“Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.” Julia Cameron
By: Stacey Purcell
It seems the world won’t wait for me.
Twitter, Facebook, and blogging are social media tools that I’ve gotten fairly proficient at using. In fact, I have been congratulating myself on how I jumped into the cyber swirl with both feet and am holding my own. This coming from a girl who figured out how to make group emails about 2 years ago, is quite the feat! I’m very proud of myself although, if you compare me to Jennifer, I’m an antique relic- at best.
So what does the world do? It creates the next big social media push…are you kidding me? Insert big heavy sigh.
But wait! This one is fun. This one is easy. This one can be used sparingly or all the time. This one is called Pinterest.
The basic idea of this site is that you create online bulletin boards with pictures of items that interest you. You pin them onto your boards to create a visual picture of your thoughts, likes, dislikes, moods etc. The site is brimming with possibilities for writers!
This is wonderful way to include your readers into the process behind the scenes of a writer. Many authors I know build story boards to help them while they are creating their novel. Why not do it to also engage readers in the book as well? Pinterest creates a platform for you to add photos, music, video clips, and articles to create an interactive wall that can be used to illustrate your book. In an instant your characters, setting, historical research, and mood of the book come alive. For instance, my two books take place in Malaysia and Costa Rica. I could design a board for each destination. Jennifer writes pirate novels, she could include a board about the history and legends surrounding lost treasure. The possibilities are endless. Tantalize your reader, offer glimpses into your next novel or provide a multi-media way for them to connect to your current book already for sale!
Pinterest also has a “Pin It” widget that you can add to your web site and blog. This gizmo allows readers and visitors to share something they particularly liked from your boards with their own networks. This is especially true for book covers! I’ve looked around Pinterest for a few days now and have discovered many people have a “Favorite Books” or a “What I’m Reading” board. Wouldn’t it be great if your cover was on their board? This widget makes it very easy for readers and potential readers to share your book and take a look into what goes into the making of a novel.
What if you turned it into a contest? What if you had your readers create boards that had to do something with your book? Theme, setting, characters would provide terrific launching points for this. What if you had a “Create The Main Character” contest. For instance, Jennifer’s books are available on Amazon and a number of other spots. Her pirate guys are to die for- no really, I’m not kidding. Maybe her readers could create boards to illustrate what they think these dashing fellows are all about. The best ones could be shared and posted all over the place. The connection to Facebook and Twitter could make it go viral in the blink of an eye. By the way, the contests or invites to the story boards could also be listed in the author profiles on Amazon to instantly give a readers another way to connect to you.
I’ve come a long way in this techno world we live in and finally they’ve created something that’s right up my alley. I’m not only a writer, but I decorate, love art and music, paint, cook, sketch, and am a history and travel buff. This site allows me to indulge all of my passions as well as provide a way for my potential readers to get to know me and my books. You can spend 5 minutes a day or get lost and come up for air 5 hours later with Pinterest. I believe it has the potential to take marketing books to a whole new level- one that I’m totally on “board” with.
Ha! Couldn’t resist the bad joke.
P.S. See Jenn’s article below here to find out about her book and soon to be released novella! When you do, think about the possibilities with Pinterest…….
