How to Use Pinterest to Build an Audience (For Writers)

Updated 6/2/21

Pinterest was conceived as a kind of virtual bulletin board - a place to store all those neat images you run across when you are looking for something else on the net.

Pinterest is also a great tool for storing blog posts, websites, and all those useful articles you read online and then can never find again.

Surprisingly, it's only relatively recently that people have begun to use Pinterest as a marketing tool. (When I started using Pinterest, there were no ads!)

To be honest, while Pinterest has great potential, it's not as easy to use as Facebook or Twitter. As a form of social media, it's a little awkward, and there is much less likelihood of something going "viral." However, Pinterest has certain advantages shared by no other form of social media.

• It's easier to find information on a page of images than on a timeline
• Pins can be arranged thematically. This makes it easier to group specific types of information
• Images are memorable. An image that is interesting is more likely to catch a reader's attention than text
• Pinterest is highly addictive. Users re-pin images like mad, and they tend to stay on Pinterest longer, as well as visit it more frequently

How to use Pinterest

1. Set up your profile. Your full profile will appear on your home page, so design it carefully. First, upload an attractive, colorful image. (Square is best, as it will end up as a circle.) You can provide your location, your website (a must!), and a short bio. The bio is very important. Make sure you mention your publications, genre, and anything else potential readers might be interested in. For contact information include your Twitter handle.

2. Get followers. Like any other form of social media, you can get followers on Pinterest. There are several ways to go about this:

• Include a Pinterest follow button on your blog posts
• Add a profile widget to your blog. This also leads visitors to your Pinterest page. But it is more comprehensive than the follow button because it’s bigger and can display up to 30 of your latest pins. (I have gotten significantly more followers from the widget than from the button.)
• Make sure to include your Pinterest link to all your other social accounts
• Follow. Received wisdom is to follow 200 boards, then wait to see who follows you back and drop anyone who doesn't respond. The way you find boards to follow is by typing keywords into the search bar. Follow any boards that share your interests. (There are numerous writing boards. )

3. Use keywords. According to Bibliocrunch, the number one priority for using Pinterest is to have a “search mindset.” This means utilizing keywords in the descriptions of your boards and pins so that people searching for similar pins and boards can discover you. Fortunately, finding keywords is very easy. Type a general search term into the search bar, for example, Romance. The screen will refresh to give you popular categories under Romance. If you click on Books, more sub-categories will appear below the search bar,  — Contemporary, Paranormal, Historical, Worth Reading, and so on. Each time you click on a sub-category, increasingly specific terms will appear. Those are your keywords. Use them to hone your descriptions the same way you honed your search.

You can also broaden your audience by using the Keyword Tool. This allows you to search for the most popular keywords on Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Bing. An added feature of this tool is that it allows you to search by country and language.

4. Set up collaborative boards. Pinterest allows pinners to set up boards that allow many contributors. Some of these boards have hundreds of thousands of followers. (To find collaborative boards, go to Pin Groupie, a site that allows you to search collaborative boards by topic, number of followers, and number of pinners.) Increasing the number of pinners will increase your visibility. You can invite collaborators by email address or name. (Click the Invite button on the upper right to view your options.) You will have to follow one another to collaborate on a board.

If you want to join an established board, some collaborative boards provide contact information in the description. Check Pin Groupie for collaborative boards in your category to see which ones accept new pinners. (You can search for "writers," "writing," "authors" for general boards, or search your genre for more specific ones.)

5. Choose your images wisely. Pinterest is a visual medium. So, spend some time finding a captivating image for your pin. (See 43 Sites Where You Can Get Fabulous Free Photos for some great free sources.) The optimum image size is 600 x 800. It will resize down to 192 x 256, but will be restored to its full size when it is clicked. (If you are using Blogger, set your image size to large.)

Infographics have a great deal of success on Pinterest, as do images that also contain written information. Images that are informative as well as eye-catching will warrant more than a quick glance, and drive more traffic to your blog, story, or article.

