Monday, March 5, 2012

Pinterest for Writers

About a year ago my sister introduced me to Pinterest. We were planning her bridal shower and exchanged ideas through it. I had a lot of fun searching through the pictures and comparing notes with her.

Then she had this idea: "Wouldn't Pinterest be a fun thing for your writing?"

I started to think about that and created some writing related boards. But how effective is Pinterest for writing promotion?

I don't have the answer on that yet, but if you love visuals and sharing those with friends, then I think you would enjoy Pinterest.

Why do Pinterest?

1. Brings you inspiration for characters and settings.
2. Gives browsers quick views of categories such as book covers for a particular year, cool book trailers, or how to decorate with books.
3. See in pictorial form books agents represent. Examples: 
4. See what books publishers carry:
5. Discover books editors have edited:
6. Another way to share pictures you love in one easy location. It's easy to upload to Facebook and Twitter too.

How Does It Work?

The way it's set up is you build boards. Each board has a different topic of your choice and then you pin pictures onto it.

Ideas for Writing Related Boards:

1. Cool settings- Here you could post pictures of settings that would inspire a book idea.
2. Your book board- A pictorial representation of your story and characters.
3. Interesting personalities- I love this one to pin unusual characters.
4. Books worth reading- For this board I clip the covers of my favorite books.
5. Favorite book trailers- This is a great place to upload book trailers that you love from YouTube.
6. Quotes and sayings- Clip pictures you find inspirational.
7. Books in the home- There are great pictures of decorating with books.
8. Fun with books- Display pictures that show how fun books can be.
9. Libraries and bookstores- For those of you who still find these places enchanting.
10. Book covers of the year- post covers of books that you are excited to read for 2012, 2013...

If you do end up joining Pinterest, pop by and check out my boards at: http://pinterest.com/christinafarley/. And of course, I'd love to hear what you think!

Happy pinning!

21 comments:

Tez Miller said...

I only joined Pinterest a couple of weeks ago - and only started Pinning this week ;-) (Yes, I am slow...)

Bonnee Crawford said...

Seems like a cute idea and a fun way to get ideas for writing :D

Bish Denham said...

Interesting. I like the idea, but for me it would be another way to distract me from writing.

Christina Farley said...

I agree Bish. If it's not something you love or would have fun doing, then don't do it. I'm a very visual person so of course I love it.

Meredith said...

Ha, stop making it sound so useful! I'm so very tempted. :)

Christina Farley said...

Lol Meredith. You crack me up. So true!

PJ Hoover said...

Oh, Christina, I am so on the edge for this one. I've been seeing Pinterest pages and they look fabulous. Maybe I just need to book a day as my "Pinterest setup day" and go for it.

Golden Eagle said...

I've been seeing Pinterest around more and more lately . . . it sounds like a really cool site. :)

Anonymous said...

I've only been on Pinterest a few times. I think I have two things pinned.

This makes me want to be more active on it. I love these literary links. Thank you.

G.M. said...

Your Pinterest page is visually beautiful. I only heard about Pinterest two days ago when the literary agent Rachell Gardner posted about it. My book is also set in Asia, so I'm very curious about your Korean book. Do you mention in your book about contemporary culture in Korea, like famous singers and songs and Korean TV and movies? Thanks.

Angela Ackerman said...

Oh I don't think I knew about all these industry folks--some I follow, but not all. Thanks for putting this all together!

PInterest is so addictive. But it's fun and I think it offers us something new and exciting as a way to connect to others and also for promotion and marketing.

Christina Farley said...

PJ- yes, it's so easy to set up. I forgot to mention that. It would take an evening while watching TV because you really don't need lots of 'thinking' to go into it. Not like editing!

Golden Eagle- let me know if you get an account!

Medeia- yes, there are more editors and agents and publishing houses but my post was already long enough!

Giora- Wow! You are writing a Korean novel! That is soooo awesome. Korea has a very special place in my heart for a lot of reasons. No, for my YA that's set in today's time, I didn't mention any of the pop culture because my main character wasn't interested in it! And because bands come and go. If you do, I would stick with the oldies. Oh and their concerts are such an experience!

Angela- there are more people signing up everyday too. It's a start at least. I think it's different and it would catch your visual audience.

Kimbra Kasch said...

I'm just getting into this :) thanks for the info

Karen Strong said...

I love me some Pinterest. :) I'll have to start following you.

Thanks so much for these links. I had no idea all these people were using boards. I'll have to check them out.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

nice ill put this in my marketing roundup this week! :)

Christina Farley said...

Shelli- cool! Thanks!

Victoria Dixon said...

I do like the idea of pinning up pictures of characters in a place that won't clutter my house. LOL Thanks for the tip! I'll have to check it out.

S. Mozer said...

This is the first explanation of pinterest that has me tempted but how do you find the time?

Really, how do you find the time?

Vivian Kirkfield said...

Thank you for a nice bunch of tips for those of us who don't know much about Pinterest.

I'm visiting your blog from a comment you left on the SCBWI LinkedIn discussion about Pinterest. I'm not on it yet...but I'm thinking about it. I second Mozer's comment...but how will we find the time.:)

Darshana said...

Great post.
I liked your tips on how to organize. Right now I have a board where I pin all of my favorite kidlit related posts.
I have other boards for organizing kidlit books like by genre.

TN said...

I love world building and visualizing my writing work on Pinterest- here's what I have going on :D http://pinterest.com/paidtobenice/