Pinterest is my big electronic scrapbook for thousands of great pictures. I have scrapbooked for years and collected idea files full of pictures. It’s nice to have a place to organize everything. I didn't get hooked on the site until I ruptured my Achilles tendon, and I was stuck on the couch for months. During my long recovery, I pinned hundreds of pictures. I have boards (the containers you create to group pictures) for crafts, DIY projects, funny memes, recipes, and places I've been or dreamt about.
Writers can use this social media platform to highlight their books and provide visuals for their work. And many of the Lethal Ladies have quite a collection of pictures and videos. Here are some ideas for ways to use the platform.
1. Build a board for your book. Post pictures of what characters would look like, what actors you want to play them in the movie, locations where they visit, and things they like. I have a board for the anthology series that I'm a part of. It's Virginia is for Mysteries, and I have pictures of all the sites mentioned in the stories. When the artist started work on my upcoming novel’s cover, he asked what my private eye looked like. I sent a link to my Pinterest board.
Check out the Lethal Ladies’ links. Mary Miley, has a board for her 1920s mysteries with all the historical things from that era. Maggie King has boards for her short stories, novels, and her favorite bookstores, and Mary Burton has boards for her books, settings, and great recipes. Fiona Quinn has boards for her blog and her thrillers. I have boards for my short stories, our book signings, and places in my first novel, Secret Lives and Private Eyes (May 2016). In my novel, my sleuth lives in a Sears mail order catalog house assembled around 1939. I was able to show pictures of what her cottage looks like.
2. Build boards of your favorite books, authors, and genres.
3. Make boards for themes in your book (e.g. pets, historic sites, locales, fashion, foods, crafts, etc.) Mollie Cox Bryan, writes a scrapbooking-themed series. Her Pinterest boards are loaded with ideas and templates for all kinds of creative projects.
4. Create boards for your author events and upload photos of signings, panels, and workshops. Make sure to include links to your website in the descriptions when you upload photos or videos because they do get shared and repinned.
5. Create collections of your favorite libraries, book events, book clubs, and book stores.
This platform has lots to offer writers and lets readers visualize characters and settings in your book. Let's connect on Pinterest.
Heather Weidner's short stories appear in Virginia is for Mysteries and Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II. Her debut novel, Secret Lives and Private Eyes, will be published in May 2016.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather Weidner has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. She currently lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers. She is a member of Sisters in Crime International, Guppies, and Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia. She is currently President of Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia.