I love Pinterest. It's my go-to recipe search for all the summer vegetables coming in from the garden, but it's not just sharing pictures of my awesome tomato crop. I pin concept art and photographs that inspire story ideas and characters, find other writers with writing tips, and connect to readers who share similar interests.
Did you know Pinterest is the third most popular social media platform behind Facebook and Instagram? Nina Harrington's Reasons Every Indi Author Should Be Using Pinterest has a lot to say about a platform considered first in visual media. Why is that important? A picture tells a story better than words in a crowded field of nanosecond eyeballing for interesting material. Where Twitter posts have an average lifespan of 24 minutes, and Facebook lasting maybe 90 minutes at most, Pinterest posts last over 13 weeks.
Book marketing expert with PublishDrive, Norah Myers, offers An Essential Guide for Authors, where she says: Pinterest is different for other social media accounts in that the focus is more on engagement with a like-minded community and curating their boards, rather than on "likes." It's a way to visually interact with other authors and readers, share favorite books, preferred genres, and writing tips learned along the way, and funnel readers to your author website, blog, and other platforms.
Don't know where to start? Try author and Social Media Strategist Francis Caballo, who says Pinterest drives more traffic than Twitter, and provides a list of boards every authors should have specific to genre. She also provides 20 Pinterest Accounts to Follow for Authors.
Visual social media maven Louis Myers goes into detail with How to Get Found on Pinterest. Penguin Random House suggests Visualizing Your Author Brand by pinning book jackets, books on your TBR list, quote cards on reading or writing, and character inspirations that might include period clothing, foods, or music.
Need a few suggestions where to find boards to follow? Here are just a few I follow.
https://www.pinterest.com/kikimojo/the-art-of-writing/
https://www.pinterest.com/dtkrippene/searching-for-light/
https://www.pinterest.com/doesnotloveyou/art-sci-fi-inspiration/
https://www.pinterest.com/heywriters/fantasyscifi-worldbuilding/