How to Use Pinterest for Your Book Blog

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Guys, I'm a social media manager for a small marketing agency just North of Boston by day, so I'm usually inundated by clients and potential clients asking how a social media platform can be used for their business. Recently, however, a lot of book bloggers have been asking if Pinterest can be used to enhance their blogs' reach. The short answer? Of course it can! The longer answer? Pinterest is still quite new, but the target market is huge, so there's a lot of untapped potential.

I bit the bullet about 6 months ago and got a Pinterest account for me, myself and I. After a while, I began to see the possibility of, perhaps, using it in part for my blog, as well. Now, some of you might be asking yourselves what exactly Pinterest is. It's pretty simple, actually.

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests
*via Pinterest.

Do you see the goldmine of opportunity there?! Anything beautiful you find via the search engines (barring Facebook - don't be creepy - and some sites that have blocked the Pin It Button) can be pinned to your boards and shared to your followers. The potential for things to go viral is enormous.

So, what could book bloggers pin?

- Book covers (WoW posts that track back to your blog) 

- Book reviews (Pin the covers and track back to your blog)

- Writing inspiration 

- Book-inspired jewelry 

- Book-inspired art

- Features (Share your graphics and track back to them)

- Authors

Just as a little example, this is what my bookish pinboard looks like.

If you think about it, the list is pretty much endless. Pinterest has the same idea as any social media platform - sharing. If you find book bloggers out there on Pinterest, share their content! If you find authors and publishers, do the same! We're all dipping our toes in the water at about the same time, so the market's open. Have fun with it!

Some publishers that have bitten the bullet and established Pinterest accounts include HarperTeen, Penguin, Random House, Scholastic and more. Heck, even Book Expo America is on Pinterest. Visit The Well-Read Wife for a list of bloggers on Pinterest, and check out this list on YA Highway for Authors and more publishers on Pinterest to get some ideas!

31 comments:

  1. So glad you posted about this! I think a lot of bloggers could benefit from using Pinterest. I'm a Pinterest addict but only recently thought about using it to get traffic to my site. 

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  2. Thanks for this, I've seen Pinterest around but I didn't really understand how it worked. 

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  3. Thanks for this helpful post, Melissa! I'll be checking those links! I've been using Pinterest for a while --I was totally addicted at first but my interest has been waning recently. Must get back on there!

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  4. I was wondering if I should use Pinterest for my blog. I have an account and follow few book bloggers and I wondered if any used it for marketing! thank you! will definitely be pinning book covers that link to my blog. :) 

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  5. Great tips! I always love reading these kind of posts from other book bloggers! :) Ive been thinking about trying pinterest on the blog...have you gotten a lot of traffic doing it?

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  6. I saw yours and followed all of them! Love your pinboard :)

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  7. I actually didn't see the article, but I did see your list! I wish I'd seen your post way back when - I'll be sure to check it out from now on :)

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  8. I've actually received a fair amount of traffic from it, so that's been pretty fun to track. I'm always looking for the next medium, and it doesn't hurt that it's totally addicting!

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  9. I think this is a great way to get back in it...it's so fun! :)

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  10. Definitely try it out! If you need an invite, email me and I'll send one your way :)

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  11. Pinterest is great for social bookmarking, but what about personal bookmarking - the bookmarks for the sites you visit over and over? I use iCrumz.com.

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  12. Fab post Melissa! I'm on Pinterest but need to utilize it more, especially for promoting my blog. Will be referring back to this post often :)

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  13. Oh I had no idea you could use it in this way.  Sounds daunting.

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  14. I also have a Pinterest acct. with a ton of book related boards. in fact I set up my Pinterest acct. strictly for my blog, but there are a few other boards thrown in now as well (it's WAY addictive:)

    http://www.pinterest.com/flyleafreview

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  15. I love Pinterest! I haven't used it yet for blog related things, but I think I definitely should. :) Great post, Melissa. 

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  16. I'm addicted to Pinterest, and it only seemed natural to expand my horizons! I'm glad you found it useful! :)

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  17. I have a read-along pinboard for a couple of books, because they are historical fiction, and I wanted to do research on everything I was reading about.  They became so popular, I even had the author contributing her own pictures and comments to the board!!  check it out - 
    http://pinterest.com/tlmfarmgirl/a-discovery-of-witches-read-along/
    and here's the second one - just getting started on that one -
     http://pinterest.com/tlmfarmgirl/shadow-of-night-read-along/

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  18. Interesting. Great ideas. Thanks for sharing these.

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  19. Thanks for this, I've seen Pinterest around but I didn't really understand how it worked. 

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  20. I'm right there with you! I use it daily though, and a few bloggers asked, so I figured I'd throw it out there! I'm glad it helped :)

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  21. It's fun (and addicting)! I definitely recommend it ;)

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  22. That's awesome! Thanks so much for sharing :)

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  23. Good call. I think I'll check it out. I'm also going to try and hack the BEA pinterest board and get our faces up there :) I think we deserve it since we've been so obsessed

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  24. Thank you for the list of publishers and bloggers to follow. I've been using Pinterest to share bookish content (from my blog as well), but that doesn't mean much if I don't connect with people with similar interests. 

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  25. If you haven't seen it already ;), I wrote an article about this very topic back in January. You can find it here: http://www.wellreadwife.com/2012/01/21/pinterest-and-book-blogging-use-the-latest-social-media-craze-to-your-sites-advantage/

    and here where it was syndicated on Blogher:

    http://www.blogher.com/pinterest-and-book-blogging-use-latest-social-media-craze-your-site%E2%80%99s-advantage

    Thanks for the reference to the list of Book Bloggers Using Pinterest.:)

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  26. I just discovered it a few weeks back and I actually kind of love it!! I pin all my reviews, pretty covers and grafics we have on the blog. It's fun and I really liked it" Great Post! 

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