How To Be A BOSS bookstagrammer

I genuinely do love this series. But since returning to work, I’ve genuinely come to appreciate how long the process is! To everyone who has contributed on this fantastic piece, you’re legends and thanks for bearing with me on getting this life. It’s always so amazing to sit and chat with these guys, and they all have a different view on why their community does so well.

Books are brilliant. No matter how much we grow and develop our technology, no matter how paper-like our kindle screens become, we will always turn to a good old fashioned book.

If you’ve read this blog at any point over the past month, you’ll know I’m a massive book nerd. Although I don’t get the time to learn as much as I used to, books are a colossal escape and a bit of freedom for me. So I thought it would be rather fitting to make this month “How to BOSS XX” blogging all about one of my favourite online communities.

You can find book lovers on every social media platform out there. It’s not a bad thing either. You imagine book reviews or shelfies to feel out of place on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, but they flourish on both. I think it’s probably one of the most diverse communities out there right now.

So in the authentic style of the How To Boss series, I’ve reached out to some of my favourite bookstagrammers and asked them what they think makes the community so damn awesome. I’ve also included a little bit about why I believe bookstagrammers do so well in the world of social. Let’s meet the girls!

*As always, if you want to give them an Instagram follow. Just click their @ as I’ve hyperlinked their pages.

Meg @Thebookishlinguist

Visit Megs website by clicking the link HERE.

Hi, I'm Meg, and I run the bookstagram account @thebookishlinguist and blog over at thebookishlinguist.com. I've been on bookstagram for about 11 months now, though it simultaneously feels like I've been on bookstagram forever, and that I can't possibly have had an account for nearly a year! I created my account to share my rediscovered love for reading, to find book recommendations and to interact with other bookish people. It is by far one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I'm really glad I decided to snap that first photo of And the Mountains Echoed next to an iced coffee.

Initially, I was a little worried about writing a feature for a post called 'How to Boss Bookstagram'. I don't feel like a boss at all: I'm far from the huge, well-known bookstagram accounts with thousands of followers, immaculate feeds, and every new release. But that's the thing about bookstagram — it's not about having the most stunning feed, or the biggest bookshelves, and you certainly don't need either of those to succeed on this platform. It's about sharing your love of books with other like-minded people, exponentially increasing your TBR pile and raving about your favourite books. You don't 'need' anything to make a bookstagram account, just a book — or a Kindle — and a camera, and you're ready to go. Success is different for everyone, but mine is definitely the wonderful people I've been able to meet since starting this account, the amazing books I never would have read without the influence of bookstagram, and the development of my love for reading, photography, writing and social media.

If you're thinking about starting a bookstagram, my number one tip is: do it. Apart from that, I have five (mostly) practical tips that should help you start and grow your bookstagram:

Dedicate a morning to batch-taking photos. I love the photography aspect of bookstagram, but it can be quite time-consuming. Rather than having to take one photo every day, I tend to make a note on my iPad of the books I've finished recently, book mail and any challenges I need to participate in, and then I take loads of photos all at once.
Commenting is important. Interacting with other users is the best way to find people whose content you love and who you share a similar taste in books with. If you love a photo, appreciate someone's review or spot a book that you've recently read and loved, comment and let them know!
Participate in challenges. Challenges are really fun to participate in and make great inspiration if you're struggling to know what photos to take! Tagging accounts to also take part is a great way to start a conversation. If you're ever stuck, you can always tag me!
Bookstacks are your friend. Fact: bookstacks almost always do better than single book photos. If you're looking to grow your account and find more bookish accounts to follow too, try posting a bookstack with the hashtags #bookstack and #bookstacks and you might see a little boost in likes, and maybe a few follows too!
Enjoy it. This isn't the most practical tip, but it is the most important. If you start to stress about your following, or how many likes your post got, your account will become a source of stress rather than enjoyment. Bookstagram is a hobby — even if you intend to make an asset to your CV or as a stepping stone towards a career — it is still something you do for fun. Enjoy being a part of the book community!

Chloe @AWriteDreamer

Make sure to visit Chloe’s website by clicking the link HERE.

I have always had a massive love for books. Growing up, I could still be found with my nose in a book. I originally started fashion blogging because my degree is based around fashion. However, I soon discovered the book community on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. It rekindled my love for reading books, so I started reviewing the books I read on my blog A Write Dreamer.

