7 Ways To Use Pinterest As A Writer

by guest blogger, Gabriela Taylor

Pinterest is steadily becoming one of the most revered social networks. While the crux of the site is about images, it does not imply that the site is only for cute kids, crafts and photography. Pinterest can be a highly beneficial resource for writers. Whether you are a SEO writer, copywriter or one who writes poetry, children books or fiction, Pinterest can be used to showcase your talent, find new opportunities, create a fan following or simply discover a whole new world.

Just recently it has been made public that Pinterest is the third most popular way to network socially. Only Twitter and Facebook have received more activity to date, making Pinterest the perfect ‘go-to’ source for writers and publishers.

Pinterest pins bring new meaning to the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” as most folks find that pinning and viewing interesting images is more enjoyable than reading through tedious texts. A writer working on a new project or seeking to promote a completed one can take advantage of the image-driven environment of Pinterest. Using the “Pin It” button allows them to organize and spread their ideas as they present themselves.

Here are 7 Ways on How To Use Pinterest As A Writer:

1) Research and organize

Researching is an important part of every writer’s process. By utilizing the ‘Popular’ feature found on the Pinterest home page, a writer can instantly access the latest trends from all genres. You can share them with others, blog about them or invite people from outside to participate in the creative process. You will be amazed at how fast the lists of ideas will grow!

Besides the ‘Popular’ feature, you can also download the ‘Pin It’ widget onto your tool bar. Use it to pin photos as you discover them directly to the board of your choice on Pinterest. This feature is especially useful while you browse. When you suddenly discover ‘the one’ from among the horde you can Pin It instantly simply by clicking the button and your photo is saved. No time is wasted by toggling between different tabs.

A really useful aspect to organizing images on Pinterest is that it generates the spontaneous discovery of images. You even find the ones you didn’t realize you were looking for. None of this requires you having to research specific keywords or define a particular search, something you would have to do if you were using Google.

Pining at Pinterest brings researching to a whole new dimension while making the process more effective and enjoyable. An author can create a separate board for every project he works on. No more wasted time and disk space used for creating hundreds of individual files. Use Pinterest to plan what you’re writing, how you develop it and how the final product will appear.

2) Inspiration

Every piece of written material starts off with a subtle trigger, which may have been caused by another author, book, an article read somewhere on the Internet or simply the love for language and literature. Pin to your board all the books, quotes or anything else that inspires you. An exclusive board to showcase this side of a writer could be a great idea as genuine interactions create a more loyal readership and your readers will feel more connected to you.

3) Organizing contests

Another creative application for Pinterest includes hosting contests. Put a cool new spin to your contest by starting a ‘Pin It’ contest. You could for example invite designers to design a cover for your new book. Create a collaborative board where they can upload the covers. Once a couple of covers have been submitted and pinned to the board, invite your readers, friends and family to ‘like’ and ‘repin’ the ones they like the most. The cover with more ‘repins’ and ‘likes’ will be the winner and the designer that created it could be rewarded.

4) Collaboration

Other ideas writers can employ on Pinterest include collaborating with other writers or your readers. Pinterest is the perfect place to organize writing teams and to pitch ideas smoothly and seamlessly. Access could be given to each other’s boards or one single board could be utilized by all. In this way, your book is easily and immediately accessible to editors too.

Send a free copy of your new book to your fellow writers or readers that agree to leave you feedback underneath the book cover.

This applies mostly to novels. Create two pins and in the comments box you can post a novel ending for each one. Ask your fellow writers or readers to vote on the story ending they prefer the most.

5) Promoting and selling

Promoting one’s book is a huge part of being successful as a writer. Pinterest is a great way for writers to give their publications a ton of exposure. You can compile photos establishing each aspect of your book. Main characters, future characters, locations, book covers, story inspiration and more can all be organized using interesting images, which are sorted for you on an online corkboard. These remain at your disposal at anytime from anywhere.

Create pin videos of yourself talking about the story of the book or pin quotes directly from the book. You can even pin to your boards Amazon reviews by using a tool called PinAQuote. This gives you the ability to create relationships with the people connecting to your particular brand.

By linking interested viewers of your Pinterest project to online retailers such as Amazon, ongoing sales can be realized. And as each pin comes with a Facebook and Twitter share button, your title can go viral in no time. Coupons and discount codes could also pinned to your board. Printable versions could be made available for customers to redeem with the brick and mortar retailers, boosting offline sales as well.

6) Keeping your readers updated

An author can use a Pinterest profile to generate a loyal fan base that continues to grow. Boards dedicated to your past, present and upcoming writing projects can make a nice portfolio. This will entice your readers to follow your progress during the work process, allowing them emotionally to connect to your story or project. Creating your boards and allowing your readers to participate in the process generates a loyal following like no other process available anywhere else.

Storyboards pinned on Pinterest greatly enhance a project. Create boards for specific characters. Different boards could also be dedicated to the setting of your story. A historically based novel would automatically gain credence from images based on actual events tied to actual places. Thus the reader is allowed a deeper more interactive experience, which can be instantaneously shared with others through their Pinterest profiles. Travel writers could pin photos of all the locations mentioned in their project.

7) Driving traffic to your blog

More and more boards are seen every day displaying titles such as ‘My Favorite Books’, ‘Books to Read’ and many others. The pin-board style of Pinterest’s photo sharing site is a perfect medium to gain leads and referrals, to generate interest and promote the sales of any book. People who share an interest in a particular book or author begin displaying images on their boards and instantly they are shared with their friends. These friends begin to share it with their friends and so forth. By simply using the Pin It button, information is multiplied by many thousands of users. The results become exponential and it’s like having an entire team of staff working on your behalf.

The ‘Pin It’ widget on your site, next to a book’s cover makes it exceptionally easy for anyone to place the image of that book into their own Pinterest profiles. Because a link is connected to the image, it will lead back to your website generating large amounts of interest in the book. Pinned trailers and videos can be linked back to your site as well.

Do not forget to add a keyword rich description for each image on your site or board. You have 500 characters to do it. In the description include your site url as this is a ‘dofollow’ link. And the more pins and repins you get, the more votes you’ll get for your site.

To track your efforts on Pinterest, there is a great resource called Pinreach. PinReach is a fresh new start-up that focuses on providing insight and analytics for your Pinterest campaigns.

All the tips above highlight Pinterest as a highly effective platform for giving people and, more importantly, writers the leverage to gain the upper hand for themselves and their brands and products. It is easy to see how the Pinterest community continues to grow and evolve. It is amazing to see how especially effective the entire process can be for you as a writer. Pinterest is growing, and growing fast, and the time is right for you as someone who wants to distribute their creative work to use Pinterest to drive interest and ultimately sales of your products.

Do you have questions about how to use Pinterest as a writer? Do you have ideas that aren’t listed here? Please use the comments form below and let the discussion continue!

Guest blogger, Gabriela Taylor, is an internationally educated Global Online Marketing Strategist and Consultant who’s worked with some of the world’s biggest brands in Telecommunications, Retail, Lifestyle and Advertising.

Her book, “The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Your Business With Pinterest“, is available at Amazon.com.