Helpful articles:

All About Boards - Basic information about Pinterest boards.

12 Ways to Get More Pinterest Followers

How To Use Pinterest’s Group Boards To Get More Exposure For Your Business

How To Viral Market Pinterest

253 Hashtags for Writers

Updated 1/11/22

If you are on Twitter and aren't using hashtags, you are wasting a great resource.

Hashtags (#) are a way of grouping posts on similar topics. They can be used to track trends and topical news, such as the hilarious #myozobituary posts that abounded after a national Australian newspaper opened their obituary of famed author and neurophysiologist Colleen McCullough with the words: "Plain of face and certainly overweight, she was nevertheless of woman of wit and warmth." (If you can't see anything wrong with this description of the person who wrote The Thorn Birds - and 23 other novels - then I suggest you search twitter for #everydaysexism.)

Hashtags can also be used to search for specific information and topics, which brings me to why you need to employ hashtags that are already in use. If you want to reach a broad audience, you really don't want to make up a hashtag. (I confess to having done that. Apparently, #voodoomedicine is some kind of rock group.)

Utilizing hashtags that already have a following means you have a built-in set of people looking for you. And, with the millions of people tweeting day and night, it is better to have people actually seeking your posts, than to hope that they will somehow find you in the din.

That being said, there are some rules you should follow for using hashtags:

• Don't use more than three hashtags per tweet. 
• Don't #hashtag #several #words in a row in the body of your tweet. 
• Do not simply tweet invitations to read your book over and over again. You're a writer! Tweet something that is fun, interesting, informative, controversial, creative, and above all cool. 
• Before you use a hashtag, search Twitter to make sure it is appropriate for your tweet. 

Here are some useful articles on hashtags for writers:

44 Essential Twitter Hashtags Every Author Should Know

The 12 Best Hashtags for Writers

Want to find out what a specific hashtag means? Go here: https://tagdef.com/

Also see: Pitching Your Book on Twitter Fests for a list of hashtags for twitter pitch fests

__________________________________________

Bloggers

#MondayBlogs Tweet your blog posts on Mondays only. Bloggers will retweet.

Indie Promotion

#IARTG - Indie Author Retweet Group: Simply follow to join, then add #IARTG in any tweet you want us to re-tweet. :) #RT #indie #author #retweet #group @retweet_groups

#IFNRTG - ReTweets for Fantasy Indie Authors via #IFNRTG @IFNRTG and Book Promos via #Books & More! Blog.BerniceFischer.com

#IAN or #IAN1 (Independent Author Networking)

#Indie

#IndieAuthor

#IndiePub (or #IndiePublishing)

#Indiepubchat

#BYNR - Book Your Next Read. "Avid-Reader and keen supporter of Indie-Authors. Here to spread the good word about great Books. Please include the hashtag #BYNR We #followback & #RT." Twitter @BookYrNextRead. Facebook.

#TuesdayBookBlog - blog posts about books and writers.

Writing and Connecting With Other Authors

#140Poem

#1K1H or #1K1HR  (write one thousand words in one hour)
#1LineWednesday - Share the best line from one of your books on Wednesdays

#amediting - posts from people who are editing

#amwriting - posts from people who are writing (optional - add genre, ex. #amwritingya, #amwritingscifi, etc.)
#amquerying - posts from people who are querying agents

#AmRevising - posts from people who are revising

#AuthorLife – writers sharing random stuff
#callforsubmissions - journals and other venues seeking submissions

#CopyWriting – advice about copywriting
#cpmatch – used by writers looking for a critique partner (or beta reader)

#EditGoal

#Editing

#IndieAuthors

#nanowrimo - national novel writing month
#submissions - like #callforsubmissions

#WordCount

#wip - work in progress

#WriteGoodNews

#Writer

#Writers

#WritersBlock

#WriteChat – all sorts of advice and information

#WriteGoal

#WriterWednesday (or #WW or ##WW) – a way to give a shout-out to writers / suggest authors to follow, or to share writing tips, and anything else to do with writers or writing

#Writing

#WriteMotivation

#WriteTip - writing advice

#WritersLife

#WritersRoad

#WritingBlitz

#WritingParty

#WritingPrompt

#WritingSprint

#WritingTip - writing advice

#wordcount

#WroteToday
#writingcommunity
#writerslift

 ____________________

Marketing

Tip: search on "book reviewers" plus your genre to find accounts of book bloggers.

