I met Lara Ferrari, the founder of Lemon Friday, when we spoke at the same virtual summit recently. I’m always impressed by other speakers at these events, but Lara stood out. So, of course I asked if she’d like to write a guest post for us here!

Lara provides marketing support for authors who’d rather be writing. As an Instagram specialist, she has personally helped more than 100 authors grow engaged communities of readers online. Lara’s tips, tools, and templates are designed to simplify and streamline your book marketing so you can build book buzz online without sacrificing precious writing time. As gifts are her love language, she would like to give you a free copy of her 10-step Glow Up Your Instagram guide for authors! (I downloaded it as soon as I learned about it and I’m already working with it. Grab your copy!) 

The great Instagram glow up: Are you shining your absolute brightest?

By Lara Ferrari

Glow up /ɡloʊ ʌp/

(Also known as glow-up or glo up or glo-up)

Significant and positive changes made over time, resulting in an eventual version that’s better in every way.

Example sentence: “After finding her purpose, embracing her individuality, and getting seriously strategic about connecting with the right readers, her author Instagram account experienced a remarkable glow up, attracting a wave of new and engaged followers.”

Synonyms: transformation, evolution, elevation, blossoming, maturation

More than a makeover

Don’t confuse a glow up with a makeover.

Unlike a makeover, a glow-up is not about miraculously changing your Instagram account into something (or someone) else. It’s not forced, it is not immediate, and it’s definitely not surface level.

An Instagram glow up is a gentler, more gradual, more genuine approach to improving your social media presence. Because it’s based on embracing and showcasing your unique brand of magic, the result is a transformation that’s not only long-lasting, but has a deep and meaningful impact on you and your readers.

After your glow up, not only will you attract more readers, but more of the right readers will immediately recognize you as their perfect match.

If this resonates with you and your author account, let’s dive into the 10 steps to achieve your Instagram glow up.

How to tell if your account is overdue for a glow up

First, let’s play a quick and easy game.

I’m going to give you a list of 10 statements and if any of them are true about your author account, you’re going to give yourself a point. At the end, we’ll add up your points and find out whether your author Instagram account could benefit from a glow up.

1. Your profile picture is not a clear and close-up shot of your lovely face.
2. Your username is hard to read or not obviously connected to writing.
3. Your “name field” is not being used or does not include words your ideal reader is searching for.
4. Your bio doesn’t make it clear what readers can expect from your account or give them an incentive to stick around.
5. You’re not entirely sure who you’re trying to attract… or what your main goal is.
6. You’re hiding your real self.
7. Your “aesthetic” feels messy, haphazard, non-existent, or just doesn’t match the style of your book.
8. You’re posting captions with zero strategy or end goal.
9. You aren’t using the Instagram “highlights” feature effectively.
10. Your own feed (the home page) doesn’t inspire you.

Now for your results…

If you scored 0 points:

Congratulations! Your Instagram is perfection – don’t you dare change a thing.

If you scored 1–2 points:

Very impressive. You’re basically an Instagram expert.

If you scored 3–10 points:

Welcome to the club! You are perfectly primed for an Instagram Glow Up. Read on.

How to get your Instagram account glowing

Think of your Instagram glow up as steadily turning up the dimmer switch, getting brighter and brighter until eventually you shine a light so bright and distinctive that your ideal readers will be dazzled as they’re drawn to you!

This means standing out for all the right reasons and it’s where those 10 steps I mentioned come in.

No more hiding!

First of all, no more hiding behind profile pictures of books, or usernames and bios that don’t proudly proclaim your purpose as a writer or your true value to your readers. Standing out for the right reasons means creating a space your ideal readers want to hang out in.

In other words…

• Personalize your profile picture with a clear headshot because this creates a sense of familiarity and trust.
• Pick a memorable username that makes it clear you are a writer.
• Craft a bio that appeals directly to your ideal readers and lets them know what they can expect.
• Choose a visual style that fits with the overall “vibe” you want for your account.
• Create “highlights” that showcase your top Stories, neatly organized into collections so it’s easy for your readers to quickly find key info about you and your books.

