Happy Hump Day, Y’All!!!
Today, I’ve got a confession to make…
I’m over the moon gaga for
Yep…try this amount of over the moon gaga…
If you want a superfab fun place to really REALLY..
Get-to-Know Your Readers
it’s
So what is Pinterest?
It’s a virtual collage or bulletin board where you can both pin and repin images that you like. You can comment on other peeps’ pins as well as follow fellow “Pinners” who you think totally rock in their image selections.
It is one of the best, most simplistic at heart methods I’ve found to totally extend your brand with your readers!
Here’s what I mean by that…
If my readers want to know “just who is D. D. Scott”…all they’ve got to do is click-on my Pinterest Profile, and there I am…with a gazillion images that just scream ME!!!
For example, my readers can find out:
My Fave Superfab Philosophies & Quotes
That I Luuuvvv Cakes & Cupcakes
My Fave Foods and Cocktails
My Fave Musical Artists and Movies
My Book Covers
Bitchy Signs Galore (yep…I’ve even got my branded Bitchy Signs in another spot now too! 
)
People I Admire
Books Worth Reading
My Style
Favorite Places and Spaces
Products I Love
What I Luuuvvv For The Home
How can my Readers learn all this about me…and I, in turn, about them?
Because I’ve created Pinterest “Boards” – i.e. Bulletin Boards - where I “Pin” or “Repin” images I like on each of these topics. And I check out images on their Boards that I then Repin on mine and can comment to them about!!!
How cool is that?!
What a brilliant and fun way to get-to-know people, right?!
If you want a brand new way to connect with your readers and fans…Pinterest is it!!!
If you need an Invite to begin your own Pinterest journey, let me know, and I’ll be glad to email you an Invite. ***That does seem to speed up the process a bit.*** You can email me at dd(dot)scott(at)live(dot)com with Need Pinterest Invite in the subject line.
“Happy Pinning”, as Pinterest says when they email you that someone as Repinned you, Followed You or Commented To You.
It’s Your Turn, WG2E-Land: Who all’s on Pinterest? Leave your Pinterest Profiles below so we can all follow you!!! ***Mine is DeeDee Scott – ddscott1.
The Best of The WG2E Reaching Readers Wishes — D. D. Scott
I am on pinterest, http://pinterest.com/eawwrites/
I am a new user, only about a week or so. I joined because a blog posting opportunity recommended I make a Pinterest board for my book prior to posting to share with readers (another great way to use the service). I made one for my next book, STONE.
Many people use Pinterest. I noticed Nina Garcia (of Project Runway) used one late last year to share collections she enjoyed. My only concern about Pinterest is the lack of easy link back to the original source. I thought it would capture that information when I “Pin it” but it appears not. So I’m going to make sure I properly credit the sources, as I wouldn’t want people to excerpt from my writing without mentioning where they got it from.
Never mind, I just realized it DOES put the link to the image at the bottom. Phew.
Just gotchya “Followed”, Elizabeth!!!
And yes…no worries on the image sources…they are there!!!
Kudos to using it as a blogging tool too. I have also included the link in my Email Siggy Line now and will be linking to it on my personal blog too!!! I will also set up something on The RG2E so the reader base we’re growing there can get to know us even better via Pinterest.
I don’t know where you get the time and energy from! Thanks for sharing – very interesting stuff!
It is just sooo fun over there, Sibel! And totally not a time suck!
I can’t believe how fast you pick-up followers there, and it’s a place that really is engaging in that with just one “Repin” (so just one image you like), you often meet someone totally knew to you!!!
2012 is all about finding new readers for me plus getting to know all my readers better…this is one of the best places I’ve stumbled upon so far!!!
Sibel, almost every major browser has a Pinterest button you can add to the browser. When I right click any image of video it gives me the option to PIN IT and I just say which cork board it goes to, OR make a new one. Great, great, great for “inspiration”
Hi Deedee – I couldn’t agree more, I love Pinterest and even more so as an author!!! I followed you and already repinned some of the awesome quotes you pinned. My account is http://pinterest.com/terraharmony. I use some of my boards to pin places where my book scenes take place, hoping to give the reader a feel for my books. There is so much you can do with images to portray the style and tone. Pinterest is my newest time-suck for sure!
Yayyy, Terra! I just “Followed” you back!!! I’m glad you liked a few of my quotes and repinned ‘em too!!!
You’ve brought up another fabulous aspect of Pinterest…for all of us writers who collage our way to and through the next book…you can do your collages on Pinterest and involve your readers!!! How fun would it be to let your readers pick the image for say your hero’s house or car?!
