Our Industry: An Interview with Pro Bookstagrammer & Collector Extraordinaire BookBookOwl
- Lizabeth Phoenix
- Mar 6, 2021
- 9 min read
Today's Interview Topic: Engaging your Audience and Working with Publishers
About Jen:
Jen is an absolute pro at the Bookstagram game, hailing from the gorgeous Perth, Western Australia. As a lover of beautiful book covers and photography, she found a way to combine her love and became a book collector a few years ago. Her growing TBR sparked the creation of her Instagram account @bookbookowl, and she now spends her time curating the most colorful, towering book stacks you’ve likely ever seen and keeping track of her co-owned account, @readthebooktours.
Hello Firebirds!
I’ve had the absolutely delightful opportunity to interview Jen of the truly vibrant bookstagram account, @bookbookowl. She has thoughtfully shared her time to chat with me about how those looking to ‘go pro’ in the bookstagram niche can engage with their audience and maintain positive working relationships with both publishers and authors who reach out to our corner of the Internet to promote new releases. So if you’re currently scratching your head about how to be inclusive of the various publishing routes available nowadays, or unsure how to cultivate healthy, supportive connections through our charming online community, check out this interview! We'll be diving into these topics in-depth and getting you the answers you’ve been searching for!
Hi, Jen! Thank you again for taking the time to interview with me! Your platform is one of the most picturesque accounts I’ve come across since joining bookstagram roughly a year ago, and I'm overjoyed to be chatting with you today. As an ice breaker, what books are you most excited to read this year?
Definitely Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff, Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber and Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab!
I've been following Kristoff's promotional campaign for EotV and his fans are SO excited for the release! The hardback cover is stunning, so it should look right at home among your shelves! Your pictures never fail to catch my eye while scrolling, so I just have to know, how long did it take you to grow your collection?
Thank you so much! I’ve been collecting books for MANY years (about 30 😅) but my collection has grown exponentially in the last few years, thanks to so many wonderful publishers sending me so many books!
It's a dream of mine to one day be able to read as many books as you do! Based on your experience within our community, is there anything you've learned since starting your bookstagram that you wish more people knew?
That you often can’t keep up with what Instagram wants and you’ll exhaust yourself if you try. If you’re not comfortable or don’t enjoy taking pictures of a certain style, using certain Instagram features etc, just don’t. I have always treated bookstagram as a job, due to the amount of time I dedicate to it, but it shouldn’t have to feel like a chore.
When truly serious about growing your community, I agree that it's a good idea to go into bookstagram treating the platform as its own job (part-time, maybe?), rather than a hobby. For those interested in growing their accounts to reach a broader audience, establish an author platform, or gain readership for their other book-based social platforms, do you have any advice for how to attract and engage with an audience?
My main advice is don’t post and run. Stick around after you post and reply to comments, talk to other bookstagrammers, authors etc in your DM’s. Don’t be afraid to reach out and say hi (just don’t reach out for the first time to someone you don’t know and request they follow you or market your page for you). Attracting an audience is getting harder and harder on Instagram. It can be super frustrating and demoralising when you put in so much work, but keep at it, keep posting, keep commenting, keep chatting to other people in the community.
Agreed. It's important to make up your mind not to give up if you don't see an immediate jump in followers. More often than not, genuine, meaningful effort pays off over time. For the many bookstagrammers who are just getting started, understanding how Instagram operates can be challenging. What are your suggestions for literary accounts who want to stay on top of the platform’s many changes?
To be brutally honest, I don’t think you can. It’s next to impossible to keep up with every new change Instagram makes. I wrote a blog series on bookstagram tips for newbies, but the platform changes so quickly now, what worked last week might completely fail this week! If you see something new and fun you’d like to try, don’t be afraid to give it a try. But don’t be afraid to ignore those new bells and whistles if they don’t appeal to you. The new Reels seem to help some people grow and not others. I personally don’t enjoy making them, so I leave them to the people who do!
Sounds like a solid strategy, to me! Plus, finding what works for you not only makes it more natural for us to create content, but it also makes participating in the community more fun. Expanding on that note, what does a day in the life of a professional bookstagrammer look like for you?
I usually take photos in batches once each week, as I have 2 businesses to run and a 4 year old to look after. I then spend another day editing those photos. I have a running calendar of all the posts I need to schedule for each day - tour stops, ARC reviews, new books etc, then each day I post, usually once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The rest of my spare time is dedicated to replying to comments, replying to DM’s and chatting to other bookstagrammers, emailing publishers and authors, brainstorming new pictures and reading ARC’s!
My brain exploded just reading your to-do list! One great point you mentioned is batching content. Scheduling posts can be a lifesaver when it comes to time management, as I'm just starting to discover. Can you give us a brief glimpse into your reading and review process?
I keep a monthly list of all the books I intend to read that month, including the ARC’s that have publication dates coming up or the books I’m participating in a bookstagram tour for, with a couple of books I’ve purchased thrown in, if they’ll fit! I always review a book immediately after finishing it, before I forget any character names or get the plot confused with the next book I’m reading! I post the review on my blog, Goodreads, and email the link to those to the publisher who sent me the book. I often then post a link to my blog review in my Instagram stories.
