I’ve been on Instagram for over a year now, and one of the most creative and welcoming communities here is bookstagram, AKA those lovely souls who post largely about books and reading. It’s an amazing community that loves to support each other, whether you’re a new or old account.
I see new accounts pop up on bookstagram all the time, and lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about tips and tricks I have to be a successful bookstagrammer. I decided to put together a blog post all about how to run a successful bookstagram!
Photos
Bookstagram is all about the photos! Everything on Instagram is visual, and all visuals are supplemented with captions and comments. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the visuals supplement your caption. People are way more likely to look at your caption if you have an attention-grabbing photo.
DO take original photos. DO NOT take pictures off Pinterest. That’s called stealing. Even if you credit an account, it’s not really appropriate. People want creative, new visuals -- not recycled ones. Get creative and take your own pics.
DO maximize your photo quality. DO NOT think you need a high quality camera. This might seem incongruous, but nowadays your phone can take photos of high enough quality without you breaking the bank for a fancy camera. I use my Google Pixel for all my photos, and the quality is pretty good. Make sure you know the basics of getting the best pics out of your phone and you’ll be fine.
DO be careful about lighting. DO NOT take your pictures in dark spaces with only artificial lights. Even if it seems well-lit from where you’re standing, pics tend to come out grainy or off-color when taken in dark spaces with artificial lamps. The best lighting is natural light. Many bookstagrammers take their photos by windows or well-lit places like a porch. All my favorite photos are taken outside. Move around your locations until you figure out the best spot to take your photos.
DO use filters. DO NOT go overboard. There are so many different filtering apps nowadays. A popular one is VSCO. I, personally, just use Instagram’s own filters and play around with brightness, contrast, shadows, etc. Choose a look you like, but don’t go too crazy. Over-edited photos can come across as corny.
DO make your setup visually interesting and different. DO NOT think you need a lot of props. Also DO NOT think you need the same exact setup and props every single time. That’s boring. People want new and creative photos, so try different setups. Do a bookstack one day, do a flatlay another day. It makes it more fun for you as well! Props are always a plus, but as I mentioned, don’t think you need to go out and buy a whole bunch of cool props in order to have a better bookstagram. All you truly need for bookstagram is….books.
Theme
Now you have photos! What about themes? Most bookstagrams have themes, but they aren’t necessarily required. However, you do want to have some type of ‘brand’ to make your photos recognizable. There are many bookstagrammers who pop up on my feed and I can tell who posted before I even look at the handle. That’s a good thing, and it means they have a ‘brand’ or ‘theme.’
Themes are helpful to give you a cohesive feed as well. This is important, because when people decide if they want to follow you, many times they will visit your feed first. If it is clear that you have an interesting and cohesive feed, they are more likely to follow. People want to know they are going to like having your pics on their feeds.
Some things that help theme and establish brand: similar filters on your pics, recurring props, particular colors or backgrounds. Some people like to focus more on their feed and create visually interesting feeds through posting photos that go together or alternate. Play around with it! No one starts out with a good theme. It’s something you have to discover based on what kind of photos you enjoy taking and the way you want your feed to look! Also, remember that themes can be changed. You’re not stuck with one forever!
Profile
The next thing people will check out is your profile. Make sure your bio is set up to describe you! This will give others a quick snapshot of who you are what you are about. Include a profile photo that will help people easily identify you. I recommend a good ol' selfie, but if you are uncomfortable posting your face you can create a logo or use one of your photos. Make sure it is recognizable and unique -- it's literally the face of your booksta brand!
Instagram also lets you include one link in your bio. If you have a shop, website, or another social media site you want people to connect to, make sure to include the link! Can't choose what to link? Fear not, Linktree is a helpful site that allows you to create a link to ... more links. It's easy to use and customizable. I use it on my account!
Captions
Here is where I see a lot of newer bookstagrammers go wrong. The captions are not the primary focus of bookstagram, but this is how you’re going to best engage your audience. If people like your photos, many times they will comment. This is what leads to community.
DO post longer captions. DO NOT post captions that are too long. On personal IGs, I see a lot of people with a sentence or two as their caption. That’s okay. This is not the norm with bookstagram. Most people will post longer captions. However, don’t make them too lengthy or people will skip over them. Mine tend to be around 250 words, including hashtags.
