Just over a year ago, one of our favorite authors, Steve Piacente, did a great post: 8 Ways Authors Can Use Pinterest” –and showed us many of his own boards, including artist sketches of his book scenes, even rejected covers (fun!).

I confess, I wasn’t totally convinced. Sure, Pinterest is lots of fun, and I’ve done my wee share of pinning and heading down that rabbit hole, but as I talked about early on in a post: Pinterest for Authors? I’ve been doubtful of its actual marketing effectiveness for you as authors, unless you’d written a cookbook, or maybe a children’s book.

Ah, but fast forward to 2015 and Pinterest has a real treasure trove of photos and links on anything from history to fun book art to places we need to see (and those we don’t). Marketers are hyping it daily as a must-do. As if I needed more evidence, suddenly our Google Analytics shifted to show more people were arriving at WWW from Pinterest than even Twitter or Facebook… and that’s with me doing very little on the site besides getting lost in the pretty pictures…

So, a few more of our authors are now conducting some research of their own into Pinterest, to determine if it brings more readers to their author websites. We’re monitoring their progress, and will be circling back with each in the next few months to share their results.

We encourage you to share your boards with us too, or read on to discover what sort of boards you may want to post on Pinterest!

Meet Mary Arno

Mary’s novel, Thanksgiving, releases this fall and Mary’s new Pinterest page now includes several boards, including our favorite, a walk through the pages of her book. Mary took photos of many of the “real life” places in Louisiana (New Orleans and Baton Rouge) that appear in her novel, then matched them with quotes from the book. Clever, useful, and a fun way to get an even greater sense of “place” than words can offer!

Author Mary Arno’s Scenes from Thanksgiving

Meet Kat Varn

Kathleen Varn’s challenge is that her current novel, still in the writing stage, involves a lot of research into the post WWII era of the Tin Can Sailor, while her last novel surrounded the mystique of being thrown into a troupe of belly dancers. Rather unrelated topics, but diverse Pinterest boards can address each. So, boards for her book, Ameera Unveiled, and her dance troupe, and her new book, In Her Father’s Jacket, and just for fun, fellow favorite authors.

In Kat and Mary’s case they’ve also already built boards more “author/book specific” in terms of pics of the covers, awards they’ve received. These can also be used to tout reviews, or highlight pics from book signings:

Kathleen Varn’s board about Ameera Unveiled includes her author photo, writing space, website, awards and reviews…

Mary’s author board offers up her cover contest link, a pic of her Faulkner Gold Medal (quite an honor!), her pic, website and more…

Meet Thomas P. Wise

Thomas P. Wise’s new Pinterest boards focus on his newest work coming out this November, Life on Base: Quantico Cave. Again, great pics being found, in this case right on Pinterest, Tom is then matching them to excerpts from the forthcoming book:

Quotes from Life on Base: Quantico Cave, by author Thomas P. Wise

Pardon the pun, but getting the “picture?”

What Else Can You Pin?

Besides all the great ideas Steve Piacente offered up HERE, you might consider these as well:

Unique art made from books: Remember cutting through the pages of an old book to create a clever safe for your keepsakes? Repurposing books has come a long way! Want a headstart? Check out this board full of amazing art: https://www.pinterest.com/lanalang/book-art/

Best indie bookstores: Start a board of the greatest you’ve actually been to (or where you’ve done a booksigning) or those you want to visit. Just get a look at these we found in a Pinterest search:
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=best%20book%20stores

Coolest libraries: We’ve begun one on Pinterest but it’s not nearly inclusive yet. Can’t wait to have more time to go browsing through these stacks!
https://www.pinterest.com/sharijstauch/lovely-libraries/

Got the munchies?: If food is your thing, you’ll find plenty of it on Pinterest. But what about where your book characters eat? Or what they make or bake? Need some inspiration?
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=literary%20food

Okay, show and tell time – We want to see your boards — include a link to any you’d like to share with your comments below. Do you have a Pinterest success story? We want to hear about that, too!