Indie Tuesdays—Pointers for Marketing with Pinterest

Jessica here. Today I have the pleasure of introducing my friend Dawn Crandall. One of the first things I remember from when we met was how gorgeous Dawn's One Sheets were. They were jaw-dropping, stunning. So when Dawn joined Pinterest I went right away and drooled over her boards. Today she's sharing some pointers for marketing with Pinterest. 

by Dawn Crandall @dawnwritesfirst

I was purposefully late onto the Pinterest boat when it became all the rage a few years ago. I didn’t especially like to cook, craft, or organize ... and that was what everyone pinned about, wasn’t it? At least that was what my friends seemed to pin about. And why did I need Pinterest to save my favorite photos off the internet? I already had several years’ worth of photos saved to my laptop to feed my imagination ... a whole folder full of “book photos” to show the different aspects of the imaginary world I written about for the last few years.

My debut novel, The Hesitant Heiress, will come out on August 1st from Whitaker House Books. Once I signed my official book contract, it didn’t take me long to make boards for all three of the books in The Everstone Chronicles series. When I went exploring I found everything I needed on Pinterest to make my boards just how I wanted them. 

Yep, Pinterest had it all. 

Really, in all actuality, I made my boards for myself. I love to look through them and recall the story I wrote back in 2010/2011. But I’ve come to realize that the people who’ve come upon my board and decide to follow it must see something of the story too, even with only little snippets of words either from the book or describing what the photo means for the story.

Here is a list of the kinds of things I looked for to include in mine:

• Photos of Back Bay Boston and Mount Desert Island, Maine
• The character “inspirations” for my hero and heroine
• Dresses that my heroine would wear
• Distinct items found in the book
• Horses, pets
• Houses, including interiors and exteriors
• Sayings that describe what the book is about
• Photos of specific scenes… if you can find them!

I included a few other writing related boards on my Pinterest page as well. I have an author board called “About Me” with links to my blog and twitter account. I share pictures of things that I love, and things that say a lot about me. I also add sayings that mean a lot to me and favorite Bible verses. Another one was my board for my blog, “A Passion for Pages.” Every time I blog about something I link it to this Pinterest board.

I have really come to love and value Pinterest—even if most of what is on there was pinned while I was very pregnant and having trouble sleeping at night—I sure had fun finding those photos! So far, since I’ve linked my Pinterest page to my blog, my twitter and my Facebook author page, I’ve had a pretty great turnout of soon-to-be readers who have followed the board for my debut novel. It’s basically become my favorite way of marketing… probably because it was something I was doing on my own on my laptop way before Pinterest was ever invented.

Jess again: What questions do you have for Dawn? Anyone else out there use Pinterest? How are you using it—for yourself (to store images) or for marketing? If you're a Pinterest user, what do you most like about it and have you ever purchased a book because you were intrigued by an author's board?

TWEETABLES

@Dawnwritesfirst shares pointers for #marketing #books with @Pinterest via #IndieTuesday @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Can an author use @Pinterest for #marketing? @Dawnwritesfirst says yes! #IndieTuesday via @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Dawn Crandall writes long inspirational historical romantic suspense from first person point of view. She has a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University and lives in northeast Indiana with her ever-supportive husband​, her three cats [Lilly, Pumpkin and Clover] and their newest addition, a little baby boy.

​CONNECT WITH DAWN

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Email: dawncrandallwritesfirst@gmail.com

THE HESITANT HEIRESS
After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy disappearing before her very eyes. Now the only way to achieve her goal comes with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: marry within the year to inherit her grandmother’s fortune. Amaryllis reluctantly takes part in her aunt’s society, intent on getting to the west coast on her own… and without a husband.

Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn't who she thought at all.