FAQ 10: how can I keep posting about my book on Instagram after it has launched?

Ways to keep your Instagram content fresh, and maintain momentum, post-publication

This post is part of series where I answer some of the questions I am most frequently asked about social media. To browse or read the rest of the series click here. If you are looking for more tailored, in-depth writer-specific advice about how to use Instagram, please consider joining my Too Much Instagram membership. Have a browse of what’s on offer here.

Books have long lives but soon after the initial launch excitement has died down many writers find themselves in a bit of a slump, unsure what to post about to keep plugging their books. You might feel like everyone is sick of hearing about your book, or you might be wondering how you can keep your posts fresh and appealing.

In many ways, the answer to what should I post after my book has launched? is the same as what you should post when you’re working towards publication date, so you might like to take a step back and read this piece first:

FAQ 9: how can I use Instagram to launch my book?

BUT once your book is out in the world there are other tactics you can add into the mix in order to get in front of new audiences and keep the momentum going.

Here are some ideas…

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Keep the conversation going

Your ideal reader won’t have changed between pre-launch and your book being available to buy so you should still be using the themes and ideas in your book to guide most of your content.

Keep an eye on the news to see if there are any relevant conversations you can join in with by posting about your reactions and opinions. Two brilliant examples of this are this post by

Stacey Heale

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stacey_heale

A post shared by @stacey_heale

and this post by

Jennie Agg

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jennieagg

A post shared by @jennieagg

Both writers have books out in the world and these posts are timely, super-relevant to their books, and, importantly, are genuine expressions of their thoughts and opinions. There is no need to manufacture feeling where there is none, but stay aware of the conversations that are happening and see if there are any you’d like to join in with.

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Giveaways

A really simple way to bring fresh eyes onto your book is to host a giveaway. The classic way to do this is to offer a signed copy of your book as the prize, and to invite people to comment under a post, but now your book is out in the world there are other ways of structuring giveaways that can deliver enhanced results:

• a giveaway where you combine your book with a service. This is most relevant to writers of non-fiction who also have a service-based business e.g if your book is about marketing for small businesses, you could run a giveaway that includes a 1 hour 1-2-1 with you.

• a collaborative giveaway with other authors - the prize is a stack of signed books and you all post the same post to your grid. If there are up to four of you then use the ‘Invite Collaborator’ tool and the post will automatically appear on all of your grids. If there are more than four of you, one of you (usually the person setting it up) will have to co-ordinate which picture is used, what caption you all use, collate all the entries and select the winner. Ask your followers to tag a friend in the comments as the entry mechanism and you might find some new readers. Eloise Rickman has done this in a really interesting way by working with Molly Forbes to bring together their books, and combining them with a 1-2-1 talk with both authors:

  

• a collaborative giveaway with other brands or businesses. For two great examples of how an author might do this, check out this giveaway, hosted by Huma Qureshi:

  

  and another Huma is involved with a brand she has a personal connection with, and who are hosting the giveaway on their account:

  

  Notice that for the really meaty giveaway, with the big bundle of prizes, Huma has used a more involved entry mechanism. Basically, the greater the value of the prize, the more you can ask of your audience in terms of how they enter, i.e. you can ask them to do something that is of more value to you than a simple tag in the comments. Some examples: pre-order the paperback and send a screenshot of the receipt; post a review on a specific platform e.g Amazon, or Goodreads; post a review to their Instagram grid using a particular hashtag (the title of your book is usually appropriate) so you can see all the entries in one place to choose the winner; post a picture of them reading your book to their Stories, tagging you on the Story so you see it (as Stories disappear after 24 hours you need to think of a way to record the entries).

• a locally-focused giveaway. If your book is strongly tied to a specific geographical location, you could collaborate with local shops, cafes, book sellers, or service providers in order to get in front of new audiences. Post the giveaway to your Instagram, geotag your post with your location so it shows up in searches for that place, and again use the Invite Collaborator tool so your collaborators can share it to their account and you can keep all of the entries in one place.

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