Building a community of readers (on, yes, Instagram)

Sage wisdom in this guest post by Nicola Washington, the IG writers' guru (read: emotional support / hype woman)

Hi friends,

If you’re new here, hi! Hop on over to my welcome post to find out what to expect as a free subscriber or as part of the Membership, including my courses and audio memoir:

Start here! Welcome to What Now? with Lindsay Johnstone

This week’s midweek post offers something a little different. I’m handing the reins over to

Nicola Washington

whose

Substack

is called Too Much Social. For many writers (including me!) she’s swiftly become a trusted social media mentor as we attempt to build genuine connections with readers and promote books and projects without being driven completely mad in the process.

Nicola, hard at work thinking up the next IG strategy for writers of memoir...

Yes, this is a Substack post, but I encourage you to click this picture and follow Nicola over on IG, too:

Why do writers need a social media presence? It all feels like “too much!”

Hence the name of Nicola’s IG and Substack. She says,

The good news is, you’re right (we all like being right, right?).

The bad news is, if you want people to read your writing, social media remains one of the best ways to get it in front of their eyeballs and into their hands.

This is why I’ve combined my seven years of experience in social media marketing, my twelve years experience of teaching and my lifelong love of books and reading, to create services and products that support writers in using Instagram to market your work in ways that build your confidence, develop your skills and respect your creative energy.

Tapping into Nicola’s enthusiasm for IG helped me find ways to promote my first memoir, Held in Mind, shared here as audio for my Membership. Her prompts, week-long challenges, workshops and ability to connect writers with readers was enough to tip me out of my IG comfort-zone and start producing reels like these:

click the image to watch my second ever attempt at a reel thanks to Nicola

So let me hand you over to Nicola. Especially if you’re a (life) writer, there’s so much value in this post for you…

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I’m sure that by now you’ve all heard how “memoir is hard to sell” and how, wary of taking a risk, publishers push the line that “a platform” is a prerequisite for memoirs to be acquired. 

The form your “platform” takes can vary - it might be broadcast or print media, a podcast, a popular blog or newsletter, competition wins, or a social media account - but the point is you have to reassure publishers that there is an audience ready and waiting for your work. 

For many memoirists, this means you're often in the unenviable position of having to build your platform at the same time as writing your book and Instagram is an option that you might want to consider.

Why is Instagram a good choice for memoirists?

Instagram has a long tradition of users sharing personal stories. You might shudder at the thought of commodifying your entire life but don’t worry, this is not the approach I’m advocating. Rather, my point is that audiences on Instagram are primed for different insights into and perspectives on Life which makes it an ideal platform for memoirists and life writers.

Instagram offers different creative options. You can choose whether to post videos, static images with short or long captions, swipe-through carousel posts, or a mixture of all of them. Some post types will assist growth of your account more effectively but you’re also free to decide what suits you.

Instagram acts as Word Of Mouth With A Megaphone. You don’t need to have thousands of followers to create ripples with your book on Instagram. Imagine having a community of a few hundred people who’re invested in you and your book, who first read your book, then tell their online and real-life friends about it. In turn, some of them will go on to become your readers, and will share your work with their own circles of influence. The ripple effect of the Instagram eco-system can reach far further than any single post of your own so an engaged community is often worth more than a large one.

So, where would I start on Instagram if I was a memoirist or life writer to build an engaged community?

1. Study the Instagram accounts of other memoirists

Important: this is not copying. If someone wants to become a writer, the first thing they need to do is read lots of books, right? This is the same thing.

Select a pool of 10-15 Instagram accounts run by life writers or memoirists to study. For example,

Stacey Heale

,

Wendy Pratt

or

Caro Giles

.

l-r: Stacey Heale, Wendy Pratt, Caro Giles

Consider:

• What do their posts look like? How are they using video, still images, carousels or their Stories in different ways? Do they use colour or repeated motifs in a way that feels intentional?

• How long are their posts? Are they all the same length, or do they vary?

• How do they encourage engagement and connection from their audience? Are they asking questions, or simply sharing their stories and trusting that others will bring their own?  Are they using other features such as Q&As in Stories to invite people into conversation?