These five steps are an excellent start to feeling glowy!

via GIPHY

Create deeper connections

But we’re not going to stop there. Remember: a glow up goes beyond appearances and creates a deeper connection.

In other words…

• Get super clear on “who your audience is” and “what your purpose is” so that every post, Story or Reel speaks to the right readers and gets you closer to your goals.
• Embrace your individuality and stop hiding those awkward, secret, quirky parts of you, because what makes you different is also what makes you special.
• Choose clear (and strategic) content themes to save you time, help you create engaging posts, and make sure you’re always getting closer to those goals.
• Re-introduce yourself and remind your followers exactly why they follow you by highlighting the value they get from reading and engaging with your posts.

Find sources of inspiration

And finally, you attract more readers, create better content, and generally get more out of showing up on Instagram when you feel inspired, uplifted, and energized.

In other words…

• Cultivate a constant stream of creativity, passion, and expertise by “training” the Instagram algorithm to only show you content you really want to see by engaging with accounts you love – and unfollowing any you don’t!

Get your (free) step-by-step “glow up” guide

If you’re a visual learner or you just want a more detailed breakdown of these 10 steps to an Instagram glow up, you’re going to love my free “Glow Up Your Instagram” guide. This downloadable booklet has helpful examples, practical templates and step-by-step checklists to help you shine brighter and attract more of the right readers.

Let’s get glowing!

Where will you start your glow up? What do you think needs the most improvement? Tell us in a comment!

I’m intimidated by Instagram Stories.

Whenever I create one on my phone for my personal or Build Book Buzz Instagram account, I spend too much time playing around with options and figuring out which ones might work best.

When the Young People do it, they create something interesting and engaging in just a few minutes. Me? At least 15 minutes. At. Least.

So, with the goal of getting better at this, I went looking for how-to information. I found videos, guides, templates, tools, and author examples.

If they help me, they might help you, right? So here are links to the information I found that was most helpful to me. I hope some of it helps you, too.

How-to articles

If you like to learn by reading step-by-step instructions, you’ll appreciate these articles.

Instagram Stories: What They Are and How to Make One Like a Pro

HubSpot is one of my go-to sites for marketing information, and the company didn’t disappoint with this step-by-step tutorial. It’s written for a business audience, but don’t let that stop you. Authorship is a business, so this is a good fit for you.

Within the article, Hubspot links to Instagram Story templates you can download after completing the opt-in form. I’ve included that information below, in the “tools” section of this article.

How to create an Instagram Story

Mashable’s instructions are geared to personal, rather than business, Instagram accounts, but the information still applies. If you have two Instagram accounts – personal and author – it’s best to practice with your personal account, anyway.

Instagram Stories 101: Our Guide to Stickers, Effects, Key Settings and More

Don’t let the “Making an Insta Story is a lot like Snapchat” subhead in this CNET article scare you off (because, really, are you a big Snapchat user?). There are some good details in this one.

How-to videos

I usually prefer to learn how to do something by reading an article or a book, but in this case, I get more from video. It helps me to see cause and effect in quasi-real time.

How to Make Instagram Stories – Tips & Tricks

This Techboomers video is broken into two parts. One is for novices, the other is for more experienced Story creators. At the start of the video, the instructor tells you where on the timeline you’ll find advanced instructions for adding more bells and whistles to your Stories.

I like that this one shows the process without a distracting human on screen.

How to Easily Create Attractive Instagram Stories

Speaking of distracting humans, that’s what you’ll find on this video from Social Media Examiner, another excellent source of marketing information.

While I found the presenter’s effervescence a bit overwhelming, she does a great job of walking us through this in a way that’s clear and understandable. And I love the time-saving and mistake-preventing tips in her instruction.

Be sure to watch this one if videos help you.

Tools

I love any tool that takes me through a process that’s new or intimidating to me. I found a couple that I think you’ll like as much as I do.

VistaCreate

VistaCreate offers a “point-and-click” design tool. The best news (for me, anyway), is that you can use it on a computer, not just a phone. That’s music to my boomer ears.

Create a free account, then get started. The site walks you through the process step-by-step, starting with selecting a template from its collection. This is the first tool I’m going to use for Build Book Buzz.

