Tuesday Toolbox – Pinterest for Authors

I resisted joining Pinterest when it first broke onto the scene. I’m a word person, not a picture person. But promotion is about connecting with readers in their comfort zone and where they’re receptive to you. I also couldn’t ignore all those “Pin It” icons that were showing up everywhere, making it easy to add a pin to my boards.

At first I just pinned my book covers and covers from other authors I love, along with some outdoor pictures that I found inspiring. But then I realized that I could do more.

I have lots of ideas in my head of what my characters, their settings, and important objects look like, but descriptive writing is not my strength. Pinterest gives me a place where I can show readers a really good visual by repinning other people’s pins, and hopefully the people I repin from might be inclined to check me out. Maybe they’ll even be intrigued by what they see or remember my name.

I’m currently developing a couple multi-book series, and I’ve discovered Pinterest is a wonderful tool for connecting these books, both in my creative mind and for readers. For each series, I created a Pinterest board for all the books and characters in the series to mingle together.

For example, on my “Small Town, Big Dreams” Series board, I have the two pictures you see here. I also have pictures of Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon to represent Matt and Veronica from Construction Beauty Queen. I also found an awesome Halloween costume of a construction couple. In addition, I’ve posted some pictures that tie in to my upcoming release Love Him or Leave Him. Surprisingly, the pins of an abandoned bowling alley that I posted are quickly becoming my most repinned items. I’m catching the attention of people I never would have connected with otherwise.

Take a peek at my Pinterest boards. I’d love to hear which pins are your favorites, what you’d like to see added and how you think I could make my boards even better.