Planning A Pre-Launch Campaign on Pinterest

Have you ever heard of a woman named Else Bostelmann? I hadn’t, not until one of our long-time clients Jeanne Walker Harvey let us know that she’s launching a biography about this fascinating woman next summer. Yippee, skippy! It’s time to sharpen our Pinterest pre-launch tools. Want a little peek into how it’s done?

First of all, Jeanne is an accomplished, multi-published, award-winning author, a book review blogger, and a committed Pinterest marketer. We’ve been working together for over two years now and it’s been an absolute delight to do so. We know each other well. Jeanne pens remarkable nonfiction picture book biographies, three of which we’ve partnered in pre-launch campaigns. The time to implement the tactics and strategies required to connect her upcoming book with her people starts NOW!

Else Bostelmann? Now that’s another story. We don’t know her. But there are readers living on Pinterest who do and will, eventually, want to buy ELSE B. IN THE SEA: THE WOMAN WHO PAINTED THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP. Much like Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road, our job is to establish a path leading them to Jeanne’s version of the Emerald City – her website. Instead of using gleaming bricks of canary yellow, we’ll be using SEO, keywords, groovy graphics, and a whole lot of savvy to get the job done. Oh, yeah!

We use a two-pronged approach for book launches or any campaign, starting with building solid Pinterest boards. We focus on specific details of Jeanne's new book and as well as the broader themes explored in all her work. This helps Pinterest sort and show off her content. Bit by bit, we're paving a glittering road to Jeanne's homepage for educators, librarians, history buffs, and even fish-lovers to follow. No ruby slippers required.

You might be thinking, “That’s very nice for Jeanne, but I don’t have a mature platform like she does.” Not to worry, my pretty. Whether you’re a good witch or a bad witch, there are ways to meet your marketing needs on Pinterest. Schedule a Fit Call today. Together we can figure out a plan that is just right for you.

Using Pinterest as Market Research: ANYONE Can Do It!

I have strong feelings about a whole lot of things. For example, I believe that all kids need to learn how to play a musical instrument (Even badly). Also, in my view, no one should earn a college diploma until they have worked in the public sector as wait staff (This would convince diners to become better tippers!). Lastly, I am certain that all authors and illustrators – pre-published to the experts – should be dabbling in Pinterest to enhance literary perspectives as well as to become acquainted with their audiences. This process is free. No pin creation required. You in?

By now we all know that Pinterest is a crazy powerful visual discovery engine. In this newsletter, we usually focus on optimizing our Pins in efforts to wow our intended audience. This time let’s examine the power of the Board as a sleuth-like tool to probe around the platform. The good news is that everyone can do so without having to make a single Pin!

We often describe Boards as little pouches where we tuck away related Pins. See them as handpicked showcases of images, ideas, and inspirations, all grouped under a distinct theme. The catchiest Board Titles stem from straightforward phrases Pinterest users pop into the Search bar. Whether you cast a wide net or zoom in closely in your market research, your title's scope can vary accordingly.

For example, say you are a pre-published author writing a young adult historical fiction fantasy novel set in Detroit. Talk about distinct themes to explore! Some Board Title examples might be…

• Detroit Historical Fiction

• Young Adult Fantasy

• YA Historical Fantasy Novels

• Detroit-based YA Fantasy

• Detroit Magic and Myth

• YA Fantasy Characters

• Detroit Historical Fantasy Reads

Although these titles may seem repetitive, there is a logic behind the madness. Such repetition helps establish your specific niche on the platform, signaling the algorithms about your identity, content, and the target audience you aim to engage. After setting up a Board on Pinterest, the system will recommend related Pins that its algorithms deem appropriate for your board. Check them out. Some of the pins will align perfectly, while others might miss the mark. That is okay. This procedure provides insights for when your moment to shine arrives.

This type of market research not only demonstrates who is marketing similar content on the platform, but what they are displaying. And, as a bonus, you are establishing your own digital footprint in your niche. All of this without making a single pin!

In short, there is a place for all book creators and sellers on Pinterest. With a little bit of planning and a whole lot of fun, anyone can use the platform for their benefit.

Are you interested in knowing how this process might benefit your marketing platform? Why not reach out and schedule a call today? Together we can see how Pinterest can benefit you!

Pinterest is the Library. Instagram is the Bar.