Canva’s Instagram Story Creator

If you already use Canva, you know that it starts with a template. In addition to linking to templates, this Canva link gives you an overview of all the options you can use to create Stories there .

I like using Canva, so after I’ve created a few with VistaCreate, I’m going to try Canva, too.

Instagram for Business Kit

I’ve downloaded several free templates for different types of content from Hubspot before, so I wasn’t surprised to see the company offers them for Instagram Stories, too.

It has partnered with Talkwalker (I use its version of Google Alerts) to create an “Instagram for Business Kit” mentioned above. When you download that, the system takes you to another page where you can also download eight Instagram Stories templates and 14 post templates.

Author examples and ideas

How Authors Use Instagram Stories to Connect with Readers

BookBub lists 16 Story content ideas with examples of each. Ideas include sharing sneak peeks of an upcoming book and asking for reader opinions.

I also recommend subscribing to the BookBub Partners Blog (partners = authors). You’ll receive an email every time there’s a new article.

Instagram Stories for Writers

In addition to sharing visual examples, writer Susan Shiney links to the Instagram accounts of several author Instagram accounts that she admires.

100 Instagram Story Ideas for Authors

Self-publishing services provider Shayla Raquel lists 100 ideas broken down into nine categories. Bookmark this link and you’ll never be at a loss for ideas.

My commitment

In order to get better at creating Instagram Stories, I need to create more of them.

So, I’m committing today to creating at least one Story a week for my Build Book Buzz account. I’ll create some from my phone and I’ll use some of the tools listed here, too.

Want to join me? 

If you want to join me, drop a link to your author account in the comments so I can follow you. Tell us what you’ll commit to.

Because many of her friends have influence with people the course is designed to help, I suggested she start by asking those friends to help spread the word. It’s a quick and easy way to begin moving forward.

But piggybacking onto someone else’s platform can – and should – involve far more than asking friends for support. The process is all about cross-promotion and collaboration.

How to leverage someone else’s network

It’s a smart strategy if you want to sell more books or other products, build an email list, or increase your social media follower count.

Here are eight ways to use the power of someone else’s network to reach your book marketing goals.

1. Do an Instagram takeover.

With an Instagram takeover, you literally take over someone’s Instagram account, posting your content instead of theirs. Create Instagram Stories and posts, or go live.

Keep in mind that this needs to be a mutually beneficial opportunity. Your host – perhaps another author in your genre – wants to know that you:

• Have an engaged audience that you’ll bring with you
• Will deliver quality, relevant content
• Will promote the takeover to your network

Keep the momentum going by arranging for your host to take over your account the following week.

2. Propose a newsletter swap.

A newsletter swap is a smart way to leverage someone else’s network while building relationships with others who reach your ideal readers.

With a newsletter swap, you and the influencer agree to promote each other’s books, programs, or products in your email newsletters.

I’ve got the how-to details in “How to do an author newsletter swap.”

3. Be a podcast guest.

Being any kind of guest is a great way to expand your reach, but I consider a podcast interview to be one of the easiest. Just show up and talk about something you know a lot about.

You’ll want to be thoughtful about what you say, of course. I always recommend working to communicate two or three key messages when you’re interviewed. Write them down ahead of time, and find ways to work each in at least once during the conversation.

Be sure to read “Message development: Know what you want to say and how to say it” first.

Support the podcast by promoting your appearance to your network so this is a win-win for all – you reach the podcast’s audience, but you also introduce your connections to the podcaster and their show.

4. Guest blog.

If you been hanging around here with me for a while, you know I’m a fan of guest blogging for several reasons.

When you write an article for someone else’s site, you’re providing an opportunity for your ideal readers to sample your writing.

via GIPHY

In addition, your host will most likely include a link to your book on Amazon or another retail site as part of your short guest blogger bio. (Learn the other reasons I love guest blogging in “4 reasons to embrace guest blogging.”)

Be careful to deliver a quality article that you’ve edited and carefully proofread. This isn’t an opportunity to “phone it in.” This should be a showpiece, not something you did so you could cross it off a list.

Get tips for being the best guest blogger ever in my free Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet.

