Indie e-Con / / Instagram for Authors
(This post is written in correlation with the Indie e-Conference. Jump over to Kendra’s Blog for more awesome posts!)
With the numerous social media platforms out there, how on earth are we supposed to keep up with them all? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google +, (and I know there are more but those are the ones that come to mind) — how exactly are we supposed to come up with content for all of them on a regular basis?
For myself and many other authors with busy lives, it’s simply unattainable. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t keep up. Yet at the same time, I knew I needed to expand my platform to reach more readers. So where’s the happy medium?
At the council of a friend, I chose one media platform to start with. One that I thought I would enjoy. One that would just take a few moments to make posts on.
I picked INSTAGRAM.
Three reasons why Instagram is perfect for me:
I’m a visual person. I take a lot of pictures in a day. It wasn’t hard for me to me more intentional and post pictures of what I’m already doing.
It’s fast. Take a picture. Make a caption. Come up with a few hashtags (I keep hashtags to a minimum, but I know there is a lot more that can be done with them).
I enjoy it! Pictures are fun. I’m no photographer, and 99% of my Instagram pics are from my phone.
Personally, it’s not difficult to come up with content for Instagram. I try to do 4-ish posts a week. If it’s more than that, great! If it’s less…well, life happens. It’s not a big deal.
But what can writers post on Instagram?
Anything. At. All. Instagram is one of those things that can be personalized or professionalized. Some authors I’ve seen post more professional-type pictures, with the personal bit coming in only every now and again. Other’s I’ve seen are the opposite–mostly personal with professionalism visiting.
The personal route is what works best for me. I include pictures of things I do with my siblings, road trips, school stuff–generally random stuff. Then there are the bookish posts, where I post about what I’m reading, what releases I’m looking forward to, etc. And then, very occasionally, promotional posts for my own books. *cringe*
From a writer standpoint, there are so many options. If your idea tank runs dry, try some of these ideas:
Your favorite book
Your favorite cover
Your writing space
A coffee/tea mug you love
Your window view as you write
Your bookshelf
Your favorite writing resources
Selfies while writing/editing/plotting
Memes
Prompts
Your furry writing buddy (dogs, cats, hamsters, raccoons… ;-) )
Screenshots of your writing music playlist
Instagram is a versatile, fun, easy, and fast. It’s ideal for authors with little time who want to actively connect with followers. It’s perfect for scatterbrains (*points to self*) who more often than not sometimes forget what day it is and when they last posted anything on any social platform.
Most of all, Instagram is an awesome method for connecting with followers in a visual, picture oriented way.
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What is your favorite social media platform?
Have you tried Instagram?
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