#author - good for self-promotion

#authors - also good for self-promotion

#bookmarketing - posts related to marketing books

#bookworm - for reviews

#editing

#emergingauthors

#fictionfriday

#fridayflash - flash fiction on Friday. Writers write/post flash fiction. Readers comment and RT.

#followfriday or #ff - used on Friday to suggest people to follow to your followers. (Don’t just tweet handles, tell them why they should follow.)

#novels

#novelists

#poem

#poet

#poets
#twitterfiction - where you can tweet your latest story 

____________________

Publishing Industry

#AskAgent

#AskAuthor

#AskEditor

#BookMarketing

#EBooks or #ebook

#ePub

#ePublishing

#GetPublished

#HowTo

#IAN or #IAN1 (Independent Author Networking)

#Indie

#IndieAuthor

#IndiePub (or #IndiePublishing)
#MSWL - manuscript wish list. This is where agents post what they are looking for.

#PromoTip

#Publishing

#Pubtip

#PubWrite

#querytip

#SelfPub

#SelfPublishing

#tenqueries – agents share the reasons why they do or do not request manuscripts

#VSS (very short story)

#WebFic

#WebLit

#WriteTip
#WLCAuthor -The World Literary Café is a promotional website for authors. Similar to the Independent Author Network (#IAN), Indie authors who join these organizations help each other in their promotions.

____________________

Chats (chats can be scheduled or ongoing)

#bookmarketingchat - Join social media expert, Rachel Thompson, every Wednesday at 6PM PST (9PM EST) for book marketing tips. Follow @BkMarketingChat and/or @BadRedheadMedia

#LitChat - LitChat is for book lovers, readers & writers. 1-hour #litchat occurs M & W, 4 pm/EST, established January 2009 by @CarolyBurnsBass. http://litchat.com/

#kidlitchat: Craft & business of writing for young people, board books up through YA. Topic or topics announced at the beginning of the chat. Moderators: @gregpincus, @bonnieadamson

Tuesdays: PST: 6 pm MST: 7 pm CST: 8 pm EST: 9 pm.

#writermoms - Women who write (and have children) can find other like-minded women through this ongoing chat.

#fantasychat - Weekly chats for writers of fantasy. Tuesday 8 - 9PM ET. @marilynmuniz @fantasy_chat

#IBCchat - Indie Author Book Chat. Tuesday 4:30 - 5:30 PM CT. @WritingNoDrama @IndieBookIBC @RachelintheOC @kaitnolan

#kidlitart - Weekly chat for illustrators, pb authors & author/illustrators. Topics announced in advance via @kidlitart. Thursday 9:00 - 10:00 PM ET. @BonnieAdamson @lyonmartin

#StoryDam - Friendly writing community. We chat about all things to do with writing & self publishing Hosted by @MDragonwillow @riverand @mentalmosaic @BookSquirt @plynne_author. @Storydam Thursday, 8:00 - 9:00 PM ET. storydam.com

#indiechat - every Tuesday at 9PM EST

#MemoirChat (every other Wednesday at 8 pm ET)

#PBLitChat (picture books only)

#PoetTues

#journchat

#kidlitchat

#litchat

#scifichat

#scribechat

#storycraft - Sunday 10:00 - 11:00 AM CT. @darcyconroy @story_cra

#writechat

#PoetTues

#ScriptChat
#TVWriterChat - Sunday, 8:30 - 9:30 PM CT

#UFChat - Discussion for urban fantasy writers and readers. More info on #UFChat blog. @inkgypsy  @snowppl.  Saturday, 6:00 - 7:00 PM CT