5. Speak at a virtual or in-person summit.

via GIPHY

I do this once or twice a year, and I’m increasingly particular about the events I speak at so that I can maximize my time and reach.

I like to speak at events featuring other presenters who I’m fairly confident will promote the event to their networks.

When all speakers share summit news with their followers, everyone benefits. When they don’t, people in their networks aren’t exposed to helpful presentations and speakers, and other presenters don’t expand their reach and influence.

Speaking at a summit and offering free downloadable tips to attendees is one of the best ways I have for building my email list.

I usually create a new advice-packed “lead magnet” related to my presentation topic and require people to provide their email address to download it. They get bonus how-to information and my free, weekly, book marketing newsletter, and I can help more authors with articles like this one.

(Get fiction lead magnet ideas here and nonfiction ideas here.)

6. Bring well-connected people to your audience.

Do you have a blog or a podcast? Do you love using Facebook or Instagram Live? Invite influencers and others who share your audience to be your guest.

This helps you create quality content your followers will appreciate while your guest brings their audience to you, even while they’re connecting with yours.

Expand the impact by providing your guests with event text and images they can use to promote their guest appearances both before and after the events.

7. Get publicity.

Publicity – news media exposure – is the OG of audience leveraging.

Pre-social media, using publicity strategies to reach news outlets’ readers, viewers, and listeners was one of the only ways you could piggyback onto another’s platform.

Why should you work to reach audiences served by newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, and content sites? Publicity will help you:

• Get discovered
• Be seen as an authority and expert
• Sell more books
• Appeal to libraries and bookstores
• Expand your platform

Because I’m a national award-winning former publicist, I’ve written about publicity quite a bit on this site. Scroll through the articles here, and be sure to register for my author publicity course, “Get Quoted: A Journalist’s Strategies for Using HARO to Snag Book Publicity.”

8. Propose a joint venture.

The dictionary defines a joint venture as “a commercial enterprise undertaken jointly by two or more parties which otherwise retain their distinct identities.”

For us, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement where you partner equally with someone else to achieve a common goal.

Let’s go back to my friend’s situation. If her course is designed for people like you – my audience – she could propose that I host a free training with her that teaches something helpful and previews the course.

We agree that in exchange for access to my audience, we will split the income she earns from course registrations generated by our joint event. She expands her reach, I provide you with useful free training, and we’ve both earned something in the process.

That’s a solid joint venture.

Which of these options works for you?

You’re better suited to some of these than others, right? If you don’t have a blog or podcast, you won’t be inviting people to write for you and you won’t be interviewing them on air.

But if you’re killing it on Instagram, a takeover there might become your new best tactic. Love talking about the writing craft or your book’s topic? Look into being a podcast guest.

It doesn’t matter how many of these you’re willing to explore. What matters is that you pick at least one – just one – and learn how to make it happen. You’ll move in the right direction – forward!

Which of these works best for you already? Which one are you going to try now? Please tell us in a comment.

From a marketing standpoint, the platform is best-suited to authors targeting a younger demographic – 59 percent of its users are under 30. Even so, all authors can use Instagram to stay connected to what publishers and readers are talking about.

To help you see Instagram’s potential and study how some of the most influential “bookstagrammers” are using the site, I’ve polled a few authors and book publicists for their favorite book-related Instagram accounts.

35 book-related Instagram accounts

Here are 35 of the best. If you’re on Instagram, be certain to follow these accounts and study how they compose images, write posts, and use hashtags.

Each option links to the Instagram account and includes their profile description.

I’ve also included names and Instagram links for the people who recommended these accounts, too. They’re in parentheses after the recommendations.

