Pinterest for Authors by member Dawn Crandall

I was purposefully late onto the Pinterest boat when it became all the rage a few years ago. I didn’t especially like to cook, craft, or organize ... and that was what everyone pinned about, wasn’t it? At least that was what my friends seemed to pin about. And why did I need Pinterest to save my favorite photos off the internet? I already had several years’ worth of photos saved to my laptop to feed my imagination ... a whole folder full of “book photos” to show the different aspects of the imaginary world I written about for the last few years.
 
My debut novel, The Hesitant Heiress, release on August 1st from Whitaker House Books. The second in the series, The Bound Heart, came out in November (yes, I know that's crazy, but that was what my publisher wanted to do since they were both finished at the time the book contract was signed). Once I signed the book contract, it didn’t take me long to make boards for all three of the books in The Everstone Chronicles series. When I went exploring I found everything I needed on Pinterest to make my boards just how I wanted them. 

Here are links to the Pinterest Boards for my books:

The Hesitant Heiress Pinterest Board (for the most part, completely finished chapter by chapter photo journey through the book)

The Bound Heart Pinterest Board (a work in progress) 

The Captive Imposter Pinterest Board (a work in progress)
 
Yep. As you can see (hopefully you clicked through to see what I'm talking about), Pinterest had it all. 
 
In the beginning, I primarily made my boards for myself. I love to look through them and recall the stories I spent so much time developing and finding out about. But I’ve come to realize that the people who’ve come upon my board and decide to follow it must see something of the story too, even with only little snippets of words either from the book or describing what the photo means for the story.

Here is a list of the kinds of things I looked for to include in mine:

• Photos of Back Bay Boston and Mount Desert Island, Maine
• The character “inspirations” for my hero and heroine
• Dresses that my heroine would wear
• Distinct items found in the book
• Horses, pets
• Houses, including interiors and exteriors
• Sayings that describe what the book is about
• Photos of specific scenes… if you can find them!

 
I included a few other writing related boards on my Pinterest page as well. I have an author board called “About Me” with links to my blog and twitter account. I share pictures of things that I love, and things that say a lot about me. I also add sayings that mean a lot to me and favorite Bible verses. Another one was my board for my blog, “A Passion for Pages.” Every time I blog about something I link it to this Pinterest board.

I have really come to love and value Pinterest—even if most of what is on there was pinned while I was very pregnant and having trouble sleeping at night—I sure had fun finding those photos! So far, since I’ve linked my Pinterest page to my blog, my twitter and my Facebook author page, I’ve had a pretty great turnout of soon-to-be readers who have followed the board for my debut novel. It’s basically become my favorite way of marketing… probably because it was something I was doing on my own on my laptop way before Pinterest was ever invented.

What questions do you have? Anyone else out there use Pinterest? How are you using it—for yourself (to store images) or for marketing? If you're a Pinterest user, what do you most like about it and have you ever purchased a book because you were intrigued by an author's board?

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A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn't begin writing until her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming traditionally published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn't take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do. Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary.

Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a first-time mom to a precious little boy (born March 2014) and also serves with her husband in a premarriage mentor program at their local church in Northeast Indiana. Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn's first series with Whitaker House. All three books composing the series were semifinalists in ACFW's prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a finalist in 2013.
 

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THE HESITANT HEIRESS

After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy disappearing before her very eyes. Now the only way to achieve her goal comes with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: marry within the year to inherit her grandmother’s fortune. Amaryllis reluctantly takes part in her aunt’s society, intent on getting to the west coast on her own… and without a husband.

Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn't who she thought at all.

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THE BOUND HEART 

One accidental kiss from Lawry Hampton. That was all it took to throw Meredyth Summercourt's world upside-down. Determined to marry the ever-elusive Vance Everstone, she simply doesn't have the time or the desire to fall for her best friend. But with Vance out of the country, and with Lawry at her side nearly every day, teaching her what the world is like through the eyes of a little orphan girl named Wynn--Meredyth can't deny that what's holding her to Vance is nothing more than a desire to redeem herself from her past.

Will she marry Vance once he returns from Europe? Or will she be strong enough to break free from the tangled web she's convinced she deserves, and accept that God's plan for her life includes redemption...and, quite possibly, Lawry Hampton? 

