Robin Houghton

With a background in marketing and communications, specialising in online since the turn of the century, I've written three books on how to blog, all published by Writers' Digest/HOW Books in the US and by Ilex in the UK and the rest of the world. See my Books page for details. I've also written two ebooks, 'How to Use Twitter: a primer for writers, artists and all creative people' (May 2016) and 'Get More out of Twitter' (February 2017). Given the changeable nature of social media platforms, all these books are no longer completely up-to-date, but much of the advice in them about how to engage with others successfully. via Twitter or by blogging, is still relevant.


My online experience goes way back - I hand-coded my first website in 1999 and my first HTML email newsletter in 2000. For the next sixteen years I worked exclusively in online marketing and communications, advising organisations, small businesses and communications teams in social (media) business communications. I wrote hundreds of articles for professional, business and consumer publications including Hotelkeeper and Caterer, Classical Music, Dine Out and Market Leader. I've been blogging since the mid-2000s and have guest-blogged for Writer Unboxed, Friday Ad, the Marketing Society, Marketing Profs, BritMums and many others.

Alongside my non-fiction writing I'm also a published poet with work in The Rialto, the North, Agenda, Poetry News and other good UK and Irish poetry publications. I was awarded the Hamish Canham Prize from the Poetry Society in 2013, and my poems have won or been placed in many competitions. My first pamphlet 'The Great Vowel Shift' was published by Telltale Press. 'All the Relevant Gods' won the Cinnamon Press Pamphlet Competition in 2017 and was published in 2018. A new pamphlet, 'Why?', was one of four winners of the Live Canon Pamphlet Competition and is published in November 2019.

If you're interested in poetry do follow my blog at robinhoughtonpoetry.co.uk