I discovered an audio/video Idea pin by Simple Pin Media (One of my industry go-to gurus.) I want to share with you. Not only are the graphics compelling and the audio elements super cool, I love the message. Pinterest is the library. Instagram is the bar. That says it all.

Think about the purpose of each of these social settings. A great bar is noisy by design. It’s loaded with laughter and libations. Flat screen TV’s blaring. Glasses clinking. The gang’s all here! It’s the place where everybody knows your name, right?

The library is more focused, quiet, and deliberate. I go to the library when I have a specific need. Something I want to learn about. I’m on the hunt for an answer when I step through those doors. I’m in slow-mo research mode and no one better get in my way.

Books, videos, and programming offers in the library have all been carefully curated. Every item is intentionally categorized for easy access, many of which have been living on the shelves for ages! Whether I’m searching for a title, a topic of interest, an author, illustrator, or publisher, all I must do is type in a few keywords into the reference computer. And…BOOM! Question answered. Now I’m ready to take some action.

Pinterest users are researchers . They’re browzers, planners, and collectors. They take their sweet time when deciding to purchase. That’s all right. We know that, with each pin we create, we’re investing in carefully curated compelling content. Like those dusty shelves in the library, our books, videos, and programming opportunities live as evergreen content on the platform forever!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Pinterest is a long game. But with consistency, strategy, and quality content, we'll come out winners.

I’ll drink to that. How about you?

Catching the Valentine's Day Trend with Pin Lit Marketing & Guides by Deb Client Books

Those of us who market our wares on Pinterest reference the term “Trends” on a regular basis. We use Trends to anticipate when our intended audience will access the platform to search for our content. This type of marketing requires consistency, intentionality, and laser focus on offering quality content, the type that our readers are compelled to connect with. 

This blog post is being written at the end of November. Believe it or not, we’re now beginning to anticipate how we’ll use the Valentine’s Day trend to our benefit. Because this trend begins to rise on December 22 and peaks on February 16, now is the time to begin exploring how we might use the climb to our advantage. We’ll begin dropping this content by December 15. 

We here at Pin Lit Marketing and at Guides by Deb are privileged to work with some of the finest books in the business, many of which celebrate love. Below you’ll find examples of books that we’ll be featuring in efforts to catch that Valentine’s Day trend. Stop by the Pin Lit Marketing Pinterest platform to see just how we showcase these amazing stories. 

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Book Information:

Title: When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community

Author: Gayle Pitman

Illustrator: Christopher Lyles

Publisher: Magination Press

ISBN-13: 978-1433827365

Educator Guide

Synopsis: When You Look Out the Window tells the story of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, one of San Francisco's most well-known and politically active lesbian couples. Describing the view from Phyllis and Del's window, this book shows how one couple's activism transformed their community — and had ripple effects throughout the world.

Includes a Reading Guide that provides helpful historical context, and a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Educators about the importance of teaching LGBTQ history and culture to children.

This is a unique way to introduce children to untold stories in history while also being a clever tribute to two notable women.

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Title: Daddy Speaks Love

Author: Leah Henderson

Illustrator: E.B. Lewis

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

ISBN-13: 978-0593354360

Educator Guide

Synopsis: A moving tribute to the joy and grounding that fathers bring to their children's lives.

What does a daddy do? From day one, this daddy speaks love to his little one. And along with that love, his words and actions speak many other things, too: like truth, joy, comfort, and pride. Like many dads, he answers a million questions and tries to make sure that days are full of fun adventures, giggles, and hugs. Dads are good at scaring away imaginary monsters, and honest about how to confront the real ones too. They set an example for the future, speaking out for equality and justice, while sharing lessons from the past. But most of all, daddies encourage their young ones to fight for a better world, with the comfort of knowing their dads are right beside them. Daddy Speaks Love speaks to that everlasting bond between children and their fathers and is a perfect gift for special occasions including Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, baby showers, and more!

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Title: The Best Kind of Gift

Author: Kathi Appelt

Illustrator: Paul Brett Johnson

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN-13: 978-0688153939

Kathi on Pinterest

Synopsis:The folks in Dogwood are abuzz with excitement when a new parson comes to lead their congregation. The whole town gets busy preparing a pounding -- where everyone brings "a pound o' this and a pound o' that" to make Brother Harper feel more at home.

Jory Timmons wants so badly to give the perfect gift to Brother Harper. But it seems that he is too small to do anything right! He can't light a stove to bake a pie like Mama, and he isn't strong enough to carry a sack of corn like his older brother, Thomas.