Wow – you just gave me an idea of a new contest! By the way, I just realized you can post videos on Pinterest, too. Book trailer time!
I hear ya on the Book Trailers too, Terra! I thought I saw a video on their yesterday, but forgot to go back and look! Thanks for the reminder!!!
I just started using Pinterest last week and already I love it. Here’s my profile:
http://pinterest.com/talliroland/
Great ideas, DeeDee!
WooHoooo, Talli!
I’ve been following you and posted all your books on my Books Worth Reading Board!!!
There’s another thing, Y’All…we can all begin posting each others’ covers on our Books Worth Reading Boards!!! I’m just getting that Board going in full swing on my Pinterest Profile…so I’ll be looking for all your covers.
You can, btw, get some kinda gadget where you can find images online and “Pin” ‘em (create Pin Images of them), but I can’t figure out how it works…has anyone else been getting images that way?
http://pinterest.com/jentalty/
I really like the idea of Pinterest. One of the things I’m going to start using it for is making boards for my current WIP. I do this on a corkboard. Post pictures, images and things that remind of my characters, settings etc. I think it will be a neat way to share the way my writing process works with other writers and my readers in a new cool way. I’m still new to Pinterest, and am currently slammed with work, so hoping to carve out the time to make Pinterest part of my daily habits on social media. Not there yet.
I sooo hear ya on using Pinterest as your Collage Board for each of your new WIPs (works in progress), Jen!
I might try this too…and make it interactive with fellow Pinners. So, I could say something like…”need a new garden for my heroine…who has a superfab garden Pin”…this could be really fun!!!
Like you, I’ve also been working to make Pinterest a part of my daily habits. I’ve found doing it last in the day seems to actually be a treat for me. Because I’m such a visual person (probably because I’m a visual artist too – I paint and draw), using Pinterest is a total treat for my muses!!! So once they’ve worked hard all day, I reward them with new images they then can ruminate on for the next day’s work.
Just joined & am following everyone here.
Here’s a link to book-oriented sites on Pinterest from GalleyCat…http://bit.ly/zdJvFB
Yayyy, Ruth!!!
Very cool that GalleyCat is now on Pinterest too! I follow them on Twitter!
Thanks for this scoop, Ruth! U rock!!!
P.S. I’m luuuvvvin’ Decades…that Barbara is a handful and then some…but you can’t help but admire her tenacity.
Thrilled to hear that, DD! There’s a really interesting story behind DECADES. I blogged about “the story behind the book” & how I turned “real life” into bestselling fiction the other day: http://bit.ly/zkXkgM
The love goes both ways. I saw that poor lil LICENSED FOR LOVE had only 2 reviews so I KNEW I had to do something about that! http://amzn.to/zjm0wg
Gonna have to read your blog on this, Ruth! Thanks for the link!!!
And oh my gosh…you just made big ‘ole tears roll!!! Thanks sooo much for the waaay wonderful Amazon Review of Licensed For Love!!! “bubbly e-champagne of the finest vintage”…WooHooo!!!
I’m over the moon you luuuvvved that short story, Ruth…Aunt Tulip is truly one of my all-time fave characters!!!
U rock, my friend!!!
I commented on Sibel’s reply, but I wanted to repeat this in the main stream.
Add a Pinterest app/button etc to your browser. I use Google Chrome and it works great, but I use Firefox Beta on one of our other many computers.
I can right click an image and Pin It, or I click the red P in the right hand corner and it brings up every picture on the blog post/page I’m looking at to choose which ones to pin.
What I LOVE most about Pinterest? No darn upload times.
Oh AND, Pinterest in another reason to have a custom logo or banner on your site to represent YOU (I’m still working on this). I’ve noticed many people are making “blogs I follow” pin boards etc, and the graphical representations are the blog icon or logo. Jen Talty has one for example
Oooo…these are great ideas, Elizabeth!!! Luuuvvv the Blogs I Follow using logos!!!
I just commented asking about how that Pinterest App works…so thanks bunches for the scoop on that.
I use Google Chrome too so I’ll give it a whirl that way…
Any advice for a Safari user?
I’m on a WAITING LIST for Pinterest (wonder how long that will take) “membership”. I know a lot of folks on it and am looking forward to this quirky new site!
Email me the email address you want me to send to, Jamie, and I’ll send you an Invite…one of my Facebook Peeps was nice enough to help me that way too! That way, you won’t have to wait on Pinterest itself…I bet they’re swamped!!!