Authors

Victoria Aveyard: SC grad, screenwriter, #1 NYT bestselling author of RED QUEEN, GLASS SWORD, and KING’S CAGE. (Winnie DeMoya)

Andrea Jenny Han: New York Times bestselling author of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy twitter: @jennyhan. (Andrea Kiliany Thatcher)

Leigh Bardugo: #1 NYT best-selling author, occasional fiend. Six of Crows Duology, Shadow & Bone Trilogy, The Language of Thorns, Wonder Woman: Warbringer (Andrea Kiliany Thatcher)

K.M. Weiland: Award-winning international author of the acclaimed Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel. Writes speculative and historical fic. (Winnie DeMoya)

Elizabeth Gilbert: Author of EAT PRAY LOVE. New book is BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR. Click to help Syria: www.togetherrising.org/give (Karen Dybis )

The Bookseller’s Daughter: Welcome nerds Bookstore geeks  #Succulent mavens  #Anneofgreengables  expat living in Go Weak in the Knees with 10 Swoony (Amy Meyerson)

Chloe Benjamin: Writer (THE IMMORTALISTS & THE ANATOMY OF DREAMS), knitter, feminist. Twittering @chloekbenjamin (Amy Meyerson)

Rupi Kaur: mother of ‘milk and honey’ and ‘the sun and her flowers’ (Sandra Beckwith)

Alison Roman: author of Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes, one of NPR’s Best Books of 2017 available now writer + cook / contributor @bonappetitmag, @nytfood (Sandra Beckwith)

Book clubs

Belletrist: ︎discover, read, + celebrate a new book every month ♛@emmaroberts + @kpreiss ︎ april book — Laura & Emma ☆ (Winnie DeMoya, Andrea Kiliany Thatcher)

Our Shared Shelf: Emma Watson’s Book Club Inspire•Empower•Share Intersectional feminist wisdom Mar/Apr: Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot. Join us. (Winnie DeMoya)

Book of the Month Club: We make it easy—and fun—to discover what’s new and not-to-be-missed. Tag us with your BOTM box  #bookofthemonth (Winnie DeMoya)

Reese’s Book Club – Hello Sunshine: A community celebrating women’s stories, curated by @ReeseWitherspoon for @hellosunshine. April Book Pick: #Happiness by Heather Harpham (Sandra Beckwith)

Bookstores

Books Are Magic: Cobble Hill’s independent bookstore. Open M-F 10-9, Sat 9-9, Sun 9-7. (Andrea Kiliany Thatcher)

Duende District Bookstore: We are a collaborative pop-up bookstore by & for PoC. All are welcome. #TodasLasVoces Locations: Duende @ MahoganyBooks || Duende @ Toli Moli (Natalia Sylvester)

Books and Books: Est. 1982 Bookstore & Café Coral Gables | Arsht | Lincoln Road | Bal Harbour | Suniland | Grand Cayman | Key West | MIA Airport Coconut Grove (anonymous recommendation)

Strand Bookstore: Independent Bookstore since 1927 Share your event photos with #strandevents! (Sandra Beckwith)

Powell’s Books: Keeping ideas in circulation since 1971. (Brittany Rich)

Avenue Bookstore: Albert Park, Elsternwick, Richmond (Brittany Rich)

Publishers

Epic Reads: We volunteer as tribute to be the YA community of your dreams! Snapchat: @epicreads Twitter: @epicreads HarperCollins More bookish fun (Winnie DeMoya)

Viking Books: An imprint of @penguinrandomhouse. We publish great books. Here are some photos of them. (Winnie DeMoya)

Penguin Classics: A filtered glimpse into the life of the Penguin Classics editorial team in New York. (Winnie DeMoya) (Editor’s note: I’d recommend following all Penguin accounts.)

BookTrib: Where readers meet writers! Sign up for even more Booktrib on our website. (Jim Alkon)

Enchanted Lion: An independent, family-owned children’s publisher based in Brooklyn, NY. (Brittany Rich)

Readers

Bluestocking Bookshelf: Avid reader & book collector. bluestockingbookshelf@gmail.com  @storiarts: BLUE10  @deepreadersclub: BLUE20 (Andrea Kiliany Thatcher)

For Reading Addicts: She has read too many books and it has addled her brain. (Kelly Lenihan)

The Bibliotheque:  #bookster mama | bookblogger in search of true cheese. I mean… love. (Sandra Beckwith)

Booksugar: Book Addict & Collector. Nothing is sweeter than a book – except Colin Firth in a suit. (Sandra Beckwith)

Dragonflyreads: 又 I’m Sarah, I read a lot.  Sunshine in my pocket Romance novel in my hand Makeup on my face Tattoos on my skin Music in my heart Family at my side Feminist AF FL (Sandra Beckwith)