The book community online is like a never-ending friendship group. You don’t know these people in real life, but you are recommending books to them and vice versa. You can have conversations about books, what you loved or hated about a book. I have had some lovely conversations with book bloggers on Instagram, and some of these conversations have helped me to find out more about books that I want to read but aren’t too sure about.

I have a mixed taste in books; I adore adult contemporary, romances, thrillers and young adult novels. I have recently started reading graphic novels, thanks to the ever so excited Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, which I found out about through book blogging.

My advice to those looking to start or grow their account is to write about what YOU love. It is all too easy to slip into the habit of writing/reading something just because it feels like everyone else is doing it. I tried to read fantasy novels because I saw that most of my feed was fantasy book based but I just couldn’t get into them.

Stay true to what you love and don’t put pressure on yourself. My blog/insta post uploading is sporadic, but it’s because I upload when I feel my content is up to my standards, I don’t want to put out something I am not proud of. I still have a long way to go to grow my audience, but I am enjoying the journey and staying true to me.

Thank you to Steph Writes Stuff for letting me be a part of this!

Chloe x

@Bumbleebooks

I started my bookstagram because honestly my family were getting tired of me always talking about my books and telling them to read them. So I decided I should probably find the right audience before I drive my family insane. I already followed a few bookstagrammers on my regular account, and I was like this is something I could do (maybe not up to their standards), but they understood the love of reading and the collecting of books. So I decided to make one, and it came conveniently for keeping me sane during the lockdown.

My experience as bookstagrammers is that it's so much fun. You could read the most random books and people will be so intrigued to read it and your review. It's more than books here it's a community, and we care for each other like family. If you are having non-book related problems, the other bookstagrammers will support you. You will make friends with people all over the world, and I have done that. I have friends from Canada, America and Scotland now.

Its a lovely feeling knowing there are other nerds who are just like you!! My advice would be, don't take it personally when a post doesn't get as many likes as you want.

Most of the time, it's the Instagram algorithm that loses your position among the other thousands. Use the hashtags it will allow you to reach wider audiences. And some accounts will follow you, and you'll do the same back, and then they will unfollow you. Don't take it personally they are just in it for the likes, not the love of books.

Emma- @Drinkingbymyshelf

Click here for Emma’s YouTube, Twitter, Patreon and Instagram.,

Why I started my Bookstagram:

I started my Bookstagram back in 2015 when I was writing a book blog. It's adapted with me over the years as I moved from blogging to YouTube, but I use it as a place to interact even more with other members of the book community and share any behind the scenes from my videos. And of course a lot of selfies and shelfies!

How I grew it:

One of the things that grew my Instagram a lot was when I ran a giveaway on it that I had promoted in one of my videos - I almost doubled my follower count from that! So I'm planning to do a few more like that, but I also think just getting stuck in to the community, commenting on other people's pictures that you like etc is the best way to steadily grow.

Any advice:

For both Bookstagram and BookTube, it sounds cheesy but it's really true: just make sure you enjoy it. It's really easy to get sucked into treating them like a job, especially once you start making money/job opportunities from them, but remember to keep enjoying it. After all, your followers want to see the true you - so don't feel like you have to act a certain way / read particular books / stick to a particular posting schedule that doesn't feel natural for you. You are the most unique thing you can bring to the platform!

Charlotte- @Charlotte.bestreads

Hiya! My name is Charlotte and I run a bookstagram account called @charlottes.bestreads. I created this account at the end of May, when I came to the realisation that I loved books more than I thought I did originally. I’ve always been a keen reader, but since lockdown, I’ve realised how much I really really do love to read. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share the books I love most with other people. Not only this, but it also gives me a huge opportunity to compare thoughts on particular books and characters with other people. I’ve made so many friends on this particular side of Instagram, including one amazing friend - who I consider a friend for life.

If you’re someone thinking about starting a bookstagram account, I would definitely say you should do so. The whole community is so lovely and incredibly supportive, and we all share the love for our favourite books! My advice for a larger fan base, would be to make sure you engage with you followers and the people you follow. Comment and like loads of posts. If someone posts a book that you want to read in the future - tell them that! If someone wants to read a book you’ve read before - tell them what you thought!

I am so glad that I joined bookstagram, it’s definitely a distraction from current situations, and is a wonderful escape from the usual toxicity of social media.