But in this lively tale, loaded with country charm, Jory Timmons learns that the best gifts are given when he is simply being himself.

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Title: Until the Blueberries Grow

Author: Jennifer Wolf Kam

Illustrator: Sally Walker

Publisher: PJ LIbrary

ISBN-13: 978-1736557334

Jen on Pinterest

Synopsis: Until the blueberries grow . . . until the grapes are ripe . . . until the snow falls . . . until the flowers bloom . . . Ben tries to convince his great-grandfather to stay in his house just a little longer as the two celebrate a yearly cycle of Jewish holidays together.

"This sweet story of family abounds with food, flowers, and quality time with loved ones." - Kirkus review, 2022

“The book opens with Ben and his great-grandfather, Zayde, enjoying blueberries right off the bushes, and the two continue to share different foods together throughout the seasons of the year... But Zayde is growing older, and Ben must learn to accommodate change…Every picture shows their sensitivity and awareness of one another’s needs, echoing the Jewish traditions of caring for children and the elderly…The love between generations, the observance of holidays that give meaning to the Jewish year, and the sacred proportions of both the natural world and the homes where we live — all are presented as tangibly as the blueberries that a boy and his great-grandfather share." - Emily Schneider for The Jewish Book Council, 2022

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Title: Under an Indigo Moon

Author: JL Crosswhite

Publisher: Tandem Services Press

ISBN-13: 9781954986053

Part of the Holcomb Springs Small Town Romantic Suspense Series

Jennifer on Pinterest

Synopsis: Former big-city architect and single mom Carissa Carver is starting over in Holcomb Springs with her two boys. She has dropped all of her savings into vacant Victorian she bought at an online auction, hoping to flipping and build a better life.

But the house is nothing like what it was represented in the photos, and the neighbors are just plain weird. Figuring she has once again made a bad choice, she’s re-thinking her whole plan. But the chocolate lab that comes with the house, Charlie, has adopted them, particularly Alex, her son with Asperger’s. Not having the heart to tear him away from something that brings him joy, she digs into making this money pit work.

But when things go missing, her house is vandalized, and she finds human bones in the basement, she wonders what she’s really gotten them into. Is this one more bad decision or something truly dangerous?

Deputy Sheriff Jonas McCann relocated to Holcomb Springs four years ago after the death of his wife and daughter in a car accident. He’s visiting the town’s library when he inadvertently stumbles upon a singles’ meetup the librarian has arranged: Find your soul mate by their taste in books. He tries to duck out, gets roped in. Spotting Carissa and assuming she's a tourist, he figures she’s a safe bet and strikes up a conversation with her, pretending to know her from somewhere, to get away from an overly interested woman. She’s a good sport and plays along.

Later when he responds to a burglary call, he’s surprised to discover it’s her house. As more strange things happen around the house, Jonas is drawn further into his desire to protect her and to be a positive influence on the boys he’s come to have a heart for. Can he solve the mystery before she and her boys get hurt? Does it have anything to do with the missing teenager? Or are those just ghost stories and small-town rumors? Especially the ones about the indigo moon.

Tips for Launching a Tender Picture Book on Pinterest

In January, my dear friend Nancy Bo Flood is launching one of the sweetest, most heartfelt picture books I’ve seen in a very long time. WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING, illustrated by Ellen Shi, tenderly explores the process of dying and finality of death from a young boy’s point of view. The story chronicles Little Lee’s emotional journey of understanding as he experiences the stages of grief due to his beloved grandmother’s passing.

In the story, because Grandma knows that her time is drawing near, she attempts to prepare Lee for her passing. Throughout the story, Lee’s questions such as this are addressed with tenderness, honesty, and candor. For example, one lovely day while in the flower garden together, Grandma explains, “Little Lee, I’m going away soon, I’m going home.” Her words confuse Lee. “Home?” he wonders. “Grandma is already home.” As the story progresses, his broken heart is healed as he symbolically walks with Grandma to her eternal resting place in Heaven.

WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING is a timeless story, an important book, one that should live on the shelves of every school library, guidance counselor’s office, and early childhood teacher’s classroom.  It’s a book that, after following a few simple steps, would find a lasting home on Pinterest. 

The first step to consider when establishing an evergreen Pinterest campaign for a book like WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING, is to think of who might be searching for a book like this and why do they need it? How can a story such as this be helpful to them? Furthermore, how would they articulate their request? What words or phrases would they type into the Pinterest search bar to find a solution to their problem? 

