means to be a writer, and about the politics of literature. And in this day and age, when most authors on Twitter are more active than usual in an attempt to reach out and do some literary activism, there’s a lot more smarts to be absorbed.
Here are 95 authors to follow for a great mix of wit, books, and insights into writing in your Twitter feed:
1. Adam Silvera @AdamSilvera
2. Alexander Chee @AlexanderChee
3. Alisha Rai @AlishaRai
If there’s shelf space for all Nicholas Sparks’ books about white ppl almost kissing, there’s space for multiple depictions of brown people.
— Alisha Rai (@AlishaRai) January 13, 2017
4. Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad
5. Amanda Lovelace @ladybookmad
6. Amy Spalding @theames
7. Amy Tan @amytan
The daily news headlines about tRump read like the synopsis of the next chapter of a badly written political thriller sitcom.
— Amy Tan (@AmyTan) January 21, 2017
8. Ann Aguirre @MsAnnAguirre
9. Anna Kendrick @AnnaKendrick47
10. Aziz Ansari @azizansari
Trump wants to ban Muslim immigrants like my parents. I wrote a piece for @NYTimes telling him to go fuck himself: https://t.co/MCDsQyz2jy
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) June 24, 2016
11. Barack Obama @BarackObama
12. Benjamin Alire Saenz @BenjaminAlireSa
13. Catherynne Valente @catvalente
14. Celeste Ng @pronounced_ing
2017: where brainstorming for this dystopian novel is just guessing what’s about to happen in a few hours.
— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) January 26, 2017
15. Chantel Acevedo @chantelacevedo
16. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni @cdivakaruni
17. Chuck Wendig @ChuckWendig
18. CJ Redwine @cjredwine
19. Colin Dickey @ColinDickey
Write for another hour, or go home and get started on the pre-debate drinking?
— Colin Dickey (@colindickey) October 19, 2016
20. Corinne Duyvis @corrineduyvis
21. Courtney Milan @courtneymilan
22. Courtney Summers @courtney_s
23. Dana Simpson @MizDanaClaire
I hope we are not yet so jaded that unicorn waffles don’t help. https://t.co/FzIoKMnj72
— Dana Simpson (@MizDanaClaire) January 21, 2017
24. Daniel Jose Older @djolder
25. Eric Smith @ericsmithrocks
26. Gene Luen Yang @geneluenyang
Let’s read without walls, folks! https://t.co/VJ3OnpJERq
— Gene Luen Yang (@geneluenyang) January 28, 2017
27. Glennon Doyle Melton @momastery
28. Gwenda Bond @Gwenda
29. Hari Kunzru @harikunzru
30. Heidi Heilig @heidiheilig
Okay a little friday joy because i just got my 35 paperback author copies and i live in a small NYC apartment. i’m going to do a giveaway.
— heidi heilig ?? (@heidiheilig) January 27, 2017
31. Hillary Clinton @hillaryclinton
32. Jason Reynolds @JasonReynolds83
33. Jeff Zentner @jeffzentner
34. Jes Baker @militant_baker
35. Jessica Valenti @JessicaValenti
Excuse me if I don’t listen to feminist activism advice from a man who once told women “power is in the kitchen” https://t.co/NzOST5z3ld
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) January 24, 2017
36. J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling
37. Joe Hill @joe_hill
38. John Lewis @repjohnlewis
39. Justina Ireland @justinaireland
Publishers: if your “feminist” YA book features nothing but cis-heterosexual-able-bodied white girls then it really ain’t all that feminist.
— Ruiner of YA (@justinaireland) January 27, 2017
40. Karan Mahajan @kmahaj
41. Karina Glaser @KarinaYanGlaser
42. Karolina Waclawiak @believekarolina
What witchcraft do I have to perform for these thirty pages to write themselves?
— Karolina Waclawiak (@believekarolina) May 8, 2016
43. Kelly Jensen @veronikellymars
44. Kelly Sue DeConnick @kellysue
45. Kristine Wyllys @KristineWyllys
46. Lamar Giles @LRGiles
47. Leigh Bardugo @LBardugo
Walked into @ChevaliersBooks looking for one thing, walked out with three great recs. Love this store. pic.twitter.com/KdlgjdUlOW
— Leigh Bardugo (@LBardugo) January 11, 2017
48. Lin-Manuel Miranda @Lin_Manuel
Good morning.
