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If you have read my previous posts on the blog, you might have seen that I talked about getting properly involved in the book scene a few years ago.
This was and still is one of the best decisions I have ever made because the community is so loving and welcoming, and it’s simply fun to spend a lot of time with people who share the same hobby as you.
Bookstagram, in particular, is one of the largest and most thriving bookish communities on the web. Because of the engagement model, you need to always be as active as possible to gain followers and increase your visibility.
But, being creative every single time has its drawbacks. For example, you might run out of ideas one day and realize that your account is no longer as engaging as it used to be.
Now, this shouldn’t make you think that I subscribe to the idea that the motive behind your Bookstagram account should solely be getting more followers. But if you would like to engage with other members of the community, then visibility is crucial, and you can achieve that by posting content that keeps the community talking.
In this post, I have listed some of the most fun and bookish things that you can and should post on your Bookstagram account. This would work very well if you have something like a posting schedule or if you have goals for your account.
1. Book recommendations
It goes without saying that if you have a bookstagram account, then you definitely want to talk about books. The best way to do this and to also make more friends who enjoy the types of books you do is to post book recommendations.
This could be based on specific genres, themes, moods, or tropes. The baseline is that you should include pictures of books you have read and enjoyed, or that you feel others would enjoy.
Remember, a big part of having a bookstagram account is ensuring your template is consistent from beginning to end. So think about which colors you’d like to associate with your account, and start from there.
2. Book character cosplays or dress-up challenges
If you’d like to take the creativity up a notch, you could host a cosplay event based on your favorite book. You and your followers can then dress up as characters from that book.
I’ve said it countless times, but cosplay is genuinely one of those fun activities that spans almost every sphere of society. There’s nothing as enjoyable as nerding out with your audience this way.
3. Reading updates with progress bars or captions about your current reads
If you don’t have book recommendations to give, you could also post regular updates about the books you’re enjoying. You can do this by adding progress bars or indicating with a caption that it’s a current read.
Even better, if it’s a book you’re reading with friends, you can tag them and talk about what you’re enjoying about the book so far, as well as what you think others will enjoy about it. Remember to add relevant hashtags.
4. Book-themed playlists featuring songs that match the mood or themes of a book
Sometimes when we read a book, it feels like there’s an accompanying soundtrack in our heads. Many readers appreciate knowing this, because it ups the reading experience. In fact, some authors make the effort to include a soundtrack in the front matter of the book.
If this is something you’ve experienced or find interesting, you could post about books and the songs you feel have a similar vibe on your Instagram account. People can comment and give you feedback on what they think about your playlist.
Related: 30+ Bookish New Year Resolutions To Start Off The Year Right
5. Bookish merchandise showcases
There was a very beautiful trend a couple of years ago called What’s in my bag? Basically, people would lay out the contents of their bags and post them on their bookstagram accounts. More often than not, many things in the bags were book-related items.
For example, I once saw a person who had a book-shaped perfume, and her key holder was shaped like a bookmark. If you have these types of items, you could also show them on your Instagram account, and trust me, it’s going to get a lot of people talking.
6. Bookish challenges like readathons or buddy reads
The very first thing I did when I started my bookstagram account, which unfortunately I’ve abandoned now, was a buddy read with a person who is now a very famous influencer.
We read A Woman Is No Man, which I absolutely enjoyed, and we posted updates on our Instagram accounts and tagged each other on both our stories and in the carousel. Not only did this improve visibility, but it also helped us keep the conversation going with our followers.
If this sounds interesting to you, you could host a readathon where you and your followers set aside time to simply read, or you could organize a group buddy read or even start a small book club.
7. Book spine poetry where you arrange books to create poetic phrases or verses
This idea might seem a bit impractical, especially if you don’t purchase paperbacks, but trust me, you can still make it work because what really matters is how effectively you execute it.
Essentially, what you want to do is line up various books and use their titles to create poetry. It doesn’t have to be deeply profound poetry; ideally, it should be amusing and whimsical enough to evoke reactions from people.