• How do they bring their audience along on the writing or publication journey with them? How often do they share ‘behind the scenes’ content about their lives? 

• How often do they ask their audience to do something for them e.g read an article, listen to a podcast episode, or buy their book?

• Can you identify the themes they post about? How do these relate to the themes and ideas that are in their book(s)?

• Are they doing anything that you think you could try - or anything that makes you think, absolutely not?

2. Define your ideal reader 

This is a step many writers skip when they start to use Instagram but if you don’t know who you’re looking for, how are you going to find them? 

Think of your ideal reader as one person who is the most perfect ‘fit’ for your book. 

You need to have a clear understanding of who that person is, what they’re interested in and care about that overlaps with your writing or book, so you can place them at the centre of pretty much every decision you make about the content you create and post. 

3. Decide on 2-4 topics or themes that you’re going to post about

These should be the same themes and topics that you write about in your book as these are things your ideal reader is going to be interested in. 

Once you’ve identified these themes, they become your content ‘pillars’ that will provide a framework for you to hang individual posts from. This will help you feel clearer about what to post, and whether you’re posting the ‘right’ thing or not.

In addition to these thematic pillars I also suggest having a pillar that is ‘selfish’ and explicitly about what people can do for you e.g buy your book, read an essay, listen to a podcast episode (these posts should be a maximum of 20-25% of your posts); and a final one that feature occasional posts about your life away from your writing desk.

4. Generate a bank of post ideas

This is sometimes where memoirists get a bit stuck as you’re often wary about posting in a way that positions you as an expert, but don’t forget that you are the expert when it comes to your own life and your own experiences. 

Through your Instagram posts you can tell stories with complete authority about what you have lived through, how people have responded to you, how those experiences have shaped you, the lessons you have learned, and how they’ve altered your view of the future. 

What’s particularly beautiful about this for memoirists and life writers is that in doing so you will foster connections with other people who see themselves in your story, or who feel they can learn from you, and through these scenes, scenarios or vignettes you will provide a clear gateway into your long-form work.

Keep the post ideas flowing by repurposing and reuse ideas often, for example, one Substack essay can be repurposed into multiple Instagram posts. Keep individual posts fairly simple - one idea, one post - and present nuance across a series of posts, or your account as a whole.

Keep your content fresh by keeping an ear and eye out for relevant news stories, online trends, or other cultural moments, that overlap with the ideas in your book. Make sure you join in with those conversations by adding your perspective. 

And don’t forget to mine the books, films, podcast series and other media that you have read, watched, or listened to as part of writing your book. You can share reviews and recommendations, or even take issue with ideas that are in them and add your own tuppence worth to the debate. 

A glimpse of Nicola's Too Much Social IG grid

The truth about Instagram

I’m not going to pretend that using Instagram to build your platform is easy. But I’m also not sure it has ever been easy for writers to get their work into readers’ hands. 

In the past, gatekeepers and “taste-makers” - whether Kings, Popes, wealthy benefactors or influential members of the literati - have always held degrees of sway over whether a writer finds success or not. At least the arrival of social media has made it possible for writers to self-drive the process of getting their work out into the world.

The inconvenient truth is that building a platform is a slow, laborious process for most people, wherever you do it, so rather than searching fruitlessly for an easy way, perhaps it would be a better use of your energy to look for a way you can live with [small voice] sorry.

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Thanks so much, Nicola! And she is running a course this very evening, which is £25 for non-subscribers and FREE as part of her Substack Membership. Access all the info you need by clicking on this grid post:

If you missed Sunday’s Cost of Caring conversation with one of Nicola’s gang,

Wendy Pratt

, catch up here:

I’ll be back with you on Sunday with a new piece of life writing, and mark Friday 15th November 7.30pm in your diaries, because I’ll be live on Zoom with my wingwomen

Caro Giles

,

Chloe George

and

Layla O'Mara

for the second part of our All Fours chat. This time, more on our changing bodies, hormones and everything we ran out of time for last month! Stay tuned for the December date, too, when the topic will be RAGE.

Lindsay x