Pinterest: A tool in a writer’s toolbox?

Let me start by saying, I love Pinterest!

As a visual person who likes to pretend I’m organized, it’s been a great way to capture things I see online that I don’t want to lose. I always fun inspiring recipes, craft ideas, etc.
Pinterest can be a great resource on several fronts. I don’t have ROI (Return on Investment) data to share, but I enjoy Pinterest. Here are a few things I have done:

I have board with my books on them. One for historical and one for contemporary. Those then link to my website for more information.
I created a board for A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island when it released: it includes links to reviews like the USAToday review as well as to blog posts I wrote about my research.
I’ve got a research board up on the Monuments Men. They are the subject of my next historical that releases in 2014, so as I was researching, I started throwing pins up to help me remember and start building a board for the books release.
I have boards with books I loved. When I’m really on top of it, those covers go to reviews I wrote on my blog. Otherwise, they go to Amazon or CBD so people can easily buy them.
Then I have lots of “fun” board. I think Pinterest is another way for people to get to know you. And it’s a tool I use because I like it. So I have boards on food, homeschooling, clothes, Christmas, decorating, etc. I even created a board last year to give people an idea of what people wore to ACFW. Took about ten minutes to build, but answered tons of questions with a glance.

People have talked about re-posting links so they become visible again. I haven’t played with that, but may start as A Wedding Transpires rereleases next month or as Shadowed by Grace releases next year. I’d hesitate to do that with pins that have been repinned though until I was sure it wouldn’t cause those to be lost.

If you’re on, what do you like about Pinterest?

Comments 8

Barbara

July 19, 2013 at 10:42 pm

Hi Cara. I enjoy Pintrest. I have 2, a personal account and an author account. I think this is why I’m overwhelmed 😉 I do think it’s a great author’s tool!

I have a board for my series, each of my books, authors I enjoy, Kindle freebies, and blog reviews. My personal one has the same, and cooking, crafting, CO specific and NJ specific, Woodstock, NASCAR and a few others.

I recently discovered Evernote, and I’ve been doing a lot on that. Similar to PIn, but more access.

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Cara
July 19, 2013 at 10:46 pm

I haven’t figured out Evernote yet. I love Pinterest though.

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Terri

July 20, 2013 at 12:47 am

Pinterest author boards provide a way to have books with pictures. An author can write a great description, but seeing a photo makes a huge difference, especially if its a foreign and/or historical setting. “Oh, like that!”