Public Relations Blog

Social Media 101: Using Pinterest as an Author Tool

Pinterest badgeIt’s hard not to immediately think about recipes, hair tutorials, or DIY projects when someone mentions the word “Pinterest,” and it can seem like there is no room for anything else when your own boards are filled with these exact objects. But as an author, you can take advantage of Pinterest—and most importantly, have fun with it.

Does your main character that has a love of dresses and cute shoes? You can create a Pinterest board full of the exact clothing that she wears. Was there a specific playlist of songs that you listened to over and over again while you were writing your latest novel? You can make a board solely based on the songs and artists you listed to. Do you have a blog that you post to weekly? You can upload them onto a board based on your blog. Are there a number of quotes from your book that can be added to a graphic? Post them up on a colorful background. Are you participating in the Gilmore Girls/Rory Gilmore books challenge? Add a pin of each book you’ve read so far. (And good luck. That’s quite the goal!)

There’s so much more that you can do with Pinterest, and the best part about it is that you aren’t just limited to one thing (140 characters, a photo, a status). You can make as many boards as you want, full of as many pins as you want.

Another great aspect of Pinterest that makes it different from other social media is that it is a passive and harmless: it’s highly unlikely that you’ll come across a critical or a negative comment, and you don’t have to consistently keep others happy with tweeting, retweeting, liking, commenting, etc.

Make sure that you are maximizing Pinterest by adding a follow button to your website. If you have a blog, you can add a “pin it” button to your website. This allows someone who likes your blog posts to add them to one of their own boards, and it’s one more way that you can market your blog and website.

One last warning, however: You might want to put a timer on though for how long you can spend on Pinterest each day, because Pinterest is an addiction like no other!

Are you an author or a brand that uses Pinterest? Tweet at @McKinneyPR on your favorite ways to use it.