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What is bookstagram, and how can you use it as an author?

If you’re an author or aspiring author trying to navigate the often-confusing world of social media, you’ve likely heard of bookstagram. And if you’re like most people, you probably have questions. What exactly is bookstagram? How do you get involved? And how can you use it to reach readers and promote your book?

What is bookstagram?

Bookstagram is not its own social network; rather, it refers to a sub-community on Instagram that is focused on books. The term bookstagram can also refer to an individual Instagram account that is devoted to books.

Book bloggers, publishers, agents, authors, and readers are all active on bookstagram, so it’s a great way to connect with others in the literary community.

How to find bookstagram accounts

On Instagram, search for the hashtag #bookstagram, and you’ll find countless posts and profiles devoted to books and bookish things. At the time of this writing, there are more than 36 million posts tagged with #bookstagram. The bookstagram community is huge!

You can follow the hashtag so #bookstagram posts show up in your feed, even in you aren’t following those accounts. Following a hashtag is a great way to get connected with other users who are posting about things you’re interested in. Instagram will also show you related hashtags that you can use and follow, such as #bookworm, #booklover, and #bookaholic.

Is your audience on bookstagram?

Before you dive into the world of bookstagram, it’s important to understand if your audience is actually using it. A huge portion of the bookstagram community is made up of YA readers, but bookstagram users post about other genres, too.

In general, Instagram skews female and younger. More than half (52%) of Instagram users are female, and 43% of American women use Instagram. The largest age demographic on Instagram is 25-34, followed by 18-24.

If you write fiction for women in their 20s and 30s, bookstagram is a great place for you to connect with readers! On the other hand, if your audience is Baby Boomer men, bookstagram is probably not the best place for you.

If you aren’t sure, dig a little deeper into bookstagram-related hashtags. For example, the #womensfiction hashtag currently has 75k posts. That’s considerably less than #yafiction, which has 260k posts, but there are still plenty of people discussing women’s fiction on Instagram.

Creating a bookstagram account

If you’re just getting started on Instagram and you want to brand yourself as an author, use some form of your name (or the name you write under) as your username. If people are reading your books, they’re going to search for you by name. Even if you don’t have any books published yet, it’s a good idea to start branding yourself as an author.

If you already have a personal IG account but want one just devoted to your brand, you can create a separate account for bookstagram purposes. You’ll just need a separate email for each account.

In the bio section, you can put your name, a short bio, and a link to your website. Instagram does not allow external links on posts, so if you want to link to a specific post or page on your website — or to another page, like your Amazon author page — you will have to do that here. You can also sign up for a service like LinkTree, which allows you to create a sort of splash page where you can add multiple links.

If you don’t have a website to link to here, consider creating one. You’ll want a place to direct readers and generate leads, especially if you’re already published, or if you’re writing non-fiction and need to build a platform before getting an agent.

Getting involved in the bookstagram community

The key to success on any social networking platform is to be consistent and authentic. Follow other bookstagram accounts and comment on their posts. Follow other authors, especially those who write in your genre. Post pics of books you’re reading. Remember this is a community. If you’re a reader — as authors usually are — it’s your community. So engage authentically and don’t be spammy.

Some bookstagram do’s and don’ts

• Do be authentic. Let your own voice come through. What do you love about a particular book or author? What new releases are you excited to read? You don’t have to post about the same hot new releases everyone else is talking about if you aren’t genuinely interested in them.
• Don’t just promote your own books. If you approach bookstagram with a promotional mindset, you will not be successful.
• Do tag other authors if you are posting a positive book review, or just to say happy book birthday on their publication date.
• Don’t tag an author if you’re saying anything negative about their book. In fact, if you’re branding yourself as an author, you may want to refrain from saying anything negative about other authors and their books. Obviously not everyone will like every book and that’s okay. But it’s considered poor form to bash other authors if you’re a part of the literary community.
• Do focus on your genre. Your ultimate goal is to reach readers who will be interested in your books. It’s okay to post about an occasional book in another genre, but keep most of your posts focused on content your readers will enjoy.
• Don’t ask other authors to promote you. If you genuinely network with others in your genre, then you will naturally increase your chances of getting other authors to promote your books. You want any sharing of your book to be authentic, just as you are sharing books you genuinely enjoy.
• Do have fun with it. If you aren’t enjoying it, it will show through in your posts.
• Don’t post too much about your personal life. If you’re a new or aspiring author, don’t assume people will want to know all about your personal life. This may shift eventually — if you become a best-selling author with a huge following, then people may want to know more about you. If you want to post a lot of photos about your pets and hobbies for friends and families to see, consider keeping that on a separate profile, or use a separate social network like Facebook for personal stuff.
• Do learn from the bigger accounts. Don’t get discouraged when you see people who are posting every day and have beautiful pictures and thousands of followers. Some bookstagrammers are doing this for a living! Use these accounts as inspiration to improve your own photography. Look at posts that perform well and see what you can learn from them.
• Don’t expect to have thousands of followers after a few months. It takes time to build a following. Be patient, continue to build your skills and engage with the community, and growth will happen.

How to take photos for bookstagram

You don’t have to be a professional photographer to be on Instagram, but learning how to take good photos will definitely help. Many successful bookstagrammers use a separate camera instead of a smartphone to take their pictures. You can use your phone if necessary, but do take some time to learn how to take good photos.

Pay attention to photo composition and lighting. Natural lighting is best. You don’t have to spend a lot of time staging your photos, but make sure there is nothing weird or distracting in the background. Sometimes a simple photo featuring a book with a cup of coffee can be the best thing if it’s well done. Crime by the Book is a great example of this.

You may want to set up an area in your home for taking photos. Keep a few props on hand to make it easy, and take photos in batches during a time of day when you have good lighting. Then you can come up with the captions later when you’re ready to post. Life in Lit does a great job of using props to create photos with a consistent aesthetic. Even though many of the props are used repeatedly, each photo is unique.

How to get your book featured on a bookstagram account

So now that you know the basics of getting active on bookstagram, let’s say you have a book that you want to promote. How do you get other bookstagrammers to feature it?

Again, work on building genuine relationships with other bookstagrammers first. If they interact with you and recognize you, they are more likely to respond favorably to your request.

Reach out to users who regularly post about books in your genre — you can send a direct message to them on Instagram. Be personal and authentic. Tell them why you would love for them to feature your book. Don’t send the same message to everyone.

Tips for self-published authors

You don’t have to be traditionally published to get your book featured on a bookstagram account, but you do have to appear professional. And that means having a well-designed book cover. If you aren’t trained in design, don’t do your own book cover. Hire a professional. Bookstagrammers want beautiful covers to showcase on their feed and will be less likely to say yes to something that looks amateurish.

Target smaller accounts if you’re self published. Very large bookstagram accounts may have arrangements to review books for traditional publishers, and may not have the bandwidth to read and review indie books.

Also be aware that providing a free book may not be enough for larger accounts. For many bookstagrammers, this is their business. They may want compensation for a promoted post. Treat this as advertising and add it into your advertising budget. If a bookstagrammer has a large following of very qualified and engaged leads, it may be worth it.

Need help building your online presence? Contact me to learn about my digital marketing services.