Pinterest Ideas for the Indie Author

For this post, I'll assume you're familiar with Pinterest. If not, no worries, I don't judge, check it out here and then come back. This is not a tutorial, rather an idea-dump from a one-man brainstorming (and idea-borrowing) session.

Pinterest has been called a lot of things, from a virtual bulletin board to an image-based social media platform to a glorious waste of time. I also consider it a free organization tool for indie authors, and I'll tell you why.

By allowing you to 'pin' online images to one of your 'boards,' Pinterest can be thought of as a collection of bookmarks identified by recognizable images. You can create as many boards (topics) as you like, designate them as public or 'secret' (for your eyes only), and fill them with whatever type of pins (linked images) you choose.

I'll use my Pinterest site as an example, but the possibilities are endless.

• Save imagery for writing inspiration - settings, character appearance, clothing, nature, weather, scenes, book covers, and more.

• Organize your resources with boards for different topics - history, reference, tips, advice, info-graphics, etc.

• Create a board to showcase and promote your work - blog posts, book reviews, author interviews, etc.

• Develop a board for each of your books or projects, or your upcoming works-in-progress.

• Show imagery from your writing as you envision it, providing readers a peek at how you see your settings and characters by pinning pictures that remind you of your vision.

• Save your favorite public domain and royalty-free photographs for future use in your blog, book covers, projects, etc.

• Create a board with links to every store and website where your book can be purchased.

• Populate a board containing things you enjoy, as if it were a visual author biography.

• Use 'secret' boards to prepare works-in-progress until they are ready for release or to collect offbeat ideas you're not sure you want to go public (yet).

• Make a 'wishlist' or 'bucket list' board for events, goals, activities, accomplishments, etc.

The above are just a smattering of ideas I've toyed with or imitated from others, but I'm sure you'll have great ideas of your own, and hopefully this helps bring them to fruition. As always, please share any ideas you have or that you may have seen. I'm always fascinated by the creativity of others.

Carol E Wyer is a Pinterest-savvy author I follow who also has a lot of great pinning ideas. Check out her boards for more concepts, or different ways of implementing ones I've mentioned.

Author Update: I'm working on the final chapter re-write for Mirrors & Mist before I send it back to my editor. My internal goal is to complete this milestone by the end of February, then switch to finalizing the 2nd edition of Crimson & Cream. I'm also working on cover ideas for Mirrors & Mist as well and trying not to become a social media hermit. Busy, busy!