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THE CAPTIVE IMPOSTER (RELEASING IN 2015)

Sent away for protection, hotel heiress Estella Everstone finds herself living undercover as a lady’s companion at Everston, one of her father’s opulent hotels in the mountains of Maine—the one she'd always loved best and always hoped to own one day. Within the week, Estella discovers that her ex-fiancé is in the area and is set on marrying someone else. Reeling from her feelings of being unwanted and unworthy, Estella forms a friendship with the manager of Everston, Dexter Blakeley. She soon discovers that he is not simply the manager, but the new owner. Resentment takes hold in her heart, and she decides to sever the friendship.
When she finds herself in need of help, Dexter comes to the rescue with an offer she can't refuse. Though she doesn’t want to be indebted to him, Estella sees no other choice aside from going back home to her family. Through the rebuilding of their friendship, and despite her earlier hard feelings, Estella realizes that although she’s been lying to him about her identity, she’s never been freer to be herself in her life.

Why the Interest in Pinterest?

"Pinterest. Pinterest. Pinterest. Yikes, the noise is deafening," writes Peter Himler on his blog The Flack.

 David Pogue, in The New York Times last week, wrote that Pinterest is "...the fastest Web site in history to break the 10-million-visitors-a-month threshold."

Dealbook's Evelyn Rusli tweeted "the pinterest [sic] love fest is reaching insane levels . . . "

I first learned about Pinterest.com from my art-smart daughter, who sent me an invitation to join. When I visited the site, I was hooked. I created a page with a few "boards." Boards are a way of sorting and categorizing one's "pins," images gleaned from other pinners, as well as Web sites. Once users add a "Pin It" button to their browsers' toolbars, they can pin from most Web sites. (Facebook is an exception, which is a good thing.) A pinned image can be repinned by other users to their own boards, and the beat goes on.

Where Did the Madness Begin?
Pinterest was started by two men, Ben and Paul, who were friends in college. "We were looking at paper catalogs," Ben said in an interview, "and thought, wouldn't it be cool if there was a catalog full of stuff that our friends had picked out." The two started developing Pinterest in December 2009. By March 2010, the prototype was ready to share with close friends and family. The site grew as those chosen few invited others to join. Though it's still "by invitation only," it's easy to get invited. Go to the site and ask.

What Do I Like about Pinterest?

• I'm a visual person, so I love the images. One also can post YouTube videos.
• It's a social network, so it provides a way to connect with people around the world with similar interests and concerns.
• I learn something about the people with whom I connect most often through their boards. What do they love? What's their taste in clothing? Are they metropolitan or rural? Do they share my love for all things rustic, historical, Scottish, Amish, literary, and Christ-honoring? Do they appreciate God's Creation? Do they enjoy cooking, baking, and trying new things? How do they feel about chocolate, coffee, tea, and hounddogs? At the same time, I needn't be privy to the more intimate details of their lives.
• As with any social networking site, there are those who create an account, enjoy a short burst of activity, but soon lose interest and depart. All the publicity Pinterest is garnering right now promotes that. But there is an active core of users who will continue to participate. These are folks who see the potential in such a site and can apply its uses to their benefit: the moms who are always looking for new, appealing recipes, crafty ideas (possibly to use as money-makers), DIY projects, organizational hints, etc.; photographers (amateur and professional) who see it as a way to display their work and gather ideas; home-schooling parents on the prowl for great ideas, and writers.

Pinterest for Writers
When I first joined Pinterest, I had no intention of using it as a writer's tool, but it didn't take long for me to recognize the potential. One of my first boards was "Books and Brew Bistro," where I pinned everything about books, reading, and coffee. The next logical step was to set up a board to corral images of characters, settings, clothing, and other things pertaining to my WIPs.

From my "Writer's Inspiration" board

          My MC in The Second Cellar                         The cellar door in SC                                          Aunt Becky in SC

I'm working on an interview with a fellow writer who has a novel set to release in March. This morning, I pinned the cover on my B&BB board. Within two minutes, another user had repinned to her page, exposing it to a whole new audience. Imagine how many people will see that cover by tomorrow morning! Further, it links directly back to the author's page where they can pre-order it!

The possibilities are endless. How about you, gentle reader? Are you a pinster? How do you use the site? What might you do to promote your own writing, as well as the work of your fellow scribes? What dangers or problems do you see? What warnings would you give? I look forward to reading your comments.

WARNING! (24 February 2012)  If you're on Pinterest.com, you probably know you can "click through" to the source of an image, which usually is a benign blog or Web site. Someone repinned a face of a  boy with a big smile from my "Childhood" board. The caption read that he was an amazing young man, so I thought I'd click through to read his "amazing" story. It took me to an extremely obscene site. Ugh! I often do click through, especially if I want to scan a recipe or a DIY idea, but I haven't done that with the people pages. Of course, I immediately deleted the pin. Satan is up to his old, old, old tricks of taking something useful and perverting it to achieve his own agenda.  From now on, I'll trace each image to its source before repinning. Be ever vigilant.

Write on!

Because of Christ,

Sharon