How To Start A Bookstagram | Guide For Beginners

The word Bookstagram is a play on the words “book lover’s Instagram,” precisely what a Bookstagram is. Although it started as a silly little hashtag on Instagram, it exploded pretty soon. Thus, it turned into a separate space on Instagram that people who loved and enjoyed books used to identify themselves. So how do you enter and flourish in this thriving space? Let us try and find the answer to how to start a bookstagram.

The first step towards growing your Bookstagram would be, understanding how Instagram works.

Contents

How Does Instagram Work

Although it might have originally come out as a niche photo-sharing platform, Instagram today has grown into a much larger space that allows a wide variety of content apart from photos like videos, stories, reels, IGTV videos, and even guides. You can and should use all these tools as they solve different purposes. So let us now start from the basics to know how to create a bookstagram.

A Catchy Username And A Great Bio

Your username is how any Instagram user finds you and identifies you, so be clever with the name you pick for your Bookstagram but not so clever that the word becomes a task to remember.

There are only two things to be kept in mind, to be honest. It should be unique and easy to remember and spell out; that is it.

Set Your Goals

As complex as the online world is becoming, setting goals always helps. Ask yourselves why do you want this? Is it financial? Is it a hobby? A platform to sell books? Or just a supplementary to promoting your blog? Setting Goals is very important to avoid disappointment. Your goal will decide your content.

Photographs

They are still the form of content that takes up most of the space on the platform, and rightfully so, they do not have a timer or something for which the viewer might have to wait for, like a video.

To grow your Bookstagram, nailing the photographs you post is a must. Not everyone has super aesthetic photography skills, but you should be good to go by watching some YouTube videos and a little investment in props and lighting equipment; you should be good to go! When you start, experiment as much as you can and then develop a theme that represents you. An article helps you knit your posts together as it builds uniformity in your account. Knowing color psychology could help; for Example, using blues with books that revolve around tragedy or sorrow and red with happy readers helps convey the mood to the viewer and makes the post more attractive overall.

Editing Apps

You have taken your pictures. Now it is time for editing.

Here are a few suggestions: Adobe Lightroom, VSCO, Snapsneed, A Color Story, etc. Be Creative and stick to a single filter. It creates a mood for the page.

Aesthetic, Aesthetic, Aesthetic – How to Start a Bookstagram

We can never ignore how impactful physical appearance can be. Find your niche. Stick to it and experiment with new ideas from time to time. See what your audience responds to well. For Example, you could curate a spring theme for your account and showcase your books centered on and around flowers and floral designs. @reviews_from_a_bookworm has a similar artistic style. For us with loud personalities, a colorful Instagram never hurt anyone. Know who you are and what kind of style you prefer.

Understanding The Algorithm – How to Start a Bookstagram

Here are a few ways on how you will be able to understand Instagram’s algorithm.

Posting times: When starting an account, you never know your audience or where they’re from. Try to figure out when you get the highest reach by doing a trial run. This also helps figure out what your Instagram page looks like.

Reels are all the rage: Create content for reels. The Internet is filled with ideas on how to create reels for a Bookstagram account.

Encourage engagement: Ask questions. Interact with your audience. Reply to comments, like your follower’s pictures. Remember to be polite and respectful to even those who do not understand what you do. Kindness is the key to happiness.

Hashtags: Book Hashtags are essential to be discovered by a broader audience. These Hashtags have millions of followers, and new posts keep appearing every nanosecond. If you want to find out what Hashtags to use, find out what other bookstagrammer use.

Videos

You can post videos of three kinds on Instagram, a regular post, a reel, or an IGTV video. Each has different durations. A standard post allows you to upload content of up to a minute. A rotation provides 45 seconds of fast-paced video content, while video content exceeding a minute finds its home in an IGTV video. You must differentiate your content for each of these. For Example, you can make a regular video post about a book you are currently reading, a reel in a fast-paced montage about the books you read in the past month or planning to read in the upcoming month. You can use an IGTV for detailed book reviews.

Stories – How To Start A Bookstagram

The shortest form of content you can upload on Instagram is a story, it’s 15 seconds long and can be either a photo, a video, or even a post, a reel, or an IGTV that you might want to share, but the boon about stories is that they are temporary, they are available for only 24 hours, this gives you space to experiment and make mistakes, and if you want to keep a story on your Bookstagram permanently you can do that as well! Using the “add to highlights” feature.

Captioning

It feels a little incomplete when you come across a post with nothing to describe the perspective. From mentioning a summary of the book in the picture to describing your thought process while reading it, captioning can complete a post. Do not mistake writing short, meaningless captions for the just post. This is where you use Hashtags for broader reach. Using the right ones can bring a lot of traffic to your account.

Bookstagram Does Not Only Mean Books

Your followers will tire quickly due to its monotonicity if you keep posting books only. Show some pizzazz. Combine your travel experiences, impactful quotes, and even a picture of your pet.

We should never forget that the Internet was made what it is today by pets and babies. All this is to forward your cause of finding a community related to your choices.

See Also: New WW2 Books You Must Read!

Props

You can find props for photoshoots at home, and if you run out of ideas, they are tons of props sold online. Here are a few examples of support that you can use:

Mugs
Candles
Fairy lights
Mirrors
Twigs
Scarves
Plants and so much more

Get creative and let the end product speak for itself.

Follow Other Bookstagrammer

Even Bookstgramers need Inspiration. Keep yourself inspired by following accounts that have created a broad audience. You’ll love these Bookstagram accounts. @humansofny, @fromlibrarywithlove, @strandbookstore

Conclusion

These are the essential tools you have at your disposal while making your Bookstagram. You suggested that you turn your account into a “business account” because it provides you with another set of tools, i.e., “insights,” among the best things on Instagram. Insights provide you with details about how many people are viewing your posts, how many accounts you are reaching, when most of your followers are active, and a lot more. All of this is extremely useful because it helps you understand and develop your audience. Finally, after understanding all you have in your armory, you can now start your Bookstagram! Just try to;

Be as engaging as possible, host quizzes and polls in your stories, and ask your followers to comment on your posts. You can do that by maybe asking a question in your caption. Also, try posting valuable comments based on Bookstagrams with a larger follower count, which also puts you in people’s eyes.
Be as creative as possible, understand trends, and capitalize on them.
Also, be a quick learner, notice patterns, and realize mistakes. A minor cut also requires lesser stitches.
Be as constant as possible with your posts.
Then find your audience and cater to them with quality content that provides them with value.

Steven Colborne

Steven is a philosopher and author living in London, England. He specialises in writing thought-provoking articles and books in the field of philosophical theology, covering subjects such as free will, suffering, the nature of God, and the meaning of life.