How to Up your Bookstagram Game
Ok, let’s talk bookstagram! If you have no clue what the word bookstagram means, here ya go: it’s books on Instagram! Simple right?? The bookish community on Insta is one of the best online communities!! If you are looking for some book recs, just check the hashtag #bookstagram and you will be floored by the number of posts flooding in!
Alright, so you are probably here to learn some tips on getting your booksta lookin’ fresh & here are some that have helped me immensely!
Photo Editing
I will admit, I am the worst at editing photos for Instagram. My secret: the Lightroom app and presets. Presets are CLUTCH! If you struggle to get your pics to have a similar aesthetic or they just aren’t looking how you want even by attempting to edit, I would highly recommend outsourcing this. I bought a preset pack on Etsy for $5 and it came with 8 different preset options. WHAT! I use it on EVERY photo & with one click, it's edited! So worth it. The Lightroom app is FREE as well, so grab that. Find a Lightroom preset you like. Follow the install instructions. And BAM, super cute pics.
Here is the shop I got my presets from:
Batch Content Creation
If you have read anything on content creation, batching comes up a lot. Batch content creation is taking a bunch of photos, editing them, writing captions, etc. all at once so the content is all ready ahead of time. This does take some planning ahead and that doesn’t always work for everyone. I like a hybrid approach. If I’m feeling it, I’ll take a bunch of photos and set up some posts that could be used at any time. This way if I don’t have something to post, I can check my stash of premade posts. If I want to post off the cuff, I can do that as well.
Using an Instagram planning app like Later or Planoly can help to make batch creating easier. You can store your posts and captions in the app until you are ready to use them. Additionally, you could use something like your notes app or Trello to organize captions. The key here is to find what works for you!
Hashtags
Welp, hashtags… I am kinda the worst at this and it's not my favorite thing to research hashtags, who has time for that?? I do like this site that will generate hashtags for you based on a keyword search. I usually put in something like #bookreview or #romancebooks to get some well-targeted tags. This is likely not what social media gurus will recommend but it’s easy and it’s free. Here is the site: https://displaypurposes.com/
Tagging Etiquette
This one is a subject that gets a lot of visibility when done incorrectly and obviously, everyone will have an opinion on when to tag publishers, authors, or friends in posts. Here is my take. If you are critiquing someone’s work (i.e. a book review) think about whether you want to share that with the person you are tagging. Tagging someone says to them “Hey, I would like you to read this” because it will pop up in their notifications. Imagine getting a notification, going to read a review, and it is negative. YIKES! To be honest, this is just not cool. Be considerate when tagging!
Sliding into DMs
Bookstagram is more than just about books, it is a great community, and meeting friends makes it fun. Don’t be afraid to slide into another bookstagrammers DMs to say hi or discuss a book they posted about. We all love to gush so come gush about books with us!!