Secret Society of Books: book and reading curator | book peddler | book club| teacher| artist |reader|#secretsobclub #kidsbooks #picturebooks #ssobn onfiction #ssobshelfie (Brittany Rich)

Anne Bogel: Modern Mrs Darcy, Blogger at Modern Mrs Darcy. Host of @whatshouldireadnextpodcast. Author of I’D RATHER BE READING, coming 9/4. (Amy Meyerson)

Bookstaworm: Jovana ||25|| Serbia  Hufflepuff Booklover studying literature Fairy lights Queen Rep for @nyxsullivan.books  (Sandra Beckwith)

Topshelftext: Madeleine I New Englander | Bookworm | Teacher | Ravenclaw | Founder   @diversebooksclub | Reviewer @kidlitexchange  (Sandra Beckwith)

Other

BookBub: We are a free service that helps you discover books you’ll love through deals, handpicked recs, and updates from authors. (Sandra Beckwith)

Book Riot: Always books. Never boring. Tag #RiotGrams to be featured (Winnie DeMoya, Kelly Lenihan)

SCBWI: Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Kelly Lenihan)

What Instagram accounts do you follow that you think other authors should follow, too? Please share them in a comment.

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

I’m hosting a free webinar, “How to Sell More Books on Autopilot Without Constant Marketing and Promotion” next Tuesday, May 1, at 7 pm ET/ 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4pm PT. Derek Doepker is going to show us how to use an Amazon tool that lets you sell more books while you get back to doing what you love – writing.

Register now before you forget! We’ll send a replay link to everyone who registers, so don’t worry about time zone issues or schedule challenges.

I’ve taken this class with Derek before, so I know you’ll get plenty of here’s-how information from him.
Get details and register on the class registration page.

Simple Ways Make a Difference in Yourself — and the World

How I use Instagram to sell more books

By Kate Hanley

When it comes to social media, I love Instagram above all other platforms. I used it strictly for personal purposes, primarily to share photos of my kids and my daily life. (Which may explain why I loved it; it was a work-free zone!) But as I was creating a promotion plan for my newest book, How to Be a Better Person, I hired an online marketing consultant who challenged me to re-think that.

Pointing out that I had nearly 500 followers and that my posts generally got a decent level of engagement, she convinced me that my Instagram feed was too good a promotional opportunity to ignore.

I saw her point, but I was nervous; I loved Instagram because it wasn’t the frenzy of promotion that Facebook has become. I didn’t want to contribute to the noise.

Presuming I could get over that hurdle, I also didn’t know how to use a visual medium to promote a book that’s filled with tips that are related to changing your outlook.

Together, we worked out a plan to spend one week on each of the eight sections on my book as a way of giving first and inviting people in to the book instead of merely asking them to buy—which can feel like a big ask to someone who doesn’t really know you and not likely to be very effective.

For each post with the themes, I decided write two to three paragraphs about the tip I was posting a photo of—call it micro-blogging. As a writer, this was a way for me to get excited about using a visual platform for something work-related.

Micro-blogging helped me come at book promotion from a spirit of giving and inviting, and not so much about “pay attention to me and buy my stuff!” That helped ease any reservations I had about using my Instagram feed as a promotional tool.

The How

Tech-wise, it hasn’t been seamless. I’ve typed most of these posts on my phone with my thumbs, which is slow-going and painstaking, but I feel it’s important to have access to an emoji keyboard to stick with the conventions of the platforms and to infuse tone.

You can install Gramblr on your computer and then upload photos from your hard drive and use your nice big keyboard to post—I just heard about this and am looking forward to trying it out!

One thing I have come to love about Instagramming for work purposes is that it shows you exactly how popular each hashtag is, so you can choose hashtags for your posts that jibe with your content and that will help new people find that content and, hopefully, follow you.

Instagram is also more conducive to building relationships with other followers whom you might not know in real life—perhaps it’s the heavy use of emojis and tagging that really engages people and makes it feel like a friendlier place.

Make sure you reply to all comments and use emojis to connect with your commenters, and people will be more likely to share your posts with their followers (although they, and you, will need to download an external app—I prefer the Repost App—to share other people’s posts to your own list.)

