Welcome to Bookstagram! Now What?
I remember the exact moment when I decided to make a book-focused Instagram account. I thought: this has never been done before! I can take pretty pictures of books and write reviews for them! WHAT A NOVEL IDEA (pun intended). Well, I was decidedly not the only book-focused Instagram account in 2018. Turns out, there is a whole not-so-little corner of the Internet focused on books called Bookstagram. In fact, as of the time of this post, #bookstagram has been used 43,119,371 times. 43 MILLION GUYS. That’s a lot of books.
And with such a saturated space, bookstagrammers are constantly wondering what they can do to set themselves apart: how can we get noticed? How can we produce content worth seeing? Worth sharing? How can we get that one publisher we LOVE to send us a book to review (looking at you Gallery Books — HMU)? And the problem is, when you first start out you don’t know what to do and when to do it. And you are probably terrified to ask your favorite Big League Bookstagrammers (“BLB” for short) for advice. I know I was. In fact, I search the Internet high and low trying to find every possible resource that existed on How To Bookstagram. There weren’t many.
Now that I have been around for a minute or two (still not a BLB but I’ve learned the hard way a few times over), I thought it was time to put together my bookstagram tips/tricks/advice. I am by no means an expert, and what works for me may totally not be your thing, but in the off-chance you’re like me a year ago, here ya go!
GETTING STARTED
This first little bit of this post will be more like a checklist than anything (we know I’m long-winded, trying to keep this concise so you get the deets and can ignore the rest of my ramblings):
Come up with an account name that is catchy and easy to remember (the shorter, the better). Try to avoid excessive punctuation in your name, because people will more likely mistag you. Also this next bit comes from @jordys.book.club: avoid underscores (clearly, I missed the memo on this one HA) because they are harder to type!!
Think about the books you read (genre, authors, etc.) & look to see which publishing houses publish those books. Read the author notes at the end of your favorite books. Follow the publishers on Instagram. Then search hashtags for your favorite books and authors and follow the accounts that grab your attention! Don’t play the follow 4 follow game — it will not help in the long run (also pro tip: the hashtag follow4follow is shadowbanned, so it will quite literally NOT help you).
Follow popular bookish hashtags, like #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #meetthebookstagrammer #bookreviews #currentlyreading— this will help you find new accounts!
Engage. All those accounts you just followed? Comment on their posts. Reply to their stories. DM them. Build a relationship. If you know me, you know that I basically court my Instagram friends like I’m a victorian playboy. I want them to get to know me and see how awesome (please sense my sarcasm) I am so they cannot imagine their Internet life without me. Then we become friends and the rest, as they say, is history.
Share your favorite accounts. Don’t just share their photos to your stories, but say WHY you like their account. Say why you’re connecting with their content.
Focus on the community, not the numbers. Participate in challenges. Share why you love to read. Write an open letter to book lovers. Post a #meetthebookstagrammer. Let the reason you’re here shine through.
Create attention-grabbing imagery. Instagram is, first and foremost, a photo app. While pretty photos are not essential for everyone (and it is a privilege to be able to use this platform in this way), it has worked for me. I used to have a different aesthetic. My growth was very slow. Then I changed to my current aesthetic and I noticed a significant uptick in my growth. How did I come up with my aesthetic? I thought of my house. The home decor I liked. I thought about what “props” I had around that would look good in book pictures. I created a collage (in my head) of what all that would look like together. And I searched for a preset on Etsy that would fit with that vibe. (I could do a whole separate post on this topic!)
Use hashtags in your posts. Instagram will allow you to use up to 30 hashtags (total — in the post itself and in the comments). Choose hashtags that are relevant to the photo.
Be inclusive. This is the most important part: if you story, caption your stories. Use ALT text on your images. Share accounts that highlight things you do not. Listen to voices different from your own. Be kind.
Do NOT ask for follows. Just don’t. It won’t help — the vast majority of us on here are always willing to shoutout new bookstagrammers — but don’t come into our DMs and say “hey, I’m new! Can you follow me and share in your stories!” Remember what I said about engaging and building relationships? If you wouldn’t make a friend that way in real life, don’t try it on the Internet.
Do NOT tag random people in your photos. Tagging book accounts with 20K followers won’t help you out. I promise.
