Social Media 101: Instagram and Pinterest

These two are the visual social media platforms – you post photos instead of just text. Here are some tips and tricks for writers:

Instagram-Logo

  • Send your book with traveling friends and have them post photos
  • Follow bloggers who review books and fellow authors
  • Snap photos of what you’re reading
  • Snap photos of what you’re writing
  • According to Socialbakers, “the top brands on Instagram have a post engagement rate 47% higher than on Twitter.”

Pinterest_Logo

  • Add the “pin it” button to your browser
  • Make an “If you like ___ you’ll like my book” board (covers of similar titles)
  • Make “People and Places” board for people who look like your characters and places your characters would have visited or lived in
  • Make a board for cover art and behind the scenes images
  • Make Lives of Your Characters boards – what they’d wear, eat, visit, etc.
  • Make a quotes board: reading, writing, books, authors, whatever you like
  • Make a visual writing prompt board with provocative photos
  • Pin images and add quotes from your books
  • Make a Best bookstores or libraries board
  • Data shows that since 2011, “the number of Pinterest users going from the platform to a website has multiplied seven times, far outstripping Twitter and others.”