It took me I think 3 days to get my invite… I tell you what though…. that is a pretty genius way to drum up interest. It adds a thin layer of “exclusivity” to the site. I haven’t heard of anyone being rejected, and perhaps there is a pragmatic reason such as server space (they don’t want to outgrow their server space too quickly etc.)….
Oh no. Yet another system to learn. But you guys make it sound like fun.
It is sooo fun, Alicia, and sooo easy to use!!! It’s actually become the primary way I treat and pamper my muses now!!! And I can’t believe how fast it’s growing, and how many totally “new to me” peeps and readers I’m meeting on there!!!
And you betchya…I’m writing a Muse Therapy Extra Tidbit on this method too…LOL!!!
It’s not really tough, Alicia, because once you have an app in your browser, you are just sharing links graphically. I.e. here’s the PIN for my new blog about being a stay at home Mom and writer and making that works http://pinterest.com/pin/65794844526059552/ You click June Cleaver, you go right to my blog post on #mommyguilt.
You know how blog posts have that little share icon? You click it, it pops up with a screen to allow Facebook or Twitter to share? It’s like that. I click the P, it comes up with a screen that shows me all of the photos on the page, and I either add it to an existing corkboard OR make a new one right then and there (like I just did for Cre8tive Housewife). That’s it. People who follow you can see a graphical display of what you want to share, by category. So a follower mostly interested in your Dancer books, can follow everything you pin, or just the board you make for that book series. And you can pin blog posts the book is reviewed on, sales, etc. But if you also collect Longaberger Baskets, you can have a board for those too.
Word of caution on Pinterest. IF the website you are linking to the image on takes the image down for whatever reason, I believe the image is removed from your cork board. HTML wise you can ALWAYS link to an image on another site as the img src code to bring up the picture (it’s the image file’s address on the server that runs the website, looks like a regular URL), and that put a small strain on that site’s server everytime the image is called up. If you have a Pinboard that went viral, hypothetically, you could cause server issues, UNLESS Pinterest is using a temporary file server to store the images and expunges them based on the status of the image on the original web source. PHEW.
Wow. Thanks, guys. I’ll give it a try. Will email you, D.D. for an invite.
Elizabeth, do you know of any issues for Mac users? My browser is Safari.
It’s $.99 for the Safari one, those cheeky peeps! http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/ Or you can install firefox on your Mac or even Chrome for that matter. I like Chrome because it’s tied to my email address, so as soon as I log into Gmail, if the computer has chrome (all of our computers do) it instantly remembers all of my passwords, bookmarks, and free app thingies on my blank tab page. I am ALL ABOUT the streamlining.
Thanks, Elizabeth. I don’t mind the $.99 but I hate when there are issues. So I will probably try Chrome, since I have several gmail accounts. Right now I think I need another cup of coffee . . .
Just signed up last week but I’ve only posted 1 of my book covers. Going to lurk around the site this weekend and decide how I want to set up my boards.
Thinking about setting a board up of pics from my home office since readers ( including me ) like to see author’ writing spaces.
Then since one of my books is about 2 co-hosts on a HGTV show I’m thinking about taking pics of my accessories in my house. Set up one for my hero / heroine inspirations and maybe story boards.
One of my other books is a football romance so I’ll come up with something for that.
But really need to finish my upcoming release first. Someone kick me in the butt!
Consider yourself “kicked”, Liz! LOL!!!
But yeehaw…I luuuvvv your ideas for Pinterest Boards! Way to work it, Girl!!!
I hear you on getting the writing done, Liz. I’m swamped at the final stages for my next Dancer book and feeling totally crazy.
Thanks Dee Dee! Here’s mine http://pinterest.com/dinasilver/ – I’m still getting used to it, but it is super fun creating the boards. I’m already following you, so see you there!
I’m following you too, Dina!!!
Cheers, my friend!!!
Happy Pinning!!!
One other tip!!! You can join instantly through Facebook without having to wait for an invite. That’s what I did anyway. Just FYI…
Great thing to know, Dina…thanks sooo much for sharing this!!!
Thanks for this, DD. Briefly read about it in Writing Magazine as something to watch out for. Shall email you for an invite. Getting more readers know more about me and my writing, is what I want to do.
I’ll be happy to send you an invite, Julie! Just let me know where to send it!
Oh, and Dina just said that you might be able to get in by using your Facebook Sign-in too.
Are a bunch of you beginning to use your Facebook Login (or Twitter) to gain access to all these new social media outlets? I am…it’s sooo much easier than having to create a new profile every time.
Just had to share… I pinned that pic of June Cleaver for my blog post… WELL. Some user I never even knew, kalipunk13 commented “I always thought June Cleaver was kinda hot” and she ADDED (repinned) my pin on another board not hers called Beautiful Creatures.
