Great Tips for Writers on Using Instagram, by Jennifer Bardsley, Author of Genesis Girl

by S.P. Sipal

If you’re a writer, like me, carefully treading the water in various social media platforms, then you’ll appreciate our guest today. Jennifer Bardsley knows a thing or two about writers and social media as her 20,000 followers on Facebook, 4300 on Twitter, and 14,500 on Instagram will attest. She is also the creator of the popular Facebook page, The YA Gal, as well as a debut author—her first book, GENESIS GIRL, comes out June 14, 2016!

Today, Jennifer shares tips to help authors understand Instagram better. Next week, she’ll share Facebook advice.

Jennifer Bardsley, Author of Genesis Girl, On Why Instagram is Not Twitter

“Instagram is not Twitter,” that sounds rather obvious, doesn’t it? After all, one is based on pictures, and the other based on pithy witticism. How hard can it be? Set up an account, post some stuff, and boom, you’re Internet famous!

Unfortunately, social media is a lot more complicated than that. Over the past year and a half, I’ve noticed authors with strong Twitter skills flounder on Instagram because Twitter and Instagram are not the same. But with a few easy tweaks, they could be more successful.

Tip #1: Hearts are different than favorites

On Twitter favoriting a tweet is a nice, friendly thing to do—in moderation. If one of your Twitter followers favorited everything you tweeted, that would be creepy. Stalker alert! But on Instagram, it’s the opposite.

A good Instagram follower is someone who hearts all, or nearly all, of your posts. This isn’t weird, it’s good manners. The more hearts your posts get, the better their chances are of landing in the top posts section of each particular hashtag. When a new person follows you for the first time, you might notice that they go back in your post history and heart everything. This is called “spam” and when it comes to hearts, spam is considered a friendly gesture.

Tip #2: Regrams are different than retweets

On Twitter retweeting a tweet is a compliment. You don’t ask permission first, you just do it. When you see an account retweet ten tweets in one day, that isn’t a big deal. But on Instagram, regraming or reposting, is entirely different. Some people get offended if you regram their picture, especially if you don’t seek their prior approval.

How do you regram a picture in the first place? Popular apps like “Repost” help you do this. Usually these apps automatically link back to the original account so the photographer gets credit.

Regraming your friend’s picture is probably okay (and perhaps encouraged), but you should never copy a photograph from a stranger’s account unless you ask them first, or they encourage you do to so by sponsoring a giveaway.

Tip #3: Don’t be a ghost follower

Remember how important hearts are on Instagram? People that follow you but never give your photos hearts or comments are called “ghost followers.” It’s fine to have a bunch of ghosts following you, but it’s poor form to ghost follow someone who is following you back. This negatively hurts your friend’s engagement rate.

How do accounts know if you are a ghost follower? There are apps like Crowdfire and InstaFollow that provide this data. Many Instagram users regularly unfollow their ghosts. You might have noticed people posting warnings like “Heads up! I’m unfollowing ghosts today.” Heart or comment to prove you’re alive and that you are a well-mannered member of the Bookstram community.

Tip #4: Too many pictures, too fast, makes you look clueless

On Twitter you can tweet as fast as your thumbs can type and everyone will love you. On Instagram, if you flood your feed with photos you’ll look like a spammer. Not a heart-spammer, which is good, but a fake-account-from-India-spammer. Apps like InstaFollow will actually identify you as a spammer.

There is no need to post more than two pictures on Instagram a day. I repeat, there is no need to post more than two pictures on Instagram a day. If you have a lot of pictures to share, great! Save them to dole out all week.

Tip #5: Enough with the bad pictures

Tweets have a short shelf life, but your Instagram feed has staying power. A photo you posted three weeks ago will continue to get hearts for the next year. So why include crappy pictures? If there’s anything ugly in your feed delete it now. That goes for dumb pictures too, like a photo of your soap dispenser. These things don’t belong on your Instagram feed.

Also pay attention to lighting. If your photo is too dark, fix it with an app like Afterlight. Or better yet, take a better picture in natural daylight.

The bottom line: Instagram has its own culture based on friendship, engagement, and high quality photography. Be generous with hearts, polite to strangers, and you will do fine!

About the Book:

http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Blank-Slate-Jennifer-Bardsley/dp/1944816755/

Eighteen-year-old Blanca has lived a sheltered life. Her entire childhood has been spent at Tabula Rasa School where she’s been protected from the Internet.

Blanca has never been online and doesn’t even know how to text. Her lack of a virtual footprint has made her extremely valuable and upon graduation Blanca, and those like her, are sold to the highest bidders.

Blanca is purchased by Cal McNeal, who uses her to achieve personal gain. But the McNeals are soon horrified by just how obedient and non-defiant Blanca is. All those mind-numbing years locked away from society have made her mind almost impenetrable.

By the time Blanca is ready to think for herself, she is trapped. Her only chance of escape is to go online.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the Author:

Jennifer Bardsley writes the parenting column “I Brake for Moms” for The Everett Daily Herald. An alumna of Stanford University, Jennifer lives in Edmonds, Washington, with her husband and two children.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

— posted by Susan Sipal, @HP4Writers

S.P. Sipal

Published in fiction and non-fiction through essays, short stories and a novel, Susan Sipal lives in rural North Carolina with her husband, two children, one dog, three cats, and too many squirrels for the dog to keep up with. She has presented multiple workshops, both at home and abroad, to help writers develop their craft as well as analyze the mysteries of Harry Potter. You can follow her on Twitter @HP4Writers, or on her blog at HarryPotterforWriters.blogspot.com.

Post © S.P. Sipal and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Jun 3, 2016

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Jennifer Bardsley | Marketing | Promotion

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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