How Authors Can Grow on Instagram Before the Book Is Written

If you're an author wondering…

How on earth do I build an audience before my book is even written?

What on earth do I post on Instagram when my book isn't even done yet? 

Then I am so happy that you're here because I'm sharing five tips to help you grow an audience even before you finish writing your book.

So let’s jump in! 

Connect With Readers as a Fellow Human Being

Many times when authors start out on social media they think that the only thing that they can talk about are books, their writing process or the publishing world, and that isn't true. When you can connect with people as a fellow human being you are able to create a genuine connection with people. 

When readers feel like you're just trying to make a sale or that you're trying to make a connection so you can up the numbers of your followers, or anything that goes along with marketing, they can smell that a mile away. So what you want to do is to really focus on connecting with people as people. 

Thinking about it as not just an author trying to sell something and rather as a human trying to connect with another human is a wonderful way to start off on the right foot. 

Focus On Other Interests

So the second tip goes hand in hand with the first which is to focus on other interests that you have. Thinking about other things like…

• your hobbies

• interests

• things that you're involved with

• other organizations that you're a part of

• and things that you take part in in your community

Thinking about other things that you can talk about besides your book is a great way to add multiple layers to your profile but to also connect with people on multiple levels. 

Review or Feature Other Authors and Books

When you share other author's books in your genre is a great way to not only highlight the whole reading community in the whole writing community, but it also shows what books that you think are good. It's a great way to show your tastes in books and it also attracts readers who read within your genre. It’s a great way to build that community and create that connection. 

Share the Essence of Your Book

So the fourth tip is kind of broken up into two sections because one addresses fiction and the other addresses nonfiction.

If you write nonfiction, think about the pain points or the problems that your ideal reader has and how you and your book can solve those problems. It shows how you are an expert in your field and your viewpoint or your strategies to provide solutions for their problems. So highlighting a few of those those topics and addressing them in your social media posts is a great way to draw in your audience, offer help, and show that you know what you're talking about. 

And for fiction writers, when you can share the essence of your book you don't need to go out and tell everything that goes on in your book. But if you can share the topics or the themes of your book, that is a great way to break down what is included in your book without giving everything away. 

Engage With Readers

The best way to engage with readers is in the comments. Not just within the comments of your own post but within other people's comments. This can be within the comments of your followers and leaving some genuine remarks to what they posted or asking questions or really starting a conversation. 

And another way is to go in and using keywords or hashtags and seeing what other people are posting around your genre or within the topics that you discuss. Take a look at what other people post and then going into the comments to start a conversation with those people or leaving a genuine engagement. 

You never want to go into comments to promote your own book. Go in there to make connections and to start a conversation so that you can develop those genuine connections. It’s not going to feel gross or salesy because you're interested in these topics and you have something to say. You’re not coming right out and saying that you have a book about this topic. You're genuinely engaging with them as a human being. 

Growing an audience on Instagram doesn’t have to be complicated, take you away from your writing, or be a drag. It can actually be a lot of fun!

If you want to go a step further, be sure to download the What to Post Before Your Book is Published! It’s a free resource that will help you get started posting the right content to reach your goals.