What I Learned from One Week on Bookstagram

So, I've only had a bookstagram for, as the title says, about a week. From this single week of daily posting, I’ve had some reflections that I think are worth sharing, but I also want to continue documenting my journey to see how these lessons may change! As someone interested in digital marketing, but also passionate about books and art and storytelling in general, this topic is especially important to me.

Let’s start off easy: what is bookstagram? In short, there really is no description beyond being an instagram account or picture about books. Same concept as studyblrs/studygrams, or meme accounts — its pretty self-explanatory. However, I found that within this overall category, there existed multiple different ways that these accounts manifested their love for literature, be it through an overall aesthetic feed, in depth reviews, and oftentimes both. This calling for community is what I found to be especially compelling to me, for reading is, by itself, a rather solitary endeavor. Thus, seeing people connect over this precious shared interest, one that we typically keep within the confines of our own minds and hearts, excited me. In starting a bookstagram account, I wanted that same sense of community for many of the same reasons that we read: to be heard, seen, listened to. Within that murky fog that delineates author from audience, I think a similar one exists between readers, as though by sharing our reading experiences, we engage in a dance of sorts. Page by page, hand in hand, we turn. What sort of intimacy is deeper than that of your own relationship with a book? As such, we feel closer to one another by seeing these understandings echoed.

Now, for some of the insights I’ve garnered. For one, as expected, pages with an overall consistent theme performed the best. This usually came through the use of a constant filter, or just by carefully curated color palettes. I think this makes sense: even if individual posts resonated with people, what gets followers to stay is knowing this quality of content is expected with each post. This aesthetic usually emerges as three patterns: minimal, warm, and bold. By minimal, I refer to accounts that include wonderfully uncluttered pictures, with simple color palettes and modern, sleek content—the kind that makes you feel as though you’re in the city, listening to jazz in a cafe as rain cleans the streets. The first account that comes to mind fitting this aesthetic is @poeticallygray; her sparse, minimalist approach to pictures reminds me of the contemporary poetry she posts: powerful in its brevity and execution. Warm accounts are those that remind me of libraries, usually filled with gold and green color tones, and there exists in these accounts a sort of comfort, like the intimacy of libraries or second hand bookstores. For this, I think my favorite example would be @farawayhours, who, though new to the bookstagram scene as well, has managed to make me miss the smell of old books, the sensation of getting lost in winding bookshelves and searching for the one novel to take home. Finally, bold accounts are colorful and dynamic, with focus on bright colors rather than a muted palette. These accounts are refreshing and filled with books in their frames, almost the cluttered sort of eccentricity that give you the sense that you will find treasure uncovered in its depths. When I see the word bold, I immediately think of @thelostlibrary, who uses beautiful blue and orange tones to feature a variety of different books, and her eloquent reviews and recommendations pushed me to add so many new books to my already exhaustive TBR. These three categories are loose and arbitrary themes, for many accounts take aspects of multiple or are even more specific in the mood they’re trying to exhibit (ie. dark academia or colorful YA). Nonetheless, I found that this summed up my experience thus far with distinct bookstagram concepts, or, maybe through the magic of the Instagram algorithm, these were just the types of accounts I most wanted to emulate. Above all, from these accounts, I realized how beautiful it is to remain true to your passions and commit to them in this visual medium.

However, this inevitably lead me to wonder: what concept do I want to pursue? Throughout the week, I posted by impulse—whatever I was doing in the moment, or just pictures with colors that I thought would vaguely match a color scheme (which was never pre-determined in the first place). I posted artwork, bullet journal pictures, writing exercises, the books and e-books I was reading. In short, it ended up becoming a creative finsta for me rather than keeping to what a bookstagram should be. To be frank, this discouraged me a lot because I knew that such an amalgamation of content, of varying quality, isn’t conducive to establish a following; I was trying to touch all the bases. At the same time, I was conflicted since this interest in multimedia was what was most true to myself, and in an era of digital clutter and social media anxiety, I didn’t want to create more accounts to be more niche (though with the current focus on market segmentation that may very well be the best way to go about it). And yet, as much as I wanted to focus on just being authentically me in what I post and to not care about engagement rates, I couldn’t help the very human desire to be noticed and recognized, to have the numbers speak something of success. I was lost and confused as to what I should care about. My aesthetic? My artistic integrity? Crafting an online presence was almost like trying to establish a brand: what did I stand for? Even in this cozy home of bookstagram, I found that the vain desire to cultivate the best version of myself to still exist, and I was even more frustrated that I had attached such an obsession with numbers to a pure artistic passion.

