How to Bookstagram ≫ Part One

I have been asked a few times to give tips and tricks on how to bookstagram. I thought it would be easier to write a blog post so anytime someone asks me for some tips on bookstagram, I can just send them a link to this blog post.  Please keep in mind that this is just how I take photos, edit them, and whatnot!  I will be dividing this “How to Bookstagram” guide into three parts.  The first part is a little introduction to what bookstagram is, my personal experience, and a few tips and tricks.

Once I have all three parts up, I will link them here:

Part 2 – Content/Photos

Part 3 – Followers/Likes/Conclusion

overview:

What is bookstagram? Bookstagram is Instagram’s platform for book lovers.  The community is filled with people who want to share their love for books through photographs. 

my personal experience:

I have been a part of the bookstagram community since January 2, 2015.  My username is @celinereads. I was not sure how I felt about joining the community because at the time, I only owned around ten books and I thought that there was no way that I was going to be able to post regularly.  After I joined bookstagram, I started to buy more books to build my collection.  Keep in mind that you do not have to have a large collection of books to join the bookstagram community.  You can take photos of your own books, library books, e-books.  Basically anything that will allow you to discuss books with other book lovers.

how to get started

I wanted to help out those who want to start a bookstagram account and is hesitant or is unsure of how to get started or maybe you just started Instragram and want some pointers.

1. Username: It isn’t mandatory, but I suggest choosing username that has to do with reading.  It is just easier for other Instagrammers to be able to point out that you are a book related account.  If you can’t think of  a username, you can do what I did and use my first name and then add the word “reads” at the end, which is how I got CelineReads. Again, it is not mandatory, just a suggestion 🙂
2. Photos: I will go more in-depth with how to take photos, themes, and filters in part two, but I just want to briefly discuss it in this section.  I started out with taking photos on my iPhone so it is definitely doable to have a bookstagram account with just a camera on your phone, iPod, iPad, laptop, anything.  I am all about natural lighting, and I highly suggest taking photos with natural lighting as well.  I find that photos are more true to color with natural lighting.
3. Quality Over Quantity: I personally think that it is better to post one good quality photo that you love and are excited to share with the world than posting multiple photos that you took just because you felt the need to post again.  I suggest having a “book photoshoot” whenever you have time so that you can have all your photos already taken care of and you can post them when the time comes.  Please don’t feel like you HAVE to post.  If you don’t feel like posting for the day, don’t.  It’s much better to wait until you feel like posting than forcing yourself to take photos or posting when you don’t have the effort to talk about the photo you want to post or don’t have the effort to take a photo that you’re proud of.  I like to post every twelve hours.  Occasionally, I will post more than that, but not usually.  Sometimes I only post once.  It all depends on how I feel.
4. What To Post: Post any photo you would like, but if you ever get a “photo block” and cannot think of anything to post, join a monthly book photo challenge. I try to make the bookstagram experience easy for myself and fellow bookstagrammers by creating monthly challenges.  If you join in on any monthly challenge, then you will basically have a whole month of photos sorted out for you.  
5. Captions: My only tip/suggestion for captions is to be honest and to be yourself.  Also, try to be kind and respectful to others.  If you’re sharing an opinion that other people might not agree with you on, try your best to state that you respect everyone else’s opinion, but this is your opinion

conclusion

If you are thinking about joining the bookstagram community, I think you should go for it!  Joining bookstagram was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I don’t regret joining the community at all!  If you want me to check your bookstagram account out, comment your username below and I’ll be sure to check it out!

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xoxo,

Celine