Bookstagram for beginners: Posts, followers, review copies, and much more!

Hey everyone! So I’ve been thinking of writing a blog post related to bookstagram for a while, and I finally decided to go with it. I, by no means, am an expert on bookstagramming, but I’ve been running my account for two years now so I do know a thing or two.

I asked my lovely friends on instagram to send me some questions they’d like me to answer, so I’m gonna answer 7 questions in this post. It’s mainly for readers who have just started their bookstagram account, so I thought it’d be helpful if I answered few commonly asked questions here!

      1. Which apps/software do I use for editing pictures.

Okay, as many of my photos are based on themes, I have to make a lot of changes in original picture. So majority of my editing of pictures is done on photoshop, as you can easily change backgrounds, blend photos, make the background blurry, etc. about the last feature, I know many apps let you blur the background, but it also reduces the quality of your image, so I think PS is best for that.

After editing, I use VSCO for adding filters and enhancing the photos. It has a feature where you can copy and paste your coloring settings, which is really helpful if you have a theme.

 2. How to take clear pictures.

Pictures will turn out great when they are taken in natural light. At first I didn’t know that, but ever since I have started taking pictures during noon, the quality of my pictures have improved a lot because of that.

    3. Here are some basic tips for people who are thinking of starting a bookstagram, or have just started it.

To be honest, bookstagram community is the best and welcomes you right away. If you want to start bookstagram, just take pictures and start posting! No one is perfect, my first photo was of a yellow and blue books stacked on my bookshelf. Doesn’t make sense, but at that time I thought it was creative haha. So just start posting pictures, use some good tags, take time in knowing people, and you are good to go!

4     4.  How to reach more people/accounts.

There are many ways for this. My reason for joining bookstagram was to meet more people who loves reading as much as me, so I always try to interact with as many people as I can. It’s not practical to talk to everyone you follow, because there are a lot of them! What you can do is keep in touch by comment on posts time to time. Because we have to put in effort if we want engagement on our account.

Also, hashtags are the best way for finding new accounts! There are hundreds of hashtags which you can go through, and find many creative accounts. This will result in increase in your  engagement and eventually, your post will start to appear on more people’s feed. Because this is the best way to beat the algorithm. The only thing is, don’t let this get to you, because then it feels like a chore and you lose interest in it. So talk to only 5 people, but do it because you genuinely like their accounts! 

5.       5 How early can bookstagrammers ask for review copies.

This has been asked a lot. I used to get many review copies, but for some time, I’ve stopped accepting those because I wanted to focus on the books I’ve been waiting to read!

The only thing you need to have is consistency. If you are uploading at least one review in a week, and are posting pictures regularly, it’s really helpful when you request for review copies.

To be honest, you just have to ask publishers for it. And if they have room for new reviewers, they’ll add you to their list. Having a blog is a huge plus, so do mention that when you send a request. I remember I got review copy when my instagram account only had like 1200 followers, but I did update my blog regularly then.

So make sure that your bookstagram and other social media are updated regularly before requesting review copies.

6.How much influence a hashtag has on the post.

Okay, now this is kinda important. We all know there’s a limit of 30 hashtags for every post, if you go above that, your caption gets blank and you have to type everything again. it has happened with me and I hated it haha.

As I said, hastags are best way to find new accounts, and vice versa. So what you need to do is post hashtags which are related to the post and bookstgram. Make sure you’re not using any banned hashtag, because if there’s even one, your post will not appear under any of the hashtags.

Don’t always use same tags, this will make instagram think that it’s a spam account and less people will see your posts.

  7. The difference between business profile and normal profile.

I have been using business profile for a while as I am a freelancer. There are many benefits of business profile. You can know at which time your followers are most active, which is the most important thing to keep in mind when posting a picture. Business provides detailed insights on the profile visits, total reach, and much more. My favorite thing about this is that I can post when I know my followers are active. Because most of the time, we make mistake of posting it on wrong time, which results in less likes.

If you don’t have business profile, you just need to experiment and see which time works best for you! Also, business profile is very helpful if you’re starting an online business.

So, this is all for now!! I hope this info was helpful J comment if you have more questions, and if I get many questions, I’ll do a second blog post on this!<3

Heres my instagram account if you guys wanna check it out!