I was going to call this post: 10 reasons to be on Instagram for the older/not young and trendy writer. Then I was going to strike out the word older using that particular key that lets you do it. But I can’t find it! That’s what being old(er) does to you.
So reasons to be on Instagram.
- Shhh, listen carefully – the young ones now tell me that only oldies are still on facebook. Sorry, I know, shocking etc. But it’s true. If you are hoping to engage with younger readers, you’ve got to be where they are. Which isn’t on FB. Plus FB is messing about something chronic and most of your followers on FB don’t even see your stuff.
- Basically, I’m nosey. You, as a writer, are probably also nosey, so in that case, Instagram is a great place to be. Plus you don’t have to write a lot, just add in a few #hashtags. You get to see what people had for their lunch, tea, that scone or cake in the coffee shop. You can see what their lounge looks like, their cat, dog, small child etc. It takes up less time than blogging. What’s not to like?
- It’s very important that you too visit lots of coffee shops and go out to lunch. And take photos. Basically as a writer that’s a win-win situation!
- You need to go shopping and buy lots of pretty stuff in order to take photos of it and put up a post. So you can tell your ‘other half’ with complete honesty that you HAVE to go shopping. It’s for work.
- You might have to upgrade your phone. If you are still running around with a tiny little phone with your phone number taped to the back ‘in case you forget your own number’, then you definitely need to up your game! You need an all singing, all dancing phone that takes great photos, connects to the internet, sets your lights to come on, the tv, the heating etc. Does it feed the dog and make dinner? Probably not.
- You have to buy lots of books and take photos of them. Well that’s not hard. You were buying lots of books anyway, and I’m sure you have a whole bookcase or three you could empty and take photos of.
- You get to find and follow your favourite author, or perhaps teenage daughter or son, or nephew or grandchild etc. Like I said, we’re a nosey bunch so that’s great.
- You can like someone else’s photo by hitting the ‘heart’ button. Easy. And if you really want, you can leave a random comment on a photo you like. So that saves you having a random conversation with the complete stranger at the till in Tesco/Boots/Waitrose/the doctor’s surgery etc.
- Leaving comments annoys the teenagers. They roll their eyes at you and make comments like ‘only old people leave comments’. So make a point on doing just that against all of their photos, they’ll love you for it.
- You might just connect with lots of other like minded readers and writers by searching for #hashtags like #romancewriter #bookstagram #amwriting #amediting #kindlebooks #instaromance #writingdesk #indieauthor . Use websta.me to search for different #hastags to follow and use some of them yourself when you post a photo.
Enjoy. Find me on instagram at Susannah_branson
Susannah Branson 