Pinterest for Authors: How to Use Pinterest as a Marketing Tool

Quick note: this awesome, free Pinterest for Authors post contains one affiliate link which just means I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase from that link directly—but it’s at absolutely no cost to you!

Pinterest isn’t just about recipes, home makeovers, and DIY projects—it’s the gateway to your dream reader.

Did you know there are 498 million active users on Pinterest?! Because it’s a search engine, not a social media platform, people come to the platform with intent. Which means your goal isn’t to gain followers, it’s to create content people are looking for—to be their solution.

So how do you do that? By…

1. Pinning with purpose

When creating a Pinterest strategy, one of the most important things we can do is ask ourselves these three things about our readers:

1. What are they in need of?
2. What are they struggling with?
3. What are they searching for?

To get to you, readers might search things like “what to read after ACOTAR” or “enemies-to-lovers books.” Type some of your book’s keywords into the Pinterest search bar and see what phrases pop up. If you want to dive deeper, another great (and free!) tool is Pinterest Trends. This gives you a high-level overview of what’s trending in your genre, trends you could potentially repurpose for your own content, demographics, and popular examples.

In the graph below I compared three search terms using Pinterest Trends: urban fantasy, romantasy, and fantasy romance.

Romantasy obviously outperformed both urban fantasy and fantasy romance by search volume. Even if your book may technically be considered more of a fantasy romance, that term isn’t trending—so instead of using it and having it flop, I’d suggesting opting for a more popular (but related) keyword to use in your pin titles and descriptions.

Additionally: urban fantasy might not perform super well on its own, but related trends show that simply adding aesthetic gives that keyword a competitive boost.

Use this information to create purposeful pins that lead them to you: so you can be the answer to what your potential readers have been looking for.

2. Setting good foundations

Although follower count doesn’t matter in terms of the Pinterest algorithm, the more your ideas are saved or your account is followed, the more your pins will naturally show up in other people’s feeds. And behind every successful pin are six essential things:

1. A catchy, straightforward title targeted to your audience.
2. Clear (and somewhat generic) caption packed with keywords.
3. Hi-res image that’s bold and eye-catching. Keep any text minimal and legible. Note: Use stock photos or artwork you have a license for to avoid copyright issues. Pexels is a great stock site for free images and videos! For images and videos that are more aesthetic but require a paid subscription, I love The Vault Stock. Second Note: Pinterest reads images, so make sure your image’s file names includes keywords. For example, if you’re sharing some awesome character art for your NA romantasy, you could name the file something like Romantasy Character Art Enemies to Lovers.
4. Direct link, whether that’s driving traffic to a blog post, newsletter sign-up, IG post, or preorder page.
5. Clear CTA that spells out the next step, such as “take the quiz!” or “out now!”
6. Formatted to fit Pinterest’s preferred dimensions of 2:3 (or 1000 x 1500 px) vertical. If creating a video pin (or you’re repurposing a TikTok/Reel) keep the length between 6-15 seconds.

3. Optimizing your pins (and profile) for success

Now that you have the framework for a pin, here’s how to get more reach:

1. Post at least once a week. For faster growth, 1x a day. You can use Pinterest’s built-in scheduler or an external app, like Tailwind, to schedule pins ahead of time.
2. Hide boards that don’t amplify your book or your brand.
3. Create templates (Canva has amazing premade ones!) so all you have to do is swap out the text and the images. Just make sure the font is legible in terms of style and size.
4. Take the extra time to make sure whatever content you’re linking to is optimized for mobile—most users are browsing on their phones.
5. Continue to experiment and repurpose pieces of content from your blog and social media.
6. Keep your bio up-to-date and pack it with keywords that describe your niche/genre. If you have a business account, connect your website and social links.

The whole Pinterest for authors concept can seem overwhelming but I promise it gets easier! In fact, it might be one of my favorite places to show up because it’s low pressure, low effort, and still impactful—and that’s what we all want, right?

Here’s a guide with tips, tricks, and a snapshot of some of my best-performing pins to help you build a Pinterest strategy so you can gain more subscribers, find more readers, and sell more books.

I hope you enjoyed this Pinterest for Authors blog post! If you’re looking for more Pinterest advice, check out this blog post that goes over 8 Pinterest misconceptions!