A Writer's Guide To Working With Bookstagramers To Find More Readers For Your Book
A Writer's Guide To Working With Bookstagram-ers and Book Bloggers by Clare Reynolds
This piece is a guest post from Book Blogger, Clare Reynolds. If you have any experiences of working with Bookstagramers or Book Bloggers, it would be AMAZING if you would share them in the comments for the benefit of other members of this community ❤️ Let’s normalise not pulling the ladder up behind us!
These days, Bookstagram is often overshadowed by its noisier, flashier cousin, BookTok but it’s still a massive, active community of passionate book fans, the potential of which writers and authors should not overlook.
There are over 110 million posts tagged #bookstagram and 949k tagged #bookstagramuk, while thousands of people regularly spend their free time reading books then lovingly crafting flat-lays, posting old-school reviews using <whisper it> The Caption, interviewing authors on Instagram Live, and creating novel and amusing ways to review books on Reels.
My recent favourite is KK, whereismylibrarycard_ who has been know to rate books using her smile (!) and a hammer (!!):
Bookstagramers build loyal communities of their own, often around particular genres or niches, and are respected sources of reviews and recommendations for the people who follow them.
As ‘taste-makers’ they should be viewed as an important channel for writers and authors to explore when you want to get the word out about your book.
However, Bookstagramers are also people, and many of them do not get paid for the time and energy they plough into their accounts, so it’s not appropriate to treat them as the marketing equivalent of a single-use plastic bag - authors have to tread carefully and strike the right balance.
This can be tricky, especially in a toneless environment like Instagram, when you might never meet the people you are communicating with in real life, so I thought it would be useful to hear from some Bookstagramers themselves about the ways in which authors might work with them, and some common pitfalls to avoid.
First up is Book Blogger and Bookstagramer, Clare Reynolds, who reads, reviews and posts about a broad range of fiction that skews towards literary and upmarket commercial titles, with the occasional memoir thrown in.
Clare has kindly written a super-useful piece that clearly breaks down how authors should interact with and treat book bloggers and Bookstagramers, both when you’re building that initial relationship, but also once you’ve secured the coverage you are looking for. Huge thanks to Clare for sharing her insights and experiences - I’m sure this community is going to find them really useful.
You can find Clare here on Substack , on Instagram and X/Twitter @yearsofreading where she has also crowd-sourced examples of authors who engage well with book bloggers from her community. You can find that pinned to her profile here.
On Wednesday 20th November, 12-1pm GMT/ 7am EST, I’ll also be welcoming Bookstagramer, Tilly Fitzgerald, tillylovesbooks to a LIVE Q&A session on Zoom.
Tilly has built an Instagram audience of over 124k since 2020 by sharing her thoughts and opinions on a wide range of fiction from more literary titles through to fantasy and romance. She will be taking questions from me about the nature of the work she does, how it has changed over the years, and how authors and Bookstagramers can work effectively together. I will then open the floor up to you to ask any questions you have.
This Q&A session is free to attend live for all readers; paid subscribers will be able to submit their questions in advance; a recording will be available for paid subscribers.
To join the call live, register your interest by clicking this button 👇🏼 and the call link will be emailed directly to you:
If you would like to find out more about the exclusive benefits Paid Subscribers get as members of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM, you can browse some of the exclusive posts here. Members also get access to personalised advice and guidance about their use of Instagram in a weekly group chat and a month Ask Me Anything session 💃🏻
Now, over to Clare…
Being an author who wants people to hear about your novel can be an intimidating thing. How do you get the word out to the most people possible without having to spend a lot of money?
This is where Book Bloggers come in.
Like you, we are passionate about books and reading, and there are so many brilliant people who are ready to shout about your books.
When bloggers and authors work together, the impact they can have is huge, and word of mouth between Book Bloggers and their followers can be one way to ensure that a lot of people know about your book in a short time.
They can also be the key to developing long term and loyal relationships for future novels too.
Here are my top five pieces of advice for authors who’re wondering where to start.
1. Look for relevant Book Bloggers and Bookstagramers
One of the first things I would recommend is looking for Book Bloggers who read what you write, and not just contacting all the Book Bloggers you know. Spending time going through social media looking for the right Book Bloggers can take a while, but it means when you do approach them, you are more likely to be connecting with people who would love to read and review your book.
2. Think carefully about how you approach them - remember they are people, not just a channel for you to use for your own agenda
When you decide who you want to approach, it is also important to think about your communication with them too. I can’t tell you the number of times someone has spelt my name wrong (the most memorable was being called Cleopatra - yes really!), or have been sent a copy and paste email or message where my name isn’t used at all. A few times I have also been sent Amazon links to authors novels asking me to buy, read and review them - I didn’t!
The majority of Book Bloggers are not paid for book blogging, and do it purely because we love talking about books. Blogging is our hobby, so when asking someone to read and review your book it is important to keep that in mind, and being open to when it can be read and reviewed is a two way process.
3. Be personal
When you do find the bloggers you want to work with, some personal touches to your communication really help.
One of the best ones I had was an author who had read through my blog and explained that because I liked a certain book that they thought theirs would appeal to me, and then told me why. Their novel turned out to be one of the best novels I read that year.
Similarly, I have had not so good experiences too. Times where I have read and reviewed a novel and the author has not interacted with me at all, and in one instance an author liking and then unliking my review which left me wondering what on earth I had done!
4. Think creatively about how you might work with the Bookstagramer or Book Blogger
It’s also important to think of different ways to work with bloggers too - now more than ever, written reviews are not the only way for you to get your book seen.
It could be a video review, or an interview, or if you are brave enough an Instagram Live, but it’s key you only do what you feel comfortable with.
5. Play the long game
The authors who take time to interact and speak with Bloggers create a community of people who are very loyal to them, and that sustained relationship means you have a vocal core of readers who will only be too happy to keep talking to everyone about your books.
In a nutshell, these authors take the time to interact and chat to us about both their books and other things, and makes us feel that they are not just interested in us as a mechanism to talk about their books. This really strengthens the reader/author bond and ensures that their books will be talked about widely because there is an established loyalty and connection.
What bloggers get out of Bookstagram and blogging
For me, blogging is a chance to do something for myself - nothing beats reading a book and knowing that you are reading something very special, and want to tell everyone about it.
One thing I am really passionate about is making sure bloggers who are older are always seen. There seems to be a focus on younger Book Bloggers and as a 53 year old, now more than ever, I feel I am constantly trying to get my voice heard just like you, and that there is a massive opportunity waiting for us to work together.
Book Bloggers are a brilliant, supportive and friendly community of people who love reading and talking about books. Nothing brings us more joy than shouting about and supporting authors, and when we work together it can be an incredibly positive and powerful experience for all of us.
Anything that brings more readers to your books can only be something to be encouraged, and we are here, ready and waiting for you!
This is great thank you. I have never thought to do this but it sounds like something I would actually enjoy doing! I am self published and after publishing a few years ago I burnt out. It turns out writing and publishing a book is just the start of a new mountain. Anyway I did virtually no marketing. I am just considering now how I can market my own book creatively and authentically so this is great for me. Appreciated ❤️
I’m a great fan of book bloggers. They are not a fan of me. Earlier this year I contacted personally and politely probably 15? Or so to see if they would like an advance copy of my book. Many didn’t respond. Others politely said they were too busy. One asked if I paid (?) and one lovely book blogger read my book and gave a very thoughtful review that I cherish. Thank you to @lbrbsblogs https://www.instagram.com/p/C7FDWOuLRAY/?igsh=OXp1bHZiOTU2Mncy