In efforts to support a grieving child, a caring parent, librarian, or teacher might drop phrases like picture books about grief, kids’ books about sadness or death and dying for kids into the Pinterest search bar. With a click, their feed would populate with a screen full of graphics known as collage pins, visual representations of topics or themes that share a common bond. In this case, the collage pins would represent collections of books dealing with topics of grief, death, and dying. To learn more about the books featured on the collage pin, the Pinterest user typically clicks-through to access a blog post listing references about each book. Eureka!

WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING deserves to be featured – front and center – on every collage pin and list of picture books published with the intent to help a child learn to cope with the loss of a loved one. Its compassionate message of hope and healing is transformative.  If you know of a child who shares a similar situation as Little Lee’s, pre-order a copy of WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING today. It’s a story that live on throughout eternity.

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Book Information:

Title: WALKING GRANDMA HOME: A STORY OF GRIEF, HOPE AND HEALING

Publisher: Zonderkidz

ISBN-10: 0310771242

ISBN-13: 978-0310771241

Reading age: 4 - 8 years

Grade Level: 1 - 2

Synopsis: This picture book from a child psychologist and counselor uses a touching and relatable story about a young boy’s grief to help children 4-8 understand what it means to lose a loved one and how to process their own emotions of fear, grief, and joyful remembrance. 

When Grandma tells Lee she will soon be “going home,” Lee is confused. Isn’t Grandma already home? But as Grandma’s health gets worse and her death approaches, Lee learns what it means to “walk Grandma home” to heaven, while also reflecting on his good memories and dealing with his grief alongside his extended family.

Passengers (And Authors), Prepare For Landing

I have travel plans. 

On Friday, John and I are returning to the Lone Star State and I’m plenty excited about the trip. We’re flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Despite recent renovations, I am very familiar with the airport layout. I’ve flown in and out of that place countless times. I know my way around the joint. I feel secure there.

In June, I’m taking a trip to Salt Lake City. This will be the first time I've landed at the Salt Lake City International Airport. You can bet, once the plane has landed and I make my way down the jet bridge, I’ll be thinking, “Where should I go?” I anticipate that there will be plenty of well-placed, easy to-understand signs available to help me find my way.  Well-crafted website landing pages need to serve your audience in a similar fashion.

Think about your audience’s travel experience prior to discovering your website. Who knows where their flight may have originated from – a conference, a social media post, a Zoom webinar? Whatever it may be, something interesting compelled them to scour the internet to find your website. If you and your website are familiar, they might be tolerant of some confusion while searching for the information they need. If they don’t know you and cannot easily find the information they desire, they’ll bounce. Bummer, man.

This week we’re crafting the pins for the Second Annual Pinterest Pals Summer Reading Book Club. I cannot wait for you to see these gorgeous treasures. Collage pins. Video pins. Idea pins. Genre-specific collections. Book-jacket standalones. We have also prepared a campaign web page to assure a smooth-landing after they have clicked-through to our website. For them, much like for me in Salt Lake City, orientation will be required. They need to easily understand where to go to get what they need.

The purpose for the Summer Reading Book Club is to showcase (and sell) selected books written by our 2022 clients, and to highlight their Pinterest platforms. This messaging will be creatively communicated through graphics and pin descriptions. By clearly doing so, our click-through audience (All thousands of them!) will know the purpose of their landing and what to do next. As you can see, we’ve made it very easy for them to either view the authors’ Pinterest platforms and/or purchase their books.

ETA for the Summer Reading Book Club takeoff is Monday, April 18. Buckle up and join us as we fly the friendly skies of Pinterest.

Visibility Hang Time From A Goalie’s Perspective

Believe it not, I was once a fierce and widely feared (Feared? That be stretching it, a little bit.) goalie for a women’s league team called The Sugar Cubes. Most of our games were played in the East Dallas area. Our greatest rival was a team called The Charlie’s Angels and, oh…did they ever play dirty. I still recall defeating their best player in a shootout. How can I ever forget? My messed-up left knee reminds me of that triumphal moment every day.

My favorite part of the game was punting. I had a knack for keeping that ball in the air.  I knew I had done well when Sissy, our most ferocious fullback, would cut me a side glance and say, “Nice hang time.” Oh, yeah.

You’re wondering what this trip down Memory Lane has to do with Pinterest, right? Everything.

