From Edie: Samantha Tschritter shares Instagram basics for authors with this beginner-friendly guide to creating banners, improving bios, adding links, and using Stories and Highlights.
Instagram for Authors: A Beginner’s Guide to Banners, Bios, Links, Stories, and Highlights
by Samantha Tschritter @SETschritter
For this tutorial, I am writing to someone who is unfamiliar with both Canva and Instagram. Some of these steps might seem silly to you, but there is zero point to writing a tutorial that does not tutor everyone.
The How-To Video: “What is an Instagram Banner and How Do You Create One?”
What is an Instagram banner?
An Instagram banner is three posts that remain at the top of your Instagram posts page and together form one congruent image.
For instance, for Lynette Eason, I created these posts:
Those together form this image.
Let’s reverse engineer this bad boy.
Step 1:
Open Canva.
Hopefully, you’re still with me.
Step 2:
Create a new project. It does not matter what size you choose, because …
Step 3:
In the blueish-purple bar at the top, on the left, you’ll see a house icon, “File,” “Resize,” and “Editing.” Click “Resize.”
Step 4:
Click: “Custom Size.”
Step 5:
Change the units from px (pixels) to in (inches).
Step 6:
Change the height to 5” and the length to 12”.
Step 7:
Pause to Understand.
Most of us create content on Canva through the desktop. On a desktop computer or laptop, IG posts show up as squares. HOWEVER, 98% of Instagram users use their phones to scroll content. On phones, Instagram posts are 4” wide by 5” high. We do words, not numbers, so let me help: 4x5 is NOT a square.
*A Common Mistake:
If you are using square images for Instagram, give yourself imaginary side margins within your square so you don’t cut off your text!
Reels have different measurements, entirely. They are the tall, skinny relative in the family. So unless you play with margins, posts don’t work well to turn into reels. (More on that in a future blog.)
Step 8:
Take a look at your 5” high x 12” wide blank project. When you are finished, you will divide this into three pieces.
Step 9:
Have fun creating an image.
The coolest images (in my opinion) are the ones that have a name or phrase that spans across the length of the image.
Step 10:
Download the image to your computer or phone.
Step 11:
Crop to 4” length x 5” height. Create three images (Left, middle, right)
Step 12:
Upload each image to Instagram.
When you open Instagram, tap the plus sign at the tippy top left corner and choose “banner.”
Don’t waste the post. Promote your books or write a devotional blurb. Add music and five hashtags.
These posts do not need to be uploaded consecutively, if you are trying to pace yourself with scheduled content.
Hint: It is more beneficial for algorithm and audience to post over the course of several days rather than uploading multiple pieces of content at once.
Step Final:
Pin the posts in backwards order (right to left).
To pin, press and hold the image and choose “pin to main grid” in the menu that pops up.
Your IG Bio Checklist:
- Is the word “author” or “writer” in your name or bio information?
- Are you using your name or penname? This is what people will search for you by. My books’ bylines say S.E. Tschritter, so I am @SETschritter.
- When people quickly glance at your profile, do they know what genre you write?
- Have you included hashtags in your bio? Mine are #RomanticSuspense #CleanHumor and #CleanReads.
- Are you using 📕👉⭐📘✍️🎁 as bullet points? Emojis catch the eye and earn you a few more seconds. Primary colors are best.
- Do you have a CTA (Call to Action)?
- Join the newsletter for [insert lead magnet].
- Purchase [book title] now for [10%] off until [date].
- Subscribe to my podcast to hear ____________
- Is your website, newsletter or Linktree link in your bio?
- Other great things to mention: Who are you represented by pr published with? Have you won an award? What’s your CR (current read)?
- Have you used as many characters as humanly possible in your bio?
- Does your bio serve your audience rather than yourself?
- Your IG audience should be readers and bookstagrammers. This should be reflected in your bio content by talking about books.
Three Places To Add CLICKABLE Links on Instagram:
- Your bio.
- In Stories.
- In Highlights.
What You Need to Know about Instagram Stories:
- Stories seem pointless because they are only visible for 24 hours. YET,
- Anyone who clicks on your photo is immediately taken to your story, whether they want to be or not.
- THEREFORE, viewers have no choice but to see your link.
How to Upload An IG Story and a Link:
- Press and hold any post or reel.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap “Share.”
- The far left option is “Add to Story.” Click this.
- On the top right, there are circular icons. Tap the second one down that looks like a sticky note. One of the many options there is “Link 🔗.”
- Click “Link 🔗,” add the *URL to the top line and the CTA text to the bottom line.
- Example: I added a picture of The Prodigal’s Son: Crackhead to Jesus Freak to my stories and added the link to purchase the book. I could have typed anything in the “Customize Sticker Text” line, but I almost always type in a CTA, so I typed “Purchase Book or Learn More.”
IMPORTANT FACT:
* URL Length: There is a limit to the character length of a URL you can upload to stories. URLs are a roadmap with “pins” of all the locations you have stopped at along the way to get to your book.
Right now, if I simply open Amazon and type “The Prodigal’s Son: Crackhead to Jesus Freak” in the search bar and click on the link, this is the URL provided:
509 characters!
That does NOT include extra “pins” if you find the book through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Now, let me show you something fun. In the overwhelming link above, look at the title of the book, which is followed by a sequence of CAPITAL-LETTERS/ref=
Do you see what I’m referring to?
This is all you need:
79 Characters
You don’t need any of the mess after the capital letters for your link to work. (This trick also works for blog and podcast links.)
Therefore, before you cut and paste a link, be sure to clean out the clutter.
A Quick Note About Instagram Highlights:
- Highlights are the circles above your posts and reels.
- You can have as many highlights as you want, but save these for the click funnels that are most important to you. (Click funnel—the place you direct your viewers to—i.e. the link you “funnel” your traffic to)
- Any story can become a highlight. Therefore, every Highlight you add to your page can and should have a clickable link within.
FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE:
- If you think you can do this on your own, but you’d like a demonstration, watch “What is an Instagram Banner and How Do You Create One?” and don’t forget to subscribe to @Writing_Unedited.
- If this is not how you should spend your time, but you still want a pretty Instagram banner, fill out this Google form or email me at AuthorLoveSamEvans@gmail.com, and I will email you an order form.
- Hourly consultations are available to get your Instagram looking better. Email AuthorLoveSamEvans@gmail.com, Subject: Social Media Consultation
- I teach the ins and outs of social media at writers conferences, so if you see my name in a line up, I’d love to see you in one of my classes
TWEETABLE
Tschritter currently resides in Simpsonville, South Carolina with her husband, their three teen and preteen daughters, cats named Pitter and Patter, and their Siberian husky whom she lost the vote to name Onomatopoeia. Nothing refreshes Tschritter’s soul like gardening. She gardens to work through plot holes, writer’s block, character development, and book ideas. Tschritter spends a great deal of time gardening. You can find her on social media at Linktr.ee/LoveSamEvans.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this detailed beginner guide to Instagram and including all the "silly but necessary" steps. I have barely used Canva and have nothing on Instagram. This guide is a perfect starting point if I decide to expand into Instagram.
Terry author of Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition) [Follow the Link for a FREE copy]