That means, my blog post link just went through some complete stranger to another board full of other complete strangers…..
My marketing wheels are spinning so fast, smoke is coming out of my ears!
Also, I signed in through Facebook, and it auto followed all of my friends there who use Facebook to log in. Bonus!
I’m thinking Pinterest is like Twitter with pictures….
Very cool, Elizabeth! Pinterest is helping you “go viral”…and that’s each of our primary goals! WooHoo!!!
Oh, I bet that’s partially how I got all those immediate followers then too…because I logged into Pinterest using Facebook, right?
So yeah, once you get in there, just start sharin’ the luuuvvv by Pinning and Repinning, and who knows where all it will lead!!!
it’s certainly a different beast than Twitter. Instead of the most impactful 140 characters you can think of, using a strong graphic that resonates with people for a blog post might help it get traction…
I’m already thinking about making a little strip I can put across the pictures on my blog that I use, maybe red with white letters that says click and read… kinda like a play on the scratch and sniff? That way people will know the picture goes to pretty awesome content.
Are you folks trying to drive me to drink? My stomach gets queazy just thinking about doing one more social networking jaunt. I’m really struggling to balance all of this with writing time and getting the next book out. I understand the improtance of reaching new readers and I can see how fun and appealing (addictive) Pinterest might be, but who has time for all of this? I already feel like I’m imposing on people to show up at my blog interviews, follow me on twitter and FB, and retweet all of my ads.
All right…now that I’ve whined sufficiently, I’ll be emailing you for an invite, DD. Then I’ll be coming back to this post to grab everyone’s pinterest handles…if I’m going to go crazy, at least I’ll be in good company:-)
I hear ya, Pj…and like my Go-To Social Media Queen Kristen Lamb says…you’ve got to find the social media avenues that work best for you, pick a few you really like then work just those.
For me, it’s Facebook, Twitter, my Blogs (D. D. Scott-ville, WG2E and RG2E), my Yahoo Groups (WG2E Bulletin Board, WG2E Street Team, Muse Therapy), and now Pinterest.
These are the sites I really ENJOY spending time on and really get to know readers on.
Notice I said ENJOY…
If you enjoy the sites you’re on and have meaningful interactions there, it doesn’t seem like “work”, even though it is…
All-told, I bet I spend half my working day on these sites (combined) and half on my writing, and that’s a great balance for me and for the publishing empire I’m building.
I’m on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/vickietaylor12 but I’ve just started using it. Only have about 10 pins up so far…but I’m learning my way around and thinking about how I want to use it. It is a fun tool!
I’ll get out there later this morning and start following some of you all!
Yayyy, Vickie!
I’ve been following you!
Go, Girl, Go!!!
Dammit, Dee Dee! Now I’ve been pinning all morning…my treadmill is mocking me, and my coffee creamer has sat out for over an hour. Must walk away!
LMAO, Dina!
I’d much rather be Pinning than Treadmilling…
Cheers, Girlfriend!!!
It sounds rather like a slightly more grown-up version of Tumblr, from this post… or is that just my reading of it?
Oh, and by the way, I nominated the whole team over here for a blog award!
http://delorfinde.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/all-of-the-awards/
U rock, Miriam!!! Thanks sooo very much for the nomination!!!
I haven’t checked out Tumblr yet…do you use and like Tumblr?
Cheers to you!!!
Thanks, D.D., this one looks fun.
Patg
It is just sooo much fun, Patricia! Happy Pinning!!!
ooohhhh sounds like fun. I just emailed you for an invite. Can’t wait to check it out
You’re gonna luuuvvv it, Tess!
I’ve now sent out all the Invites I’ve received requests for so far…so check for yours!
Cheers and Happy Pinning!!!
just realized I didn’t put the dot in – have re-sent (DUH! been waiting allllll day
)
Just invited you, Tessa!
Happy Pinning, my friend!!!
DD, I would love an invite- sounds like a lot of fun:)
Gotchya one sent out, Lois!
Happy Pinning!!!
Popping over there to take a look. Might not get to join for a while until my “Day Job” settles down abit.
Yet again, Thanks for the info. I’d seen it about on the web but had no clue what it actually was. It sounds like a lot of fun.
U betchya, Alison!
I think you’ll really enjoy Pinterest!!! It really is one of the most fun spots on social media…I just luuuvvv it!!!
This looks like fun! I signed up:
http://pinterest.com/cmwilson44/
Go, Girl, Go!!!
Happy Pinning, Catherine!!!