Can Your Novel Benefit From Pinterest?
How helping your reader will ultimately help YOU.
Are you hallucinating vividly while reading? Do you hear character’s voices in your head? I recently got to know that this is not something that everyone experiences. Heck, I have gotten to know that not many of us are capable of such things.
One of such people is my alpha-reader (and beloved sister) - Maja.
Maja asked me a couple of times how certain characters and places look like, she asked me for examples and visuals. I wondered why. I wondered if she just wants to get the “general vibe”, and then I got to know… she doesn’t hallucinate while reading.
The information crashed into me like a tsunami. “What do you mean you cannot… see things in your head?” I asked, gaping at my sister as if I was staring into an alien.
“I just don’t. I never did. I can imagine some things, but when I read - it’s words.” She answered as a matter of factly, shrugging with a blank face.
“Do you… read with your voice?” I asked as a followup.
Maja thought about it for a moment. “Sometimes I hear my voice, other times I just see letters.”
I stared at her in shock. I didn’t know it was a thing.
The next day I have assembled a Pinterest board to create general visuals for my sister to follow while she read the book.
She loved it, and said that it was helpful.
So I went further. Within a couple of days I have created several Pinterest boards for my characters, places, and general book visuals. Some of them I kept secret, since the stuff in them was connected with book 2. I also kept some of the pins away in a separate folder, not to spoil anything.
My sister’s reaction? Instant love to the idea. She also said that the character she hated is “pretty hot” and she was unsure why the female character wouldn’t like the guy (well, except for his character that is).
I later shared the boards with my alpha and beta readers. They all appreciated it and some came up with some conspiracy theories right away.
But what’s the point?
At this point of my Debut Novel - I have not much to show. My publisher has other books and authors to take care of, and there’s a timeline. This means my cover will be made June/July. My editor will take care of me May/June. Until then - I cannot really share much about the book except for the general concept. But my marketing needed to start NOW.
If you go to my website - you will see that I am hard on that debut novel. You will also see, that I have added “Pinterest Mood Boards” not only on the main page, but also on the series page.
Why would I do that? Because I want people to be able to get excited. Because I can later use those pictures for my short-form videos and marketing (videos such as… “If you like books with such a vibe… <insert pics> then you’ll love CROWN OF SHADOWS).
Bam! Marketing assets make themselves!
Shocking, isn’t it?
I bet as an author you have a couple of Pinterest boards or folders with inspiration/visuals. Why not make them public and help those, who need a little nudge?
The boards? I love them. Not all of them are public (but here’s the sneak peak of 2 that are still secret. I’ll publish them when the book is out in the stores)
I will highly suggest to go to my Pinterest boards and check the stuff that I have made there. Maybe it will inspire you to make your own. Or buy my book. I’d appreciate both ;)
Don’t miss out on more stories about marketing my novel, as well as how I wrote it (we also have a book club!)