So, what did I decide on? I debated starting over entirely, or planning everything perfectly, or even diving deep into the finsta concept with a devil-may-care attitude. But, all of these decisions were still just that—conscious decisions. With social media, there really isn’t an escape from the persona you choose to put out there, so even by “not caring” about my feed, I would be committing to a certain version of myself. Same can be said about having a perfectly curated feed. This is all to say that there is no wrong way to present yourself on bookstagram (unless you’re using your platform for egregiously problematic activities), just in the same way that there is no best way to present who you are in general. In pursuing authenticity then, I didn’t want to be careless, because that simply isn’t me either. So what did that leave me with? I found my answer in @lifebyesther. Her particular blend of bookstagram aesthetic photos alongside lifestyle really appealed to me; it was one of the first examples I saw that had, at its core, bookish content, but mixed with aspects that were just about her life. A lot of the topics she discussed, most recently on finding Asian fantasy in libraries, resonated a lot with me, and I wanted to be the sort of person who can do the same in telling my own truths. She spoke honestly of topics relevant to her life, and her account reminded me why I wanted to start a bookstagram in the first place: to speak into this space and be met halfway. From Esther, I realized it was okay to not post only book related posts as long as there was truth to me in my content, since people will naturally gravitate towards that.

I think then, that I will run with the concept of the “renaissance woman” when it comes to my content. The imagery of the modern muse is very much what I aspire to embody, be it through taking inspiration from different sources, or cultivating specific skillsets that are important to me. While that may put me at a distance from what people may want out of bookstagram content, I think that this particular space is what I want to focus on. In a lot of ways, I feel shame for trying to have my fingers in too many pots, but my current method of haphazard shots in the dark or attempting to force my content to be “bookish enough” for bookstagram isn’t honest either. There isn’t a gatekeeper for bookstagram; it’s filled with diverse perspectives and genres and focuses. There simply is no wrong way! All the bookstagram accounts I’ve shared above are sources of inspiration for me, and I admire them for their beautiful work—I literally could never. But what I can do is put out pieces I’m proud of and take the time to truly consider what part of me my account is meant to represent. In thinking deeply on personas and authenticity, there is no right answer, for it is as versatile and volatile as the perceptions we have on ourselves. I’ve decided that trying to appeal to a certain demographic is exhausting, let alone the five different categories I tried to maximize. Instead, there only needs to be one thing that makes my account a bookstagram, and its as simple as its definition. Read. Post. Learn. Repeat.

As such, I’ll continue to post my art and my writing because they are intrinsically tied to my experience as a reader. At the same time, I want to be more intentional with my content so my account can be reflective of the woman I aspire to become: someone sophisticated, multi-talented, and passionate. Achieving the status of “renaissance woman” means I must pursue my creative ambitions, professional dreams, but also appreciate who I am right now —someone who loves learning, growth, and most of all, stories. As I continue to figure out what this means, I’ll post my lessons here. I expect subsequent posts to be similar to this one in regards to showcasing bookstagram accounts that inspire me, but I also want to touch on any professional insights I learn. (ie. SEOs, marketing strategy etc). But for now, I only hope you choose to join me on this creative journey @mytholoji <3

Thank you so much to @poeticallygray, @farawayhours, @thelostlibrary, and @lifebyesther for letting me reference you in this post! I am deeply inspired by the content you are all putting out there, and I hope to emulate the same sense of confidence and elegance you all provide.

(P.S. Titling this “One Week on Bookstagram” made me think of the TikTok trend of people changing their voices to match “This is me one week in ____.” This sounded funnier in my head, but just so you know.)