Woke up grateful for the air in my lungs, the sleep in my eyes,
the ache in my bones,
the chance to say hello again.— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) January 27, 2017
49. Lyndsay Faye @LyndsayFaye
50. Malinda Lo @MalindaLo
51. Mara Wilson @MaraWilson
52. Marissa Meyer @marissa_meyer
53. Margaret Atwood @MargaretAtwood
Think very hard about it… when was the last Canadian election? https://t.co/iTd6kjYOEu
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) January 28, 2017
54. Maureen Johnson @maureenjohnson
55. Meg Cabot @megcabot
56. Megan Abbott @meganeabbott
57. Mindy Kaling @mindykaling
58. Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy
Before any racist shit asks”don’t you know what they do to women?”-I wrote a whole book & I know your concern is bullshit.Fix your own house
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) January 28, 2017
59. Neil Gaiman @neilhimself
60. Nicola Yoon @NicolaYoon
61. Nilanjana Roy @nilanjanaroy
62. NK Jemisin @nkjemisin
People surprised that the woman who helped murder Emmett Till lied: stop. Go read some American history books. Right now.
— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) January 27, 2017
63. Nova Ren Suma @novaren
64. Peggy Orenstein @peggoprenstein
65. Phoebe Robinson @dopequeenpheebs
66. Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine
67. Rachel Held Evans @rachelheldevans
Please read this. I’m so angry and heartbroken tonight. https://t.co/JvmUoxjY9f
— Rachel Held Evans (@rachelheldevans) January 28, 2017
68. Rainbow Rowell @rainbowrowell
69. Roshani Chokshi @NotRashKnee
70. Roxane Gay @rgay
A white woman just messaged me to chastise me for saying it’s not my job to teach white women how to be inclusive. My response was terse.
— roxane gay (@rgay) January 23, 2017
71. Rumaam Alam @Rumaan
72. Sabaa Tahir @SabaaTahir
73. Sady Doyle @sadydoyle
74. Saeed Jones @theferocity
You: “How are y—“
Me: *running away before I have to another conversation about how upsetting everything has been lately*
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 26, 2017
75. Saladin Ahmed @saladinahmed
76. Salman Rushdie @SalmanRushdie
77. Sandhya Memon @smenonbooks
78. Sarah Andersen @SarahCAndersen
— Sarah Andersen (@SarahCAndersen) November 27, 2016
79. Sarah Maclean @sarahmaclean
80. Sasha Devlin @sashadevlin
81. Shonda Rhimes @shondarhimes
82. Shveta Thakrar @shvetathakrar
Re: writing and art, @ericsmithrocks and I were talking about how normalizing the “Other” is so important to raise empathy and end bigotry.
— Shveta શ્વેતા (@ShvetaThakrar) January 25, 2017
83. Sona Charaipotra @sona_c
84. Steph Cha @stephycha
85. Stephen King @StephenKing
86. Ta-Nehisi Coates @TaNehisiCoates
And I told him you gotta learn how to make the simple sentences first, then you can throw in the crazy commas and semicolons.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) December 31, 2016
87. Tahereh Mafi @TahereMafi
88. Tananarive Due @TananariveDue
89. Tess Fowler @TessFowler
90. Tim Federle @TimFederle
I already resent the cinematography nomination for Clint Eastwood’s inevitable “Border Wall”
— Tim Federle (@TimFederle) January 26, 2017
91. Tressie Mc @tressiemcphd
92. Veronica Roth @VeronicaRoth
93. Victoria Dahl @VictoriaDahl
94. Victoria Schwab @veschwab
But I’ll be damned if I let Tr*mp keep me from getting this book into the world. You know, the one about monstrous humans.
— Victoria/V.E. Schwab (@veschwab) January 26, 2017
95. Zoraida Cordova @zlikeinzorro
Happy following, and let us know which authors you love to have on your Twitter feed!
