An Authors “How To” Guide to Building An Online Presence :: Pinterest (part 1)
Photo: mkhmarketing
Welcome to week 7 of my ‘How To’ blog series.
This week, I’m going to talk a bit about a site that, to me, is the most fun an author can have and still connect with readers.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pinterest by now, if not, where have you been? Pinterest is a great tool for authors that many haven’t taken the time to use. I’m going to explain how to use it, why, and show you ways to make the most out of your page.
For those of you living under an internet rock and haven’t heard of Pinterest yet, this site is basically a cork board of things you want to remember. We all have those special places around the house we ‘pin’ or jot down things we don’t want to forget. Well, Pinterest is exactly like that, the only difference being, the things we pin are found on the web.
I’ve been using Pinterest since the site opened and it didn’t dawn on my at first “how” the site could benefit me as a writer. I pinned mostly recipes and crafty things I think I’ll actually have time to do (but won’t) and on a whim, I made a board for a book I was writing. The only reason I did, was because I found a photo of a coat my heroine was given in the story and instead of making a folder and saving the link as I usually do, I ‘pinned’ it to Pinterest instead. Once the idea struck, I started pinning those links to my ‘story board.’
What started out as a way for me to ‘visually’ see my story, turned into a way to let my readers see the inspirational photos that were shaping my story. They could finally see what I was seeing. The things they read about in the book were in living color on my pinterest board and once the book was complete, I ‘pinned’ the book page on my website to the board. This is where you, as an author, can gain readers from nothing more than a small picture.
The concept of Pinterest is ‘sharing’ the things you find across the web. You share those things with other ‘pinners’ who use pinterest. Every ‘pin’ you place on your board links back to the original post and if those photos you’re pinning come from your own website, then all those new readers will be directed back to you.
I have boards for stories I’m writing, for book series and for future books. I pin my blog posts that I think may be of interest to readers, like this “How To Series” or the research blog posts on the Sweethearts of the West Blog. Every ‘pin’ directs back to the original post so you’re not only filling your board with pretty pictures, you’re linking to interesting content that others may want to see.
If you take a look at “my Pinterest” page, you’ll see a variety of things there. I have 92 boards ranging from my books to sewing and sweet treats that will go straight to my butt. The more pins you have, the more people will see you, and the likelihood they’ll find your books by doing nothing more than browsing. Like most other sites you can have followers who will be able to see the things you post and you’ll be able to see the things they pin as well.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, head on over and get it set up. Just follow all the prompts and fill in all the information it asks for.
Now, once you have all that done, you can start creating your boards. Just click on the “Create A Board” box there on the left.
Then fill out all the board information. Name your board, fill out the description if you want, pick a category, and select if you want the board to be private or public. (I do private boards for furture books that are still in the planning stages. No one can see a private board except me, unless I invite someone else to ‘pin’ on the board as well.)
Once you have all that done, click “Create Board” and you’ll be taken to your newly created board. This is where all your new pins will go.
I’m sure you’ve seen the ‘pin it’ buttons all over the internet. Well now all you have to do is click those pin it buttons and select which ‘board’ you want it to show up on and the photo/page will be saved on Pinterest until you remove it. All that research you need to save is at your fingertips and available for others to find as well.
But finding things on ‘other’ sites that aren’t your own doesn’t really benefit you much as an author so I’m going to walk you through the process of making your own “custom pin it” buttons to place on your website pages. This does take a bit of time if you have a large website but I promise you, it is time well spent!
The first thing you want to do it head over to your website and pull up the page you want readers to pin. Then, open a new window tab and pull up the Pinterest Widget Builder. This is where we’ll create your custom Pin It buttons for your website.
This page will allow you to make a few different types of buttons so be sure to save it for later use as next week I’ll show you how to put your board directly onto your website pages using one of the other widgets listed. For this tutorial, we’ll just be concentrating on the first one, the “Pin It Button.”
The first thing you want to do is pick a style of button….the Button Type. One Image, Any Image or Image Hover. Most sites use the One Image type.
The Appearance of your button will be your next option. Select the size, shape, color and language of your button. Then decide if you want a the ‘pin count’ (how many people have pinned your image) on the widget and where to place it.
Once you have that finished, you need the URL of the page you want others to pin and the URL of the image. The description will be seen underneath your photo so be sure you have exactly what you want to say there. It can be the book blurb or just a simple explanation of what you’re seeing.
Once you have that done, hit the Build It button and your new Pin It Button will appear at the bottom of the page.
Copy and paste the html code it provides onto your website page where you want the button to be and your pin it button will automatically appear once you save the code to your page. All you’ll see is the small ‘red’ Pin It button and the ‘number’ of pins it has if you selected that feature to show up. When someone clicks that pin it button, a new page will pop up showing every image you have on that page.
As you can see, the ‘new custom pin’ we made is there in the top left corner. Pinners will select the photo, then which board they want it to appear on and your webpage will be saved to their pinterest board. Anytime someone clicks on the pin, they’ll be directed to your website to see the entire page.
Most authors I’ve talked to avoid Pinterest for one reason…its a time-suck. I’ll admit that statement is true – to a certain extent, but…avoiding the site completely is where authors fail. They don’t use the site to their advantage.
I spent an entire weekend creating pins and placing them on my website for the sole purpose of having others – potential new readers – find my books and my website. As authors, getting new readers to our website is crucial and this is one easy way to do that. Every time you create a new page on your website, create that pin it button and place it there as well. All it’ll cost you is a little bit of time but trust me, its time well spent. I know this from looking at those pages I’ve pinned and seeing how many people have re-pinned those same things. The more readers (strangers who have never heard of me) know about my books, the better off I’ll be because you can’t sell books without readers to buy them and you can’t find readers unless you go out and look for them. Why not find them in a way that’s fun for everyone? But do yourself a favor and don’t browse Pinterest until your work is done. The site is so interesting you can get lost for hours! Trust me…been there and done that. I only go there now in the evenings when I have nothing else to do for that very reason. Or when I need something quick and easy for supper. *grin*
Next week I’ll be going over how to embed your Pinterest boards directly onto your website pages so don’t forget to come back for that. (You can see what I mean on this book page – scroll to the bottom of the page to see my board)
If you want to make sure you don’t miss anything in the coming weeks, sign up for email notifications and receive each post in your email inbox. I still have tutorials on Scrivener (writing software), Google Docs, Google Calendars (and how to add those to your website), Production Schedules and creating Weekly/Daily ‘To Do’ List yet to cover, so get your name on the list so you don’t miss out.
And as always, if you found this post useful and informative, be sure to share it with your friends!
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About Lily Graison
Lily Graison lives in the foothills of North Carolina with her husband, two high-strung Yorkies, more cats than she can count. First published in 2005, she is the author of over a dozen published books in the Western, Contemporary and Paranormal Romance genres.
When not writing, Lily can be found at her sewing machine creating 1800’s period clothing or participating in civil war reenactments and area living history events. When not portraying a southern belle, you can find her at a nearby store feeding her obsession for all things resembling office supplies.
To see the dresses Lily has created, visit her Pinterest page.
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