DO utilize white space. DO NOT post a wall of text. This is a huge pet peeve that will turn people right off reading your post. Use white space! It’s very difficult to format posts on IG. You can’t just ‘enter’ and start a new paragraph. Use emojis or symbols to split up your paragraphs. This can also add interest to your post and make people more likely to read. If you use consistent emojis, congrats -- you have a brand.
DO ask a question or include a call to action. DO NOT get angry if people don’t answer it. There’s only so many times people can comment ‘lovely picture!’ on various IG posts before they give up. Give them an out -- ask them a question. Engage them and they’re more likely to interact with your post. This not only boosts your post in your followers’ feeds, but it makes you more likely to pop up in that person’s feed again. IG wants to see you have an engaged audience. They take comments as signs that you have higher quality content so it will help grow your platform. However, sometimes I see people get discouraged about their questions. It’s not that deep if someone comments and doesn’t answer your question. It’s just there to engage people. If they find other ways to be engaged without it -- appreciate that!
DO make your question easy to find. DO NOT bury it in your post. I’m going to be honest, the longer your caption is, the less likely people are going to read the whole thing. Some people will scan for your question. Make it easy to find. A lot of people will post QOTD (question of the day) before their question to help it stand out.
Stories
Stories are one of my favorite features of Instagram lately. This is a space where you can showcase a lot more of your personality and daily life. You don’t need to curate cute pics or captions -- it’s only a temporary snapshot of your day. Honestly, just have fun and post whatever you want in your stories. I definitely recommend utilizing this feature so people get to know you better! Don’t ignore stories completely.
Challenges and Tags
In March, I starting hosting the #litwrit challenges along with some other bookstagrammers, and this has been one of the best experiences on bookstagram so far. For new grammers, I recommend getting involved in some challenges! Accounts like @bookstagramchallenges post a lot of challenges that you can partake in. The challenges are usually weekly or monthly prompts that you can answer in each of your posts. You can either take a photo that correlates with the prompt or just answer it in your caption! Make sure you use the challenge’s hashtag so others can find your post. People who participate in these challenges often like to connect with one another, so this an awesome way to grow your bookstagram.
Tags in general help your bookstagram a lot. Search around for hashtags that relate to your photo and post. I recommend hashtags that have a medium-sized following -- you’re more likely to connect with people and be seen that way! For example, #reader is a HUGE tag and mostly large accounts will pop up in that feed. It may not help you. However, #fantasybooks has a smaller following and is more likely to get you noticed. Play around with tags and look at which ones your favorite accounts use!
Another tip about tags: don’t use too many, and don’t use too little. I don’t know what the perfect balance is, but I do know that too many tags can flag your post as spam. Be careful, and use just a couple of carefully selected tags. Here is a good post about shadowbanning from my friend Jenabrownwrites.
Followers
It seems that many people on Instagram start to measure their progress through follower counts. It’s nice to have a lot of followers, but what you should really look for is engagement. Bookstagram is an awesome place to connect with people and talk about books. You’ll get to know other accounts and they’ll get to know you. It’s a fun community, but it’s most importantly that-- a community. Don’t focus on getting a higher and higher amount of followers. Focus on meeting people and making connections.
With that said, here’s some booksta pet peeves that will hurt your connections:
Following accounts and unfollowing them later if they don’t follow you back. Don’t follow accounts just for a followback. That’s rude.
Asking for a follow on someone’s post or in their DMs. That’s just weird.
Don’t get so salty if someone unfollows you. It could have happened for a number of reasons, but don’t take it personally. They’re a stranger with their own reasons. Leave them alone. I’ve had people message me to tell me to re-follow them. It really puts a sour taste in my mouth. Plus, people on bookstagram talk and you don’t want to become that account.
Buying followers -- DON’T DO THAT. It’s so fake and will only hurt your account.
One last note…
At the end of the day, this is your account. Run it how you want to. Make it your own, find your brand and have fun with it! Bookstagram is an awesome place to make connections and eventually market yourself. I have met so many amazing people and created real friendships through this platform. I wish you the best of luck! Happy 'gramming.
Peace out,
Grace K.
Great tips! Thank you!
Great advice! It took me way too long to learn the importance of natural light!!