The Results

I released a book last May called Stress Less, which I didn’t do much social media promotion to support—mostly because I was on deadline to write How to Be a Better Person when it came out! (Having two books come out in the same year is kind of like having Irish twins; one will naturally get less attention when the other is more needy.)

But comparing the sales numbers, How to Be a Better Person has sold 30 percent more copies in its first month than Stress Less did in its first month of life. (I’m also up to 680 followers.)

Of course, the fact that How to Be a Better Person came out in prime new year/new you season (it was released on January 2) probably has something to do the strong first-month showing, but if you can boost book sales doing something you enjoy and that helps you engage directly with your readers, why not?

Other cool Instagram ideas I’ve seen:

• Develop 30 days of content counting down to a holiday that has some relevance to your subject matter in your own version of an advent calendar. Katy Bowman of Nutritious Movement is a whiz at this.
• Post a picture of a stack of three or five books and saying you’ll give them away to three or five lucky winners who post a comment that answers a particular question (perhaps something you’re looking for feedback on).
• Ask readers to post a picture of themselves with their copy of the book and tag you and/or use a specific hashtag

If you’re on Instagram, I’d love to connect with you there! I’m @katehanleyauthor. And if you’ve seen other great book promotion ideas implemented on Instagram, I’d love to hear about those too—please leave them in a comment here!

If you are, I’d like to use my Instagram business account to give your book some attention.

I’m about to make a few changes to that account that were inspired by Hilary Rushford’s “Free Instagram Class” on how small businesses can use that social network more effectively. I tuned in to last week’s webinar specifically because I wanted to start doing more with my Instagram business account and was looking for inspiration.

I got it.

What I’ve been doing on Instagram

I’ve used my business account (versus my personal account) to consistently post my weekly blog image and occasionally post an image that reminds people that I’m not a blogging robot.

It’s lame.

I know that.

Hilary’s webinar gave me ideas about what I could be doing differently. One of the best “ahas!” I got from the free training was that I should view the images on my profile as a collage of photos that needs to be visually balanced.

This screenshot below from my Instagram profile about a year and a half ago is a good example of what you don’t want to do — every post but one is an image with text. Most of those text images come from  blog posts.

It’s monotonous. There’s no visual variety.

What I’m going to do now

In order to figure out what types of images I can and should be sharing so I get both the requisite visual variety and relevant content for my Build Book Buzz brand, I needed to think about my purpose on that platform.

My goal here and on every social network I use is to help authors learn how to market their books.

I usually do that by providing links to helpful information online but that’s not possible with Instagram. Links are only clickable in profile descriptions and ads. So . . . I had to look at this network differently.

I had to shift away from providing how-to information to supporting authors in another way.

The solution is obvious by now, right?

I want to share images of your books!

By doing that with the full titles in the accompanying text (caption), I can bring more awareness to them.

Will it rock your world? Nope. Will it help you? Who knows? Will it hurt your book. No way!

Here’s what I’d like you to do

Will you let me to support your book with my Instagram account?

If yes, here’s what I’d like you to do — and please follow these instructions carefully:

1. Follow my business account. Find me on the Instagram app by searching for “Build Book Buzz” or “BuildBookBuzz.” This is required. I will follow you back. Followers mean book exposure.
2. Send me an email message with the subject line: Instagram. Click here to send the message. Attach a photo of your book cover. (Link not working for you? Email address is on about/contact page.) It can be just the book cover, you and your book, whatever — just make sure that the book is the main attraction. In the message, provide the full book title and your Instagram profile name so I can find and tag you easily.
3. Follow the instructions in steps 1 and 2 carefully. I’ve set up an email rule so that all messages with an “Instagram” subject line go into a specific folder. If you don’t send what’s requested and I have to contact you, we will both be disappointed in resulting delays.
4. Watch my Instagram feed for your book. Consider sharing it with your connections, too, so you have what marketers call “social proof” that people are talking about your book.

Note that if you don’t use Instagram, I won’t be able to share your book cover and title.

Thank you for helping me start using my account in a way that helps you. I appreciate it.

How do you use Instagram for book promotion? Tell us in a comment.