Do NOT steal other people’s content. I don’t care if you imbed a “photo cred” in between your hashtags. It is wrong and most likely illegal (I could do a whole post on this but I don’t want this to be construed as legal advice, so I’ll leave it at this — don’t do it).
GROWING AND MAINTAINING YOUR ACCOUNT:
THE FOUR C’S
No, we aren’t talking about diamonds (but, Jon… if you’re reading this…diamonds never hurt). Rather, I’m talking about creativity, consistency, compatibility, and credibility. In my experience, curating (oh look a fifth “c”!) an account that has these four things is a recipe for success.
Creativity — this should be a no brainer; the Internet is quite literally unlimited — there are no boundaries to its reach and the result is a very saturated environment. But the more unique your content is, the more likely it will rise to the top. Taking the same photos in the same room, with the same captions every day will likely not help your case. Taking a boring book stack with the caption #bookstagram isn’t very helpful either. Instead, think about what YOU can bring to this space. I was listening to an episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast with Ed Mylett a little while ago, and Ed said something that has stuck with me for months (I’m going to paraphrase): there may be other accounts out there doing what you want to do, but none of them are YOU. There isn’t your version out there yet, your message, your way of doing it. Plain and simple, you find your creativity on bookstagram by being you—share what you enjoy, combine your interests, etc. A prime example of this: @pieladybooks — she created an account that combined her passion for baking, an outlet for making gluten free pies to cope with her Celiacs diagnosis, and her love for books. The result? Perfection!
Consistency — this C is for the algorithm we love OH SO MUCH. No matter how we slice it, the algorithm favors consistency. But here is what consistency does not mean: posting every day. People often confuse being consistent with being present. You don’t have to always be on Instagram to be noticed by the algorithm. Instead, you need to have a routine that works for you and your schedule and stick. with. it. If you can only commit to posting once a week? Then post only once a week! But do it at the same time and on the same day, and the algorithm will adjust to your pattern. By the same token, posting every day at random times may hurt your visibility. I use a content planning app (PLANN) to help me stay organized.
Compatibility — this is about creating a following that is in line with your content. When you first join bookstagram, you may want to follow everyone you see with a book account. You may not care what they read or what they post. You may not pay attention to who follows YOU. And are instead just grateful for the numbers. But here’s the biggest secret of all: if you aren’t compatible with your followers, your engagement will suffer. If you don’t read fantasy, then your “all fantasy" followers won’t be interested in the books you’re reviewing. Now, this is NOT to say you should only follow people like you. That is not my point at all. Compatibility is not sameness (that is boring and harmful!!). In fact, we should be prioritizing diversity on bookstagram. Full stop. My point here is that if you aren’t compatible with your followers—you don’t enjoy talking to them in DM or on their posts, you don’t have similar ideals or common interests, you don’t value the same type of content—then there will be less for them to engage with you about. Bookstagram is a wonderful place where you can find your people. I’ve found mine—we are from all around the world, grew up differently, may even read different books, but we get each other. We value each other’s opinions and we take the time to talk with each other because we enjoy it. And now my “followers” are my friends, and the result is a more engaging account, and BONUS: more books that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up.
Credibility — this is, in my opinion, the most important of the four C’s. In a world where everything is monetized, in a space where it seems like everyone wants to be the next big “influencer”, I think the majority of us are down right FED UP and turned off from inauthentic content. And we can tell, guys. Saying yes to every book you’re offered to review can be tempting, saying yes to every promotion that comes into your inbox may make you feel like you’ve made it, but if you hype up books or products that you don’t genuinely love, your followers will notice. Even more so, I think the “fake it until you make it” attitude is out of style. You don’t need to sound like an influencer to influence people. In fact, the less commercial you sound, the better. Be you. Do you. People who vibe with you (see compatibility) will stick around and support you. Oh, and don’t forget to support them back!! STAY HUMBLE, MY FRIENDS!
Okay, that’s my advice for now. Take it or leave it, love it or hate it. And at the end of the day, if any of this pays off and helps grow your account, please be kind and pay it forward. Help small accounts. Use your visibility to share books that aren’t getting as much attention. Pass on opportunities that weren’t meant for you to the right people. This is a beautiful community and we are all better when we work together.
with love,
Ashley