In case you are not aware, bookstagram is a community on Instagram that is dedicated to the books and book merchandise; candles, teas or bookmarks. This community is mostly about the book reviews and the beautiful book covers and favourite fandoms but it goes further than that. I have to say that everybody who calls themselves a bookstagramer is such a lovely person. I have not come across rude or mean person within the bookstagram community and that makes it very special. I found friends all around the world thanks to the shared love of books. So if you are thinking about starting your own bookstagram or you are here just because you love books, keep reading. This is the story of my bookstagram.
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| The first photo (July 2013) |
Let’s start with the obvious thing. I love books. I always loved books. My very first photo on my personal Instagram in July 2013 was about a book. I moved to England in that time and I had no time for reading and no space for books so my personal Instagram became kind of a diary not necessarily focused on the books. It was also private but after some time I made it public. I occasionally posted some books but there was also food and fashion and work and some family photos. I had 300 people following me for years and I had no idea who they are and never spoken or messaged them.
In 2017 I moved to the Netherlands and suddenly I had enough space for books. I had a bookshelf in my new studio flat and so I picked up reading and buying books again.
And then… call it magic or luck I found amazing Aleema_s and her stunning bookstagram. I had no idea in that time what a bookstagram was but I started following her because I loved her photos and I started to learn about the community. I found more and more book related accounts and I started posting more book photos to my personal account.
The problem arisen with the private photos. I didn’t want people I didn’t know to see my family holiday pictures or what I had for breakfast. There were things that I wanted to keep strictly between friends and family but I also wanted to share my love for books with the world. So the decision was made…
I started my bookstagram on 1st of December 2017 under the name of Bookatiepillar. I made my personal Instagram private again and I went through my 300 followers deleting everyone I didn’t know and sending a private message to people who seemed to be following me for the book photos. The message went:
“Hello, I wanted to say big thank you for following me on this account. I made it private for a few reasons and hence I am deleting followers that I don’t know personally. I know you are a bookworm like me and that is why I wanted to let you know that I have a bookstagram that is public. You can find me under @bookatiepillar. I will follow you from that account too. I hope you can understand and see you on my bookstagram. Xxx Katie”
Little did I know in that time what I got myself into…
The first big surprise was @little_dragon_pants who was and still is amazing bookstagramer and influencer and one of the most amazing people I know. She followed me on my bookstagram right after reading the message and it was HUGE! Imagine my little self, starting with 10 followers and 9 photos and a star like Margoe(with 6k followers) hitting the follow button. I still feel that excitement today. So this is a big thank you Margoe. It gave me courage and confidence that I can make it in the big scary bookstagram world.
The ball started to roll…In the beginning, I was re-posting book photos from my private Instagram. I gained 2 or 3 followers a month and I was extremely happy about every single one. There was no theme nor structure, there was nothing that would link the photos together, apart from the love for books. Looking at them now I see how terrible the light was and the setting is not to my liking anymore… but you have to start somewhere.
The big breakthrough happened when I came home to Poprad, Slovakia for Christmas in 2017. I had time to take photos during the daylight (which in winter is always very challenging due to the short days) and that is how I discovered the best tool for the photos. I wanted my bookstagram to look like Aleema_s’ so I copied the style of her photos (not having a clue that flatlay is a thing). I took several photos with the same pillowcase because I loved that fabric and it was my favourite bedding for years. I had them all next to each other on my phone; I loved the way they looked and so my very first theme was established.
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| My very first bookstagram theme. |
But this was not the end, this was just the beginning. I had my favourite prop and I had my colours, I was playing with editing and I feel like the style of the photos is still evolving. I kept my white and blue cold theme for almost a year and the evolution of the photos and my photography skills is obvious.
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| My second bookstagram theme. |
I don’t feel like I reached the end of this journey. I am not sure if there is an end to bookstagram I believe this is an amazing adventure where I develop and learn. Since I first started posting my bookstagram goals changed too. I still love the accounts I loved then, but I have a certain idea about my account and I want it to go my own way and I hope that you all love it and enjoy it as much as I do.
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| My third theme and finally the one I was happy with. |
For the winter and autumn I decided to change my theme and I played with different background and I decided to give my favourite pillowcase a break and I am using a fluffy blanket. So here is an example of my current theme. I am very happy with the photo I am taking now but I am also trying to progress and I am adding vertical photos in between my flat lays to make my feed more interesting.
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| My current theme. |
The following accounts are my biggest inspiration: @booksundays, @bookishbronte, @aleema_s, @foldedpagesdistillery
And these accounts are for some reason underrated, so show them your love by hitting that follow button: @your.ordinary.bookworm, @stardustwrites
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