I recently found this article
and it is so helpful when thinking of ways to use Pinterest.
Gabriela Taylor is an internationally known
Here are 7 Ways on How To Use Pinterest As A Writer:
1) Research and organize
Researching is an important part of every writer's process. By utilizing the
'Popular' feature found on the Pinterest home page, a writer can instantly
access the latest trends from all genres. You can share them with others, blog
about them or invite people from outside to participate in the creative
process. You will be amazed at how fast the lists of ideas will grow!
Besides the 'Popular' feature, you can also download the 'Pin It' widget
onto your tool bar. Use it to pin photos as you discover them directly to the
board of your choice on Pinterest. This feature is especially useful while you
browse. When you suddenly discover 'the one' from among the horde you can Pin
It instantly simply by clicking the button and your photo is saved. No time is
wasted by toggling between different tabs.
A really useful aspect to organizing images on Pinterest is that it
generates the spontaneous discovery of images. You even find the ones you
didn't realize you were looking for. None of this requires you having to
research specific keywords or define a particular search, something you would
have to do if you were using Google.
Pining at Pinterest brings researching to a whole new dimension while making
the process more effective and enjoyable. An author can create a separate board
for every project he works on. No more wasted time and disk space used for
creating hundreds of individual files. Use Pinterest to plan what you're
writing, how you develop it and how the final product will appear.
2) Inspiration
Every piece of written material starts off with a subtle trigger, which may
have been caused by another author, book, an article read somewhere on the
Internet or simply the love for language and literature. Pin to your board all
the books, quotes or anything else that inspires you. An exclusive board to
showcase this side of a writer could be a great idea as genuine interactions create
a more loyal readership and your readers will feel more connected to you.
3) Organizing contests
Another creative application for Pinterest includes hosting contests. Put a
cool new spin to your contest by starting a 'Pin It' contest. You could for
example invite designers to design a cover for your new book. Create a
collaborative board where they can upload the covers. Once a couple of covers
have been submitted and pinned to the board, invite your readers, friends and
family to 'like' and 'repin' the ones they like the most. The cover with more
'repins' and 'likes' will be the winner and the designer that created it could
be rewarded.
4) Collaboration
Other ideas writers can employ on Pinterest include collaborating with other
writers or your readers. Pinterest is the perfect place to organize writing
teams and to pitch ideas smoothly and seamlessly. Access could be given to each
other's boards or one single board could be utilized by all. In this way, your
book is easily and immediately accessible to editors too.
Send a free copy of your new book to your fellow writers or readers that
agree to leave you feedback underneath the book cover.
This applies mostly to novels. Create two pins and in the comments box you
can post a novel ending for each one. Ask your fellow writers or readers to
vote on the story ending they prefer the most.
5) Promoting and selling
Promoting one's book is a huge part of being successful as a writer.
Pinterest is a great way for writers to give their publications a ton of exposure.
You can compile photos establishing each aspect of your book. Main characters,
future characters, locations, book covers, story inspiration and more can all
be organized using interesting images, which are sorted for you on an online
corkboard. These remain at your disposal at anytime from anywhere.
Create pin videos of yourself talking about the story of the book or pin
quotes directly from the book. You can even pin to your boards Amazon reviews
by using a tool called
PinAQuote. This
gives you the ability to create relationships with the people connecting to
your particular brand.
By linking interested viewers of your Pinterest project to online retailers
such as Amazon, ongoing sales can be realized. And as each pin comes with a
Facebook and Twitter share button, your title can go viral in no time. Coupons
and discount codes could also pinned to your board. Printable versions could be
made available for customers to redeem with the brick and mortar retailers, boosting
offline sales as well.
6) Keeping your readers updated
An author can use a Pinterest profile to generate a loyal fan base that
continues to grow. Boards dedicated to your past, present and upcoming writing
projects can make a nice portfolio. This will entice your readers to follow
your progress during the work process, allowing them emotionally to connect to
your story or project. Creating your boards and allowing your readers to
participate in the process generates a loyal following like no other process
available anywhere else.
Storyboards pinned on Pinterest greatly enhance a project. Create boards for
specific characters. Different boards could also be dedicated to the setting of
your story. A historically based novel would automatically gain credence from
images based on actual events tied to actual places. Thus the reader is allowed
a deeper more interactive experience, which can be instantaneously shared with
others through their Pinterest profiles. Travel writers could pin photos of all
the locations mentioned in their project.
7) Driving traffic to your blog
More and more boards are seen every day displaying titles such as 'My
Favorite Books', 'Books to Read' and many others. The pin-board style of
Pinterest's photo sharing site is a perfect medium to gain leads and referrals,
to generate interest and promote the sales of any book. People who share an
interest in a particular book or author begin displaying images on their boards
and instantly they are shared with their friends. These friends begin to share
it with their friends and so forth. By simply using the Pin It button,
information is multiplied by many thousands of users. The results become
exponential and it's like having an entire team of staff working on your
behalf.
The 'Pin It' widget on your site, next to a book's cover makes it
exceptionally easy for anyone to place the image of that book into their own
Pinterest profiles. Because a link is connected to the image, it will lead back
to your website generating large amounts of interest in the book. Pinned
trailers and videos can be linked back to your site as well.
Do not forget to add a keyword rich description for each image on your site
or board. You have 500 characters to do it. In the description include your
site url as this is a 'dofollow' link. And the more pins and repins you get,
the more votes you'll get for your site.
To track your efforts on Pinterest, there is a great resource called
Pinreach. PinReach is a fresh new start-up
that focuses on providing insight and analytics for your Pinterest campaigns.
All the tips above highlight Pinterest as a highly effective platform for
giving people and, more importantly, writers the leverage to gain the upper
hand for themselves and their brands and products. It is easy to see how the
Pinterest community continues to grow and evolve. It is amazing to see how
especially effective the entire process can be for you as a writer. Pinterest
is growing, and growing fast, and the time is right for you as someone who
wants to distribute their creative work to use Pinterest to drive interest and
ultimately sales of your products.
So tell me, do you use Pinterest? Just for fun or have you found ways to use it
in your writing career?
Great tips. I kind of half-heartedly use Pinterest at the current moment. I am afraid it will be one more time suck!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is great, Sharon. I bookmarked it. My Pinterest is already totally devoted to books, but if I ever get published...I can see how these ideas and pointers could really help.
ReplyDeleteThis all sounds like great advice! but honestly I don't think I can handle another social media site :) The idea of trying to learn and keep up with yet another intimidates me!
ReplyDeleteThanks y'all, for your comments. I agree with the time suck thing, but I have to say, Pinterest is just so much fun. I feel that way about Twitter...I just can't get into like I should. I tried to reply individually, but for some reason can't...sorry! Visit anytime.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas for how to use Pinterest. Thanks for commenting on my blog. I'm a new follower!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article. Thanks for sharing and thanks for visiting my blog! Marty
ReplyDeletehttp://www.martysmusings.net