Grey Warden

Take a look at this weekly game, sponsored by Authors Professional Coop in partnership with IndieBooksBeSeen, and you’ll find a new weekly passion. @stephens_pt (me) posts the topic immediately after the previous game and once a night for the following week.

Players tweet all day Wednesday. I declare the winner at 6:30 pm EST and e-mail an eBook by a Coop author to the winner.

Join the #TheBookies a hashtag game for bookworms every Wednesday. The moderator @stephens_pt highlights his favorites starting at 4:30 pm EDT, and announces a winner at 6:30.

Booking #TheBookies

When I suggested that the Facebook group #AuthorProfCoop (Author Professionals Coop) promote their books with a hashtag game, I was surprised to discover how few writers actually played hashtag games on Twitter. After all, writers make a living from verbal jokes and puns, right?

If you’ve never played a hashtag game, the rules are simple. The moderators post the hashtag. The players respond with a joke, and often a related pic.

For instance #MyWorstNightmare might prompt:

• My ex returned and now she’s pregnant
• Mother called and said she’s coming to visit
• The election’s over and (Trump or Hillary) won
• I dieted for three straight months and gained ten pounds or a simple image

In the case of #TheBookies, this doesn’t mean players can’t stray from books with their entries, but the judge prefers entries that play on fictional characters and titles. (More about the judge later). Past games included:

• #FastFoodActionThrillers
• #DrunkTweetsFromOz
• #FairyGodmotherBadAdvice
• #RomComWesterns
• #ShakespeareAfterHours
• #2016ScarlettLetters

Here are some of the Tweets from #FastFoodActionThrillers:

• Dial M for McDonalds
• The French Fry Connection
• Midnight in the Olive Garden of Good and Evil
• 007: For Your Fries Only
• Men in Baby Back Ribs
• True Fries

I’ve heard every excuse in the book not to play, and most of them revolve around not knowing what to say.

You’re readers and writers. Words are in your blood. Even so, here are some things to remember:

1. Don’t know any detective novels? (Or Sci Fi, or fairy tales?) Do what you did  in school when you partied instead of studying. Google. “What are the most famous detective novels?” “Who are the most famous fictional detectives?”
3. Don’t worry about the rules. Hashtag games don’t have rules. Seriously. Don’t know any novels? Tweet movies and TV shows. In a recent serial killer installment
5. #SerialKillersInTherapy (I’m Okay, You’re Delicious), players tweeted real serial killers.
6. Check out other hashtag games. Download the Hashtag Roundup app. It lists dozens of hashtag games you can play besides this one just to see what others are doing (with a lot more players than we have).

My favorite games are: @FriMemeGirls, a meme spoof, on Friday Nights at 9pm EDT and @HashFakeFacts, a liars game, at 1 pm EDT on Sundays.

Read the rest of the post here.