Why Writers Need to Use Pinterest

January 12th, 2013 | by Beth Barany

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Beth Barany on PinterestMany writers look at me funny when I encourage them to get on Pinterest. They don’t see the connection. They write fiction. How can a picture-oriented site help them grow their audience?

While I admit that not one size fits all, I’m willing to bet that if you write fiction, much of your audience is also spending LOTS of time on Pinterest. What a great place to connect and bond over common interests. In that way you can grow your list, and share about your books.

If your readership is women who like cooking, food, fashion, clothes, jewelry, pretty things, movies, TV shows, favorite video clips, crafts, travel, design, animals, art, craft projects, cute men…(well, you get the idea) then Pinterest is the place for you.

Pinterest is like eye candy. I just hopped on their for research for this post, and got sucked in! I pinned several images into my Inspiration Board. (In Pinterest, your categories of interests are called Boards, and look like a bulletin board when opened up.)

So, don’t take my word for it. Use this handy infographic created by Intuit to see if Pinterest is right for you. (Thank you to WP Pinner for sharing this infographic.)

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Beth Barany helps authors get their books completed and out into the world, into the hands of their readers. She’s on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. But really she’s probably in a cafe writing this right now.

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  • Pamela

    I write fantasy…my target is male and female…which leads me, through this diagram to ‘forget it’? Why? Males are not visually oriented or only women interested in shopping, cooking, crafts, etc use this site???
    I am certain I am missing something here. ;)

  • http://www.mommiesandbeyond.com shanna

    Great Information. I am visiting via #BlogBoost. Thank-you for sharing information about Pinterest. I am trying to leasrn how to navigate it for Pinterest for my blog @ http://www.mommiesandbeyond.com

  • http://www.bethbarany.com Beth Barany

    Pamela, lots of images from fantasy are on Pinterest. You might what to search for dragons. I posted one here: http://pinterest.com/pin/284641638920577488/ ;-)

  • http://nonon-centsnanna.com Malika Bourne

    Thanks Beth. the extras on boards are a great idea.
    By the way, I used my pin-it widget in my tol bar and this post is pinned.

  • http://terryodell.com Terry Odell

    I’m more or less with Pamela here. I’m still very much on the fence. I’ve got a new account and some followers, but it seems that 95% of what I see is fashion or cooking. I’m not abandoning it, but I’ve yet to have someone say, “I found your books on Pinterest.” I’m of the ‘it can’t hurt to be more visible’ school, so I’m staying up there, but I wonder if there’s any hard data pointing to name recognition via Pinterest, much less an uptick in sales, which, ultimately, is why a writer would want to spend time on the boards.

  • https://twitter.com/MelindaBPierce Melinda B. Pierce

    I’ve seen some fellow authors use it for inspiration boards too, and I use it myself for a visual TBR pile. If at some point I get to add my own book and just two other people repin it – then I think it is worth the time. The more authors that use it, the more readers will notice and take an interest as a way to recommend books to others.

    Thanks for sharing and thanks for the chart!

    Melinda

  • http://www.bethbarany.com Beth Barany

    Melinda, I agree with you! And you’re welcome!

    Terry, Like any social media tool, it’s about exposure, and connecting. So only do it if it’s fun, and it helps you connect with people, potential readers, you may not have normally connected with in your everyday life. After all, that is what marketing is: connecting and sharing our message with others who would wouldn’t normally learn about us.

  • http://mona-karel.com/ Mona Karel

    I started pinning last year. At first it was just book covers, pictures of dogs, and re-pins from when I’d go trolling if I couldn’t sleep. Then I found pictures I’d been looking for, of the man who inspired my hero in My Killer My Love, and I wanted to share.
    I use a writing alter ego, and Facebook is mostly my “real” self while my blog and Twitter are my “writer” self. Pinterest is “Monica Stoner w/a Mona Karel”…so it’s all of me in one place. http://pinterest.com/monakarel/ At the moment I don’t have scads of followers but that’s growing day by day. And since I’m a visual person, plus I take a lot of photos, it’s a relaxing way to share the inspiration for my stories.

  • http://www.margaretfieland.com/ Margaret Fieland

    How do you pick a category? Too bad I can’t check more than one…

  • http://anneejohnson.blogspot.com Anne E. Johnson

    Thanks for this, Beth. I joined Pinterest a few weeks ago, but I haven’t done much with it. Maybe this will inspire me to get more involved, esp. by seeing how other authors use it.

  • http://alethadmcmanama.com Aletha McManama

    Beth, I so agree that once you get signed up with Pinterest, you can use the tool to build relationships, which is known as relationship marketing. It’s real…it’s authentic and it’s what your followers are looking for.

    When someone sees a book pinned on Pinterest, then shares it with someone else, it could potentially turn into a domino effect with that same book “pin” being pinned and “repinned” over and over. It’s a visual tool that can creates visibility for the author. That’s the way I see it.

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