If you happen to make an account after reading this, please please add me and say hello! I’m always up for meeting new people and have met wonderful new friends already :)

Naomi @TheTandemCollectiveUK

Tandem Collective have been quietly supporting micro-influencers since its founding 2016. Hosting monthly readalongs for micro-influencers of all shapes and sizes. I spoke with it’s Co-founder, Naomi, and here’s what she had to say:

“We specialist in monthly readalongs, focusing on a new release. These are run in real-time using IG Stories with 20 to 30 influencers generating a combined reach of 50 to 150k followers. Everyone begins reading at the same time, and they are given a suggested reading schedule for the week

Question cards are inserted into the books to encourage group discussion, and we put one of the influencers in charge to guide the conversation via a private DM group, meaning it unfolds organically and doesn’t feel like a marketing activation

On the final night, we often invite the author into the private DM group for an hour-long Q&A with the influencers

We’ve now run around 100 readalongs, and we are constantly reiterating the format to make them as impactful and efficient as we possibly can, always adding new elements that capitalize on the novel functionalities introduced by Instagram as a platform.

So why do we work with micro-influencers individually?

According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, an influencer is ‘an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position or relationship with their audience, within a particular niche.’

However, there’s been a conscious shift in the past couple of years from the macro, celebrity influencer to the micro and peer-to-peer marketing. The term influencer is rather woolly, and I do think there’s a need for new tags and terminology in this area.

I’m most likely to buy a book off the back of a friend’s recommendation or from my longstanding literary guru, whose taste I know is similar to mine - my mother.

An important aspect of interaction is the tone of voice. This is a big thing at Tandem. I am a communicative and affectionate person in real life, and this comes through in every post on IG and every email to bookstagrammers. Standard sign off from the team is ‘lots of love’ and three xxx’s

There is no business/consumer divide here. We treat the bookstagrammers as we would friends and our language is open and honest - “I love how Tandem talk to us and get involved” @the_lawyer_librarian

Every Tuesday, we host an IG Live between two team members, #TandemTips, in which they answer followers’ questions and discuss how to get on to a read-along and how they work logistically. We are transparent about the fact that we’re a small, growing business and that we may have teething problems along the way; we ask them for feedback and for any ideas they might have on how we could improve.”

They’ve developed an engaging and supportive network of influencers; I highly recommend you check them out and see everything The Tandem Collective have accomplished.

What Makes A Book Blogger? (According To A Social Media Marketer)

I’m not a bookstagrammer and have never claimed to be. But there was a period where people thought that’s what I did on this blog. So I feel a bit more comfortable throwing my 2 cents in on this one. Here are some significant skills I think ever Bookstagrammer should hone before they set up their account;

Good Taste In Books

I feel like a lot of the big bookstagram accounts have similar taste and read books around the same time. I know there's a group read along and various PR stuff is going on all the time, but regardless, a good taste in books is essential.

It's almost like a conversation starter. I've had moments of envy when I spot a prettier version of a book I own on my newsfeed. But I've also hopped into the comment section to chat about a controversial or popular read. If your books aren't making book worms scream in excitement or ask for recommendations, then perhaps have a look around what's going on in the community. See what everyone else is reading.

Pretty Covers

This one definitely plays into a few other themes on this list. I know, they don’t tell you to judge a book by its cover but every person loves to own a pretty book or five.

An eye for Flatlays

Flatlays for days! You are rarely able to chuck a book down on the table and start snapping pictures, yet some of the best flats lay out there are simplistic af. Why not have a look around in the community and see how people do their flat lays? I learnt through stock images online and a few marketing blogs on Pinterest, but I still would not consider myself a pro!

Good quality camera

Don’t you always? If you don’t have a good quality camera there is a huge amount of options to help you edit like a pro. I might even write a blog about it soon!

An overall feed aesthetic

I very rarely say that a presentable feed view is essential. I think my messy side refuses to sit and plan out how all my pictures are going to look next to each other. But at the end of the day, it does improve your page a lot. I think it also gives a good positive first impression for new people discovering your page. I’ve seen a variety of accounts ace the overall feed view. But my two favourite examples of reference would be @somewhatperfect and @writtenbycharlotte. Who have entirely different ways to make their feed look great?

@somewhatperfect uses her beautiful bright home to create one of the most minimalistic feeds ever.

@writtenbycharlotte uses preset to provide a visually pleasing yet unique feed.