I learned something the other day that shocked me. I came across a video featuring my friend and mentor Amber Peterson discussing the benefits of adding Pinterest to one’s marketing strategies. During her presentation, which was filmed in 2020, she compared the visibility longevity of Pinterest pins with social media platforms. Using stats from 2019, she reported:

• Facebook posts have a visibility hangtime of 5 hours.

• Twitter tweets are seen for 24 minutes.

• Instagram posts have a 48-hour viewing window.

• Pins are evergreen. They remain searchable as long as the content is viable and one’s platform is live.

Isn’t that amazing? And those numbers are old! Those viewing windows are probably even shorter today. Amber also stated that, next to Google and YouTube, Pinterest is the third largest search engine in the world. And, that Pinterest boards show up in Google searches! Facts such as these fuel my passion for pinning. We need to get our books, programs, and on this powerful platform – Now! (Three exclamation points in seven lines. You get my drift?)

Thanks for reading about my hang-time glory days on the soccer field. Score!!!!

Surfing Trends: How To Catch A Wave With Pinterest

Yesterday, I made a discovery while working on a client’s monthly analytic report. For months, she and I have had our sights set on showcasing her Black History Month content in a big way and we rocked it! However, now that that campaign has passed, her numbers have dipped a bit, telling me that we must always anticipate when the next best trend will swell. No slacking. Here’s how we’re going to do it.

Say, you’ve got a YA about a surfer girl with a passion for dogs who came from Detroit. We’ve got three broad keywords here – surfer girl, dogs, and Detroit. Our job is to analyze and amplify these terms in efforts to clamp onto algorithms in time to, which can be useful to Pinterest paddlepusses, too!

According to Kate Ahl of Simple Pin Media, the Trends Tool is a "keyword tool that helps you see what people are looking for and when they are looking for it." With this tool, we marketers anticipate what and when their intended audience will be searching for their content. I wonder when readers might be searching for our dog-loving surfer girl novel. Let’s find out.

Let’s drop ‘surfer girl’ in the search bar and see what comes up. Wow. We have two crests to ride, the highest being May 22. We’d better get some well-optimized pins going now to catch that first big kahuna.

Our girl is from Detroit. Let’s see what happens when we drop ‘Detroit’ in the search bar. Okay. That's a steady one. We’ll be sure to include that keyword often.

Who doesn’t love dogs, right? Let’s see how her puppy helps our algorithms. Yeow! That one hangs ten at 100 in December! Let’s be sure to post loads of pins showcasing that keyword in the fall, just in time to crest in the holidays. Pretty amazing right?

See why we Pinterest Pals geek out about the Trends Tool? Try it. You will, too.

Contact me if you’d like to know more about how Pinterest can help your marketing efforts. I love to do workshops and presentations for groups - large and small. A captive audience interested in Pinterest? Are you kidding me? Let us know how we can be of help to you. Until then…hang loose.

So grateful for this PSLA Teaching and Learning – Literature Review

What a joy it was to pop over to Twitter this morning to find that the PSLA Teaching and Learning – Literature Review featured GIRLS WITH GUTS in this lovely article. What a blessings!

And, for GWG to be featured alongside these other titles? Dang! That’s grand slam.

Have a closer look at my PSLA review mates. I think we make a fantastic team. Don’t you?

• River

• Truman

• What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive?

• The Panda Problem

• Hats are Not for Cats

• Mini Rabbit is Not Lost

• Superbuns!

• A Computer Called Katherine

• Bilal Cooks Daal

Happy reading!

Pinterest Marketing for the Kid Lit Crowd - Pin-Crafting Basics

Make a Pinterest pin by following the easy-peasy steps described in this video:

In this video, using my best Montessori teacher voice, I demonstrate just how easy it is to make a Pinterest pin using Canva, a free on-line software program. While the pin crafted in this video is a super-simple one, it gets the job done just fine. I bet, once you become familiar with Canva, you’ll want to make lots of projects like Facebook graphics, groovy bookmarks, and nifty postcards to promote your great work. I’d love to see what you come up with!

Most of you already know that I happen to be on fire for Pinterest. I’ve had a vibrant account for a little over a year now and am racking up over a 1.3 million impressions on my platform to date. I’m now offering my services to help other authors & Illustrators maximize the potential of this powerful platform in the same way that I have.

Let me know if you’d like to know more about the power of Pinterest.

I’m here if you need me.

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