10 Tips for Authors on Bookstagram
First a brief a explanation of bookstagram and why every writer and author should be there.
Bookstagram is a corner of Instragram inhabited by readers, reviewers and authors. You can find it by following the hashtag #bookstagram or #bookstagrammer. Include that hashtag or a similar one in your profile to help other bookstagrammers find you.
While your average reader most likely won’t even think to leave a review, ( I know I didn’t until I became an author) a bookstagrammer will not only read your book, but she will read it and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads and most likely write a post on Instagram. Basically, I’m describing every author’s dream reader. Plus, bookstagrammers buy a lot of books. Some read as much as 12 books a month. Every author needs to be a part of this community.
Here are my 10 best tips on how to connect with bookstagrammers:
This is a “Tuesday Teaser” for my book. I got the idea for Tuesday Teasers from @authorkarinbiggs.
Be yourself. It’s too much work being anyone else. I know all the advice about beautiful flatlays and having a consistent feed. But I am also a writer and I don’t have the energy to pretend to be someone else to attract a certain audience. As a reader who loves a wide variety of books, I don’t limit myself to talking about just one genre. I also include a lot of things I love: flowers, food and family. I also love to do giveaways of classic books. The handle for my account is @literallyruth.mitchell basically the title itself warns you: this is ”literally” who I am.
Always reply to comments. If someone leaves a comment on your post always reply back. This helps build relationships and doubles comments on your posts—adding visibility.
Make Friends. Join buddy reads and book swaps. Share posts and leave lots of positive comments. As you make friends, always be sincere and positive. Personally, I won’t ask my friends to promote my book. They often do and I appreciate it. But I don’t like to put them in an uncomfortable position. My exception to this rule is that I don’t mind asking author friends for help. Also, I have no problem asking strangers or slight acquaintances to review my book and they often in turn become friends.
Use Linktree. Make it easy for everyone to buy your book or find to your blog from IG. Plus, it’s free. If you are not familiar with linktree here’s mine.
Don’t give away your own book. Have someone else do that. First, nothing is more disheartening than seeing no one sign up to get a free copy of your book. The same book you are trying to sell. No one needs to go through that moritification. When someone else vouches for your book it is automatically perceived as having greater value. Plus, it doubles the visibility of your book and helps you increase followers.
Follow the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of the time talk about anything other than your book. I like to talk about books I love. Some authors choose to talk about their family or their writing. Whatever you talk about, don’t sell your book with every post. That gets tedious. No one wants to watch a commercial non-stop. Consider your feed like a movie and your book promotion a product placement. Obviously you can do a little more self-promotion the week your book comes out.
Follow other authors—lots of them. Some are better than others at IG posts. But you can learn something from all of them.
Be gracious. If a reviewer doesn’t give you the best review, the only right response is: “Thank you for taking the time to read and review my book.” Don’t react defensively or tell the reviewer she is wrong. Remember no book is for everyone, plus some reviewers are more stingy with their stars. You definitely don’t want to burn any bridges. I’ve had reviewers who left three star reviews turn around and promote my book in their stories whenever it’s on sale.
9. Be generous! Follow back. Promote other authors, share other posts, give compliments and love wherever you can.
10. Be Yourself. Ha Ha! I know I already said this but it’s worth mentioning again. A big reason authors struggle to have an instagram presence is that self-promotion can be so draining. So be kind to yourself by being yourself. Nothing is more exhausting than trying to be someone else. Even though my first YA novel Deleted is a sci-fi thriller, I don’t spend all my time talking about sci-fi and fantasy. Most of my posts are about the classic and heartwarming books I adore.
About a month before my book came out I had a moment of panic. I had made a lot of friends on bookstagram. In just a few months I had gained a steady group of followers. But I was spending most of my time talking about Little Women and Jane Austen. “Oh well,” I thought. “This is who I am.”
Do you know what happened when my book came out? The friends that I talked Austen and Alcott with bought my book and better yet, they helped promote it. Also, it turns out that a lot of readers who love Alcott and Austen also love my book.
Do you have any tips for authors on Instagram?
I shared some these thought on a video as a part of celebration of the launch of Amy Michelle Carpenter’s new book Becoming Human. You can watch me ramble on here.
Be yourself: No books in this photo. It’s just me and a pie. And it’s one of my most viewed posts.