Instagram and Vintage Romance Books

Become a #bookstagram-er and Show Off Your Romance Novels

There’s never been a better time to be a collector of vintage or old-school romance novels. With social media, you can show them off to your heart’s delight. The Instagram app is a great place to do this. In addition, you can also upload images to Twitter and Tumblr.

We’ve referenced using Instagram before. Here are more tips on how to be part of the book micro-blogging community.

1. Just jump right in! Bookstagramming is easy and fun. Use the hashtags #bookstagram and #bookish and post pictures of books. That’s really all you have to do!
2. Be sure not to post just photos! Including relevant text about the book, author, publisher, etc., is essential. Talk about the book or the artist. Ask what everyone’s reading plans are for the weekend. It’s easy; you want to encourage discussion.
3. With the images taken from your phone, use hashtags to catch people’s attention. They have different themes and will keep you busy taking pictures of books from your personal library.

#Hashtags To Use

#romancestagram or #romancebookstagram – Use these tags whenever you post anything romance-novel-related. Bookstagram is the general book-loving community. Romancestagram is for romance readers.

#coverlustfridays – On Fridays, choose one of your favorite covers. Tweak it a bit with filters to make it pop. Write a short explanation of why you chose it. Add fun trivia if you know any.

#stepbacksaturday – Stepback Saturdays are legendary! Take a picture of the interior of a step-back romance. Just the inside cover only. The front cover you’ll save for Sunday.

Then, if you like, provide hints about the book, but don’t mention the title. It’s up to your followers to guess what it is. Don’t forget to hide any revealing characteristics like ISBN code or author’s name.

#stepbacksaturdayreveal or #stepbackreveal – The following day, it’s time to solve the mystery! Post the image of the stepback cover and interior.

#tropetuesday – Every Tuesday, choose any particular trope and a book (or books) that best represents it. You can add text and designs through your phone. Alternatively, sites like Canva provide templates you can alter to make your post look more professional.

#covertwinning– Did you ever notice that some cover art gets recycled? If you have two or more different books with the same illustration, use this hashtag.

#covertwinning These two Ron Lesser-designed covers were published 10 months apart for the Harlequin Presents line! How did the editors not notice this? Interesting tidbit: neither book gets the heroes’ looks right, as both are black-haired, not dark-blond, and he heroine one book has light brown hair, not black.

Book Staging

You don’t have to worry about having the perfect phone camera. Instagram has many filters you can use to add cool effects to your pictures.

Set your book against an interesting backdrop. Be creative! Use fabrics, exterior settings, or a collage of other books behind it.

Decorate! Dollar stores are a bookstagrammer’s friend. Purchase fake flowers, glitter, beads, ribbons, or whatever you think will add some panache to your pics. Look at other users’ profiles to get ideas for your posts.

Don’t worry if your images aren’t perfect. This isn’t a contest. The Romancestagram community is open and engaging. It’s all about sharing the love for romance books and their beautiful covers!