Nifty Ways Authors Can Use Pinterest

No matter how much you try to shy away from using social media, it is there and the urging comes to "have to" use it, even as an author. You may ask how can Pinterest be useful for authors and writers? I'm going to share with you some nifty ways authors can use Pinterest to build their brand, and grow their network to turn them from followers to paid readers.

Your Brand's Eye
Pinterest can be used to get your brand before the eyes of Pinterest users. Since this social media platform is 90% visual, your logo and brand message will be right at home with this platform. It gives you yet another way to get people to put eyes on who you are, why you do what you do, and how you do it.

Why & How You Should Use It
Pinterest can used to do the following things for you as an author or literary artist:
• It is a great promotional tool for book excerpts or chapter reveals
• It is a good tool to draw followers to your blog
• It is helpful to showcase testimonials and book reviews
• It gives a personal touch; you can use it for "behind the scenes" or "what's next" showcasing about your book or upcoming book
• Use it to share resources or to connect with groups, readers, and building your readership

How to Set it Up Right
Making sure your brand identity is being portrayed professionally and perfectly, here are a few tips on how to set it up right.
• Make sure you name your page by your brand and use a professional photo. Don't use "themes" or any of your literary work graphics. Your logo or a picture of you works well.
• Take advantage of your About section. Include your website, other social media links, identification titles (i.e. author, loves to read books about dogs, but writes sci-fi, etc.) as well as hashtags to identify keywords associated with your page, brand and website.
• Create organized boards.  Your boards should be based on your interests as well as your readers' interests. Conduct searches on your target audience to see what they're pinning to their boards. Each pin should be categorized to a board that is about that particular subject. You can use these pins to draw interest to resources, book tags, or blogs. You should also create a board with your email's opt-in graphic to link it to your subscription page on your site to collect emails!
• Use the Pin It buttons. These help bookmark certain pins easily for followers to find you. This is sort of like a reference library, so don't be afraid to use them!

Social media doesn't have to be scary, nor do the benefits have to pass you by. As an author or literary artist, you want to use as many available platforms to showcase your work as possible. Not only do you want to let the world see how great of a writer you are, but you want to capitalize on expanding your world of new characters for your books as well as revenue.

If this blog post was helpful, and you would like some help in setting up your Pinterest account, shoot me a message here for your FREE 30-minute consultation.