6 Ways Writers Can Promote Their Work On Instagram

Published on 1st of June 2019

Nobody can get away with not using social media to promote their business, brand, or work anymore. Instagram has one billion active users, so it’s smart if you take advantage of the reach you can have on there. But, the question is—how do writers (you) use Instagram to promote their work? Let’s talk about that right now!

Content around your work

Later in this article, we’re going to talk about why it’s crucial that you don’t solely post content related to your work, but first, we’ll talk about what type of content to upload that does include your work.

1. Quotes or excerpts

Quotes are incredibly popular on Instagram. If you want to tease a new project, you’re working on or promote something you’ve already released, take a line from your poem or an inspiring or witty sentence from a paragraph of your book or blog post, and turn it into a picture with a quote.

2. Sneak peeks

If you have your book cover done, and you wouldn’t mind revealing it, take a picture of it and share it on Instagram. Your most dedicated fans will lose their minds over it. You could also open up a blank page, write “Chapter 10,” and capture a quick shot. You don’t even have to reveal your work. You can take a photo of your workspace, laptop, or the tea you’re having before you write.

3. Aesthetic pictures of your work

Find a cute backdrop to lay your book on. Get someone to take a picture of you while you read. Take a picture of your laptop in the coffee shop, right beside a cup of coffee. You can get creative and make your photographs look gorgeous and clean. And just a reminder: most people judge and decide if they’ll follow you or not based on how your main feed (profile page) looks like as a whole.

Hashtags

Most popular book-related hashtags

There are millions of hashtags on Instagram, and books have their own, too.

Here’s a list of the top 30 book-related hashtags:

#book #books #bookstagram #bookworm #booklover #bookish #booknerd #bookaddict #bookme #bookshelf #bookaholic #booklove #BookNow #bookphotography #booking #bookstagrammer #bookporn #booklovers #bookstore #booksofinstagram #bookblogger #bookstagramfeature #booknerdigans #bookquotes #bookcover #bookclub #bookishfeatures #Bookmark #bookshop #bookreview

Here’s a list of the top 30 writing-related hashtags:

#write #writersofinstagram #write #writersofig #writers #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofindia #writersnetwork #writersblock #writeaway #writetotravel #writercommunity #writersoninstagram #writerlife #writerscorner #writerofinstagram #writersuniverse #writersofmirakee #writersofinsta #writes #writerofig #writerssociety #writeitdown #writersociety #writeup #writerscommunityofinstagram #writerswrite #writersclub #writeyouonmyheart

Vary these with less popular hashtags—ones that have 90,000 to 500,000 posts in them.

Create a hashtag

When businesses create hashtags for curating content, giveaways, sales, or promotions, it’s called a branded hashtag. Branded hashtags are used to build a community amongst your followers. It’s a place for them to connect, and we all know no one connects better than people with a shared passion.

Come up with a hashtag around your poems, books, or blog. If you have an activity or exercise that you and your followers can do “together,” you could create a hashtag for that, too. You’re creative–use it!

Don’t only promote your work

While brands and businesses use social media to promote their businesses, content, and other things, it’s not the only thing they’re supposed to share because people aren’t just interested in business.

If you’re a blogger, every post you upload can’t be your new blog post. If you’re an author or a poet, you can’t only upload your writings. You need to mix this content with a behind-the-scenes type of content. This includes, but is not limited to, pictures of you while you write, books you’re reading, photos of your pets, space, your family members, vacations, or pretty places you’re visiting. Share content about your life. Your readers and followers adore your writing, but they want to get to know you, too.

If this sounds counterintuitive, think of it this way: The less sales-y you look, the more followers you gain. The more followers you earn, the more eyes you have on the content you do upload for promotion purposes. It’s a win-win situation for you and your followers.

Bookbub has an incredible article on the type of content you can upload on Instagram, so you can read that here once you’ve gone through this list!

Engage with people

Social media is all about socializing, so this is a step you cannot skip. When someone takes the time to comment on your picture, send you a direct message, or reply to your stories, it’s best if you respond. When you don’t, you look rude. It’s as if someone said hello to in real life, and you just stared at them without replying.

The only comments you don’t need to respond to are the ones that are only emojis and spam (i.e., when someone tries to get you to their profile page, get a follow, etc.). However, if there are real words with meaning, please take a second to answer. It’s the least you can do for someone who takes time out of their day to do so.

Post on your story

You don’t want to focus on your main feed only. Take advantage of Instagram stories. What’s so great about Instagram stories is that you don't have to plan them, and they can be imperfect and random. Stories are the place for behind-the-scenes. You could record your view with the fifteen-second window available, take a quick picture without having to edit it and add a filter, or write text to give your followers a quick message. They’re fun, and you can add GIFs, stickers, or draw on them.

You can also interact with your followers on your Instagram story. With stickers, you can ask your followers to ask you questions, host a poll, upload a countdown, and more. To learn more about Instagram stickers, check out these articles:

Giveaways

Giveaways are one of the best ways to gain new followers and eyes on your work and Instagram. Talking about this would take the entire article, so you can check out this one for details on how they work!

My final tip to you is to post often! Don’t shy away from uploading once a day—it’s highly encouraged—and posting on your story at least twice a day.