#wclw - The WordCount Last Wednesday writer chat covers freelancing, blogging and writing basics. As the name implies, it takes place the last Wednesday of every month. @michellerafter Wednesday, 10:00 - 11:00 AM PT michellerafter.com

#WritersMovement - An online community where writers and aspiring authors meet for chat, exchange of knowledge and ideas, and promotion. @authortiffanie @maddwriter Saturday, 5:00 - 6:00 PM CT

#WriterWednesday (or #WW or ##WW)

#yalitchat young adult literature chat

#BBchat  - BookBaby chat

#ZineChat

____________________

Connect By Book Genre

#Biopic

#Book

#Comedy

#Cookbooks

#Cooking

#Crime

#DarkFantasy

#Dystopian

#Erotica

#KidLitChat

#FanFic

#Fiction

#FlashFic

#Food

#Historical

#History

#HistFic

#HistNovel

#Horror

#KidLit

#Literature

#LitFic

#MGLit (Middle Grade Lit)

#MemoirChat

#Mystery

#NonFiction

#Novel

#Paperbacks

#Paranormal

#poetry

#Recipes

#RomanceWriter

#Romance

#Romantic

#RomanticSuspense

#RWA (Romance Writers of America)

#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)

#Science #Fiction

#ScienceFiction

#SciFi

#SciFiChat

#Short

#ShortStories

#Short #Stories

#ShortReads

#ShortStory

#SteamPunk

#Suspense

#TrueStories

#UrbanFantasy

#WomensFiction

#YA

 ____________________

Promotion and Connecting With Readers

#99c - use this if you are selling your book for 99 cents

#99cents - use this if you are selling your book for 99 cents

#Amazon
#AmazonCart - each time your readers include #AmazonCart in a tweet, Amazon will know to add the items with the corresponding Amazon link to your readers’ shopping carts.

#AmazonKindle

#AmazonLikes

#AmazonPrime

#AmReading

#AuthorRT

#BestRead
#bibliophile - If you’re looking for a reader for your books, add this hashtag
#BookBoost

#BookBuzz

#BookBuzzr

#BookGiveaway
#bookmarket

#BookMarketing
#BookPlugs  - 1000s of Authors Offering Tiny Writing Blurbs. It's like wine sampling but with books. Authors add #bookplugs to your promos. Prefer the author's own work.

#BookReview

#Books

#BookWorm

#Borrow

#eBook

#eReaders

#followfriday or #ff - used on a Friday to suggest people to follow to your followers. (Don’t just tweet handles, tell them why.)

#fRead0 (that’s a zero at the end – not a lower case oh)

#Free

#Freebie

#FreeBook

#FreeDownload

#FictionFriday

#FictionFridays

#FridayFlash

#FridayReads or #FridayRead- tell people what you’re reading

#FollowFriday

#FreebieFriday

#FreeReads
#Goodread

#GoodReads
#GooglePlay

#GreatRead

#IndieThursday

#IndieTuesday

#iPad
#iTunes

#KDP

#KDPSelect

#Kindle

#KindleBargain

#KindleBooks

#KindleeBooks

#KindleFire

#KindleTouch

#KindleTweet

#Kobo

#LendingLibrary

#LitChat

#MustRead

#MyWANA (Writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb)

#New

#Nook

#Novel

#Novelines

#Novelists

#Novels

#Paperbacks
#PDF1 - PAID FORWARD – A RTing tag for Books/Authors/Writers/Publishers/Agents This tag was created by Van Heerling and his Pay It Forward Team.

#Poetry

#PoetryMonth

#Pubit

#Read

#Reader If you’re looking for a reader for your books, add this hashtag

#Readers

#Reading

#Reviews

#SampleSunday

#ShortReads

#Smashwords

#Sony

#Special

#StoryFriday

#StoryTelling

#TeaserTuesday or #TeaserTues
#GreatReads
#WhatToRead

#WriteQuote

#WeekendReader

#whattoread