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I had some free time the other night. Actually, I probably
didn’t, but I was too worn out to do anything productive, so instead, I signed
up for Pinterest. I sigh just looking at that word.
I’ve heard numerous people talk about how wonderful the site
is and I’ve seen lots of friends’ Pinterest activities through Facebook. I’ve
resisted in the past because I already spend way too much time on social media
and I don’t need to waste any more time.
And most of what I heard people doing on it was
entertainment—even my daughter uses it to find craft ideas. But I started
hearing about authors using it and I was intrigued. Maybe there’s a way to use
it for my brand without it turning into a waste of time.
I polled some author groups on Facebook and I received some
interesting answers. Many authors I like and admire use it as a visual board to
represent different parts of their books. So I decided to play.
I created a board for each of my books and I put the covers
up. Those covers link to my Amazon page, so anyone who clicks will be directed
there. Then I searched and found visual inspirations for my characters—some that
I thought of at the time I was writing them, and some that I thought of as I
was searching through photos the other night. I also found photos of places
that are in my books.
I haven’t made my account public yet. I’m still playing. But
I think it might be worth a try. What do you think?
I did one Pinterest board with photos of the places my hero and heroine visited In Ireland, but I've not managed to do any boards about my other novels yet. I'm not sure how useful it is as a promotion tool, though, and there's no way of knowing how many people actually look at the board.
ReplyDeleteHere's my board, by the way!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pinterest.com/paulam3843/ireland/
I'm a bit torn. I like the idea of people imagining what my characters look like, but people always ask, "What movie star would play him or her?"
ReplyDeleteI didn't put pictures of my characters on mine, just photos of Ireland!
ReplyDeleteI really like your Pinterest board for this. It definitely gives a feel for the setting of your story.
ReplyDeleteThanks. 'Irish Inhertance' lent itself to lots of photos of Ireland. I could probably do another one for 'Her Only Option' with photos of Egypt (when I get around to it!)
ReplyDeleteI'm a social media luddite. I hear on other loops to do what interests you and don't try the rest. I have a Pinterest account, but don't have tome to go there much.
ReplyDeleteAna, social media/networking is essential for authors these days. I started out in 2009, 2 years before my first novel was published, and it's taken a long time (and a lot of time/work!), but I think I've succeeded in getting my name 'out there'. Quite apart from which, I enjoy Facebook and have made a lot of friends, both online, and through meeting them as a result in 'real' life.
DeleteAna, I agree with Paula. Social media is a must.
DeleteI've thought of doing a Pinterest board for my books, but haven't found the time to dig into it to get the job done. Right now I feel like I can barely keep up with my blogs and an occasional peek at Facebook.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll delve further into the Pinterest thing this summer.
Debra, it actually took me very little time, but I'm still playing, which is why it's not publicly accessible yet. Have fun and let me know how it goes.
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