8. Bookish memes or jokes
One thing I will always be grateful to TikTok for is popularizing and making memes cool. You can’t scroll through TikTok without coming across a meme to laugh at, and that’s something perfect.
For those of us in the bookish community, this means sharing book-related memes and jokes that our fellow book lovers will not only appreciate but also relate to.
These memes can range from poking fun at popular book tropes to sharing experiences that are unique to readers, or simply highlighting funny moments from the world of books.
9. Reading nook inspiration
If you have a reading nook in your apartment and you want to show your followers where you spend your reading time, take a cool picture of it and upload it to your Bookstagram account.
Even if you don’t have a reading nook at home, you can still post pictures you find online and discuss what you admire about them and how you envision your own in the future.
If neither of these ideas resonates with you, consider making a post about your favorite reading positions, your preferred reading area, or your reading habits. This can definitely spark a conversation among your followers.
You May Also Like: 14 Bookish Events To Host With Your Fellow Book Lovers
10. Book cover comparisons
I know for a fact that one thing that frustrates the book community is when some books have multiple covers, and often the less attractive cover ends up being the one widely circulated.
If you’ve been thinking of a bookish idea for your Bookstagram account, you could post different covers of a book and compare them. These covers could be from different editions or international versions.
Discuss why you like or dislike each cover and what changes you think the designer should have made. It’s a great way to engage your followers and spark discussions about book cover designs.
11. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of your reading process, book hauls, or unboxing videos
Unboxing videos have such a strong grip on me—I can never seem to scroll away from them. Even better are book hauls where creators share their new books and snippets of themselves reading.
Always remember to prioritize your privacy, but if you’re comfortable with it, sharing your book hauls or unboxing videos is a fantastic idea to keep your viewers engaged and entertained.
12. Bookish trivia or quizzes
You could also host a literary trivia or quiz on your Bookstagram account, where you ask your followers or other creators questions about popular books.
It would be even more engaging if the books mentioned had been previously discussed. This type of post can really test your audience’s knowledge of books and authors. It’s a great way to interact and have fun while sharing your love for literature.
13. Book-to-movie adaptations comparisons
As far as I know, the bookish community has a love-hate relationship with movies adapted from books. If you want to keep the conversation going on your bookstagram account, you could decide to tackle a movie that was adapted from a book.
What you want to do is compare the two formats and then share your thoughts, whether negative or positive, with your audience. Also, invite them to join the discussion.
14. Bookshelfie tours
Depending on your comfort level with sharing images of your living area, you could also share pictures and videos of yourself and spice things up with a voiceover that explains items on the shelf.
Last year, there was this viral video of a girl in front of herself, and what made it go viral were anime figures in very suggestive positions plastered behind her on the shelf.
I’m not suggesting you go all out to make a statement or get your name in the news, but if you want to get people talking, consider doing something that sparks a conversation.
15. Polls or Q&A sessions with your followers
Interactive sessions with followers are perfect because they help keep the conversation going and attract people, unlike other types of posts that may require self-promotion.
Fortunately, Instagram has a poll feature that can be added to comments now, but doing it on your story works just as well.
The algorithm tends to reward posts with high engagement. Once it notices a lot of interaction on your post, your visibility will increase significantly.
16. Book-inspired recipes or food pairings
If you’re into cooking, creating recipes or food pairings inspired by your favorite books is a great idea.
This could involve decorating a cake based on a book’s theme or making a dessert shaped like a character. The goal is to create dishes that are both creative and beautiful, inspired by literature.
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The ideas mentioned above are just a few examples of posts you could include in your Instagram publishing rotation, and they’re all designed to attract and engage your ideal audience.
As I mentioned earlier, the layout of your Instagram feed (your templates) is important because visuals attract a lot of people. Make sure your feed is visually appealing to captivate your audience.
There are many more posts on the blog about thriving as a bookstagrammer, so be sure to check them out. To get started, here’s a post on the best jobs for every book lover.
