How do you do bookstagram photography for your own books?

Bookstagram is the corner of Instagram where readers share books they love. It rewards pictures that feel warm and tactile and have been styled with care. Authors start with an advantage in bookstagram photography. You’ve got the copies in your hands, you know the story inside out, and you know which details readers will spot.

Forget the studio and the expensive camera. All you need is a recent phone and a window, plus a little patience. That will give you pictures that sit comfortably next to the bookstagrammers your readers already follow.

What is bookstagram photography and why should authors do it?

Bookstagram photography means styled photos of books, usually shot flat or in a small scene, made for sharing on Instagram. For an author it does two jobs. It presents your books as objects readers want to own. It also builds you a library of images in one consistent style that you can use well beyond Instagram.

Readers trust other readers. A photo that looks at home in a bookstagrammer’s feed often feels friendlier than slick advertising, so that’s the look to go for. Styled, but human.

What equipment and light do you need?

Use what you’ve got. Your phone camera will do, and a small tripod, or a pile of books to prop the phone on, makes overhead flat lays easier.

Light comes first. Shoot beside a window in daylight, ideally on a cloudy day or out of direct sun, because harsh sunshine throws sharp shadows that fight with the cover.

For a surface, try a wooden table or a linen cloth, a sheet of coloured card or a bedspread. Keep it plain enough that the book stands out. A sheet of white card opposite the window works as a reflector and lifts the shadows.

Keep a lint roller and a soft cloth handy too. Dust and fingerprints show up in every single shot on a glossy cover.

Switch the flash off. Don’t mix daylight with warm lamps either, or you’ll get a muddy colour cast.

How do you style a flat lay for your book?

A flat lay is shot from straight above. You arrange the book and a few props on a surface. Treat it like a tiny cover design, with one focal point, a few supporting pieces and some empty space.

Choose props that hint at your tropes and setting

Props should suggest something about the story without spelling it out. Three or four items is plenty. Here are some ideas by genre:

• Crime and thriller: a magnifying glass, a torn map, a cold mug of coffee, dark fabric, a rain-spotted window.
• Romance: dried flowers, a candle, a soft blanket, two cups, a handwritten note for a second-chance or slow-burn feel.
• Cosy mystery: teacups, a knitted scarf, a village-themed postcard, a tea tray with baked goods.
• Fantasy: a map, a key, a goblet, feathers, moss, a candle.
• Setting: a shell and rope for a coastal story, wellies and a thermos for a fenland one, a tea towel from the place itself.

Take your colours from the cover. If the jacket is deep teal and gold, pick those up in a cloth and a pen, and the picture will look designed instead of cluttered.

Compose with the cover readable

Someone looking at a phone should be able to read the title and your name. Give the book room to breathe and set it a little off centre, and keep props well away from the title. Try the same book standing upright or in a stack. Try it held in your hand, too. Variety inside a consistent style keeps a feed lively.

How do you shoot ARCs and review copies?

An ARC (advance reader copy) is a pre-release copy sent to readers who might review the book or talk about it. Photograph your own and you’ve got a pre-launch image that’s easy to share with your team and your newsletter, as well as with the readers you’re sending copies to. Pop a handwritten note or a bookmark in the shot to make the post feel personal.

If you send review copies to bookstagrammers, you need to know about disclosure. Guidance from the UK advertising regulator says that whenever a brand gives an influencer a payment or any other incentive, requested or unsolicited, the content needs to be obviously identifiable as advertising, and a post about a gifted product is covered. It adds that labels like “Gifted” are unlikely to be clear enough, and that a label such as “Ad” should be prominent and come early. Instagram’s own page for creators says the same about gifts: anything received from business partners counts, money or otherwise. Deciding whether a particular post counts is the poster’s job. So be clear and friendly with reviewers without telling them what to do, and never make a review depend on praise.

How do you keep your bookstagram feed consistent?

Consistency is what turns a feed from a scrapbook into a brand. You don’t need a strict template. A few rules you stick to most of the time will do.

• Pick two or three colours that match your covers and keep coming back to them.
• Shoot at similar times of day, and edit with the same preset or settings.
• Rotate a small set of surfaces, say wood and linen plus one coloured backdrop.
• Mix book shots with quotes, reader photos, a glimpse of your writing desk and short videos.
• Link each series visually, with the same props or background turning up again.

Shoot in batches. Spend an hour with all your props laid out and you can come away with a month of images, and your feed will hang together far better than if you shoot each one on the day you post it. If posting turns into yet another chore, our social media for authors service can help you plan the rhythm.

How can you reuse bookstagram images in ads and newsletters?

Your best bookstagram images can earn their keep well beyond Instagram. A clean flat lay makes a good ad image, because it looks natural in the feed and shows the book clearly. A lifestyle shot can sit at the top of a newsletter or announce a cover reveal. It can also go on your website beside the buy links.

In ads, test a styled flat lay against the cover on its own and see which gets more clicks and sales. Our guide to Facebook and Instagram ads for authors explains how to set that test up.

In newsletters, use one strong image per email with a clear link, and keep the file size small. On your website, a gallery of book scenes fills out a series page or an about page nicely.

And if a reader posts a lovely photo of your book, ask their permission before you use it in ads or emails, and credit them.

Author photography and book flat lays can give you a library to draw on for months if you’d like a consistent, professionally styled set of book images.

How we can help

We started out as the in-house team for our founder, USA Today bestselling author Jack Cartwright, looking after his social media and ads as well as his imagery. We can help you plan and shoot book photography for authors, from flat lays to lifestyle images you can use on Instagram and in your ads and newsletters. For the wider picture, see how we market self-published authors. We agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you before any work begins.

Sources

• ASA: Recognising ads: Social media and influencer marketing
• Instagram for Creators: Branded content