Providing links makes it so much easier for your audience engage with your latest content, and can even help them discover new reads! Considering this, Instagram is a very valuable marketing platform for publishers, and many book lovers are able to collaborate with both major publishing houses and independent authors to offer broad viewership for a release. How can influencers best maintain a positive working relationship with the publishers and authors they work with?
Do your absolute best to review any books you’ve requested within the required timeframe. I get sent many books I haven’t requested and I try my hardest to post a photo of those on Instagram, but I don’t always have time to read them, there are just too many. But if I have specifically requested a book from a publisher, I will record it in my calender of books to read to make sure I send in my review by the publication date. So, to keep up with your review books, don’t request too many at a time! I work with lots of publishers, so I will only request one [or] two books from each publisher that I think I will really enjoy. Publisher’s also like to see your reviews. Don’t expect them to go looking for them - a quick email with a link to your blog review will make their life so much easier!
As you mentioned, making the publisher's experience as positive as possible not only supports the ongoing professional relationship, but may even open more doors to continue working with them in the future! That's actually a great segue into our next topic: Bookstagram provides a perfect opportunity for authors, readers, and reviewers to connect, discuss, and support each other in our industry. What are your thoughts on cultivating healthy, supportive connections through our online community?
I think respect on both sides is important. From a bookstagramer’s point of view, I appreciate when authors acknowledge that my time is valuable and important. If an author would like to request a review or feature for their book, I appreciate if they’ve gone to the effort to take a look at my Instagram page or blog, to see what type of books I usually read and whether their book would be a good fit for me. I have a review policy on my blog and state the type of books I don’t read or review. I receive hundreds of review requests each month and on top of publisher ARC’s there’s simply not enough time to accept many of them at all, so if an author has gone to the extra effort to engage with me in a natural way and read my review policy, there’s a much higher chance that I might slot their book into my schedule!
On the flip side, I think reviewers need to remember it’s not easy for authors to get noticed, especially those self publishing, and they may just not know how to go about it. Kindness costs nothing, so if you need to turn down a request, do it politely. If you accept a request, make sure you review the book in the agreed timeframe.
As far as supportive connections between the community as a whole, I think fostering an environment of acceptance, that we are not all the same, is the only way to ensure everyone can have a positive bookstagram experience. We don’t all enjoy the same books, we are not all interested in the same things, we are all individual people.
I agree; understanding that we each have different perspectives and preferences can help us make our bookish corner of the Internet a safe space for discussing the literature that we love. On a similar topic, as a professional bibliophile, what are your thoughts on how influencers can be inclusive of the various publishing routes available to the modern author?
Obviously it is can be much harder for an independently published book to gain as much traction on bookstagram as books coming from a big publishing house. I co-own a bookstagram tour company called @readthebooktours with Jodie from @readthewriteact and we often work with independent authors to get their books in front of a large audience. The trick really is for your book to be seen multiple times, by lots of accounts in a short period of time. This builds interest and popularity and bookstagram can do that in a way that can rarely be found by someone just browsing a bookstore.
I do love browsing the shelves at brick-and-mortar stores, but–in congruence with what you mentioned–lately I've been discovering the majority of my future reads online. It’s a great way to stay on top of new releases! Before we sign off, I do have more of a lighthearted question: Who was your favorite character from your 2020 reading list, and what can we as readers learn from them?
Oh gosh, I can barely choose a favourite 20 books, choosing one favourite character is extremely hard! I did absolutely adore Addie from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue though. What can we learn from them? Hmm? Don’t make deals with attractive demons? I still would though 😂
I haven't read it yet, but I think avoiding ill-advised deals at all costs is always good advice! Finally, where can someone contact you regarding future marketing, reviews, or partnerships, and do you have any submission guidelines people should know about (preferred publishing platform [traditional, indie, or both], do you accept ARCS, any genres or content you do not read, etc.)?
I don’t accept many unrequested review copies at the moment, due to time constraints, but we do accept tour requests at instagram.com/readthebooktours.
My review policy is on my blog bookbookowl.com and when I am accepting reviews, I have no preference as to publishing platform. If the book looks like something I’d enjoy, I don’t mind how it was published! I generally don’t read poetry and read very little romance. I do particularly love thrillers, YA fantasy, and magical realism!
It looks like that's the end of my questions! Thank you again for interviewing with me, and for letting us know where we can find you and your book tour account! I look forward to seeing what new books will be popping up on your feed in the coming months!
Connect with Jen:
For those of you looking to follow a breathtaking bookstagram and quite possibly come down with a case of serious shelf-envy, you can follow Jen on social media! Check her out at the links below:
Firebirds,
How do you reach out and connect with your audience? Let's chat in the comments below!
*Disclosure: This interview is not sponsored, and neither party receives compensation for this post. As of the original date of posting, I am not earning income from any links or collaborations.
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