Bookstagram is rapidly becoming my favourite thing.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’re probably sitting there eating toast crumbs and rolling your eyes like, “Yes, CG, we kIND OF NOTICED FROM THE CONSTANT BARRAGE OF PHOTOS.” Ok, ok. I only half apologise for my posts being image-heavy because I love pretty covers.
Love !!!! them !!!
Before I go on, I will say: the algorithm gives me frikkin nightmares. I hate it and I have not figured out the secrets. Sometimes I’ll get like 5% reach despite having 50,000 followers and fshofrsffss I want to bite someone. So no algorithm hacks from me, but I do have hacks for…
taking photos if you’re on a really low budget
I don’t believe it’s true that “only rich people” can do well on bookstagram. Obviously the book photos that go viral ARE the ones where people have swords and crowns and whole rooms of books. I don’t begrudge people those opportunities! (My dreams too haha.) But you can run a successful account without spending a lot of money. My own bookstagram budget is quite small. I’ve had a lot of luck and opportunities that aren’t accessible to all, that has to be acknowledged, but let me see if I can share some tips that might work for you too?
…more bookstagram hacks you might like…
➸ How To Get Started On Bookstagram
➸ How I Got 40,000 Followers On Instagram
➸ 12 Bookstagram Secret Hacks
➸ How To Photograph Ebook Covers (Using Free Photo Manipulation On Pixlr)
1. acquiring books cheaply
Now I (obviously) have a lot of books lmao. I have been insanely lucky and blessed by Australian publishers over the last 5 years of book blogging with them. No truly: most of my books are from publishers + library sales. I never bought books as a teen (couldn’t afford it) but as a working adult, I get to allocate some money towards books. I’m happy! I also landed a really nice freelance gig for a bookstore, where I blogged for them = got paid in book vouchers. It ended, but if you’re able to google around and look out for opportunities like that, they’re amazing!
You still don’t need ALL the books to have a successful account. My aesthetic is lots of books and overcrowded colours and being intense. But I have so so many favourite accounts that are minimalist. Like @br.enda @thefictionfaery and @everlasting.charm! And @annreads is incredible and takes photos of a lot of the same books.
Also I actually feature a lot of the same books over and over too.
Other Ways To Get Books Cheaper
➸ library sales if your library has them!
➸ apply for ARCs and review copies from publishers
➸ 2nd hand stores and thrift stores
➸ you can also take photos of library books and ebooks
➸ if you land rep work with a book box company, you can get books through them
➸ if people are gifting you things (birthdays! christmas!) you might ask for books
I want to acknowledge that OF COURSE this isn’t all “simple as simple” for a lot of people. Especially for international bookstagrammers. But I have more suggests coming up…
2. using photo manipulation for books you don’t own
Ok I’m excited about this because I discovered this site called DIY Book Design and they have a generator to make 3D book covers! My second book, The Boy Who Steals Houses, isn’t out for another month so I don’t have finished copies yet but I waaaaant so bad to photograph it. So look at this:
They’re…fake!
Obviously they are not perfect lmao…and I still have a lot of books in the background. But I was really excited to find this to help me promo my book. So maybe it could be useful for those of us who don’t always have physical copies of the latest releases?
3. photo editing for free
I don’t use Lightroom or anything paid. I used to use picmonkey but when that hoofed us out in favour of making us pay (DUDE…) I moved over to Ribbet.com and using a free Mac app on my laptop called PhotoscapeX. I also just downloaded the free VSCO app and most of the presets cost, but there are a few nice freebies. (I haven’t paid for it because I don’t yet use any filters myself.)
I also use Unfold (free app) for making nice looking Stories. Or Canva.com! I actually use canva for all my blog graphics too. CANVA IS LOVE.
The trick with editing is to make sure your photos are clear and bright. And filters help keep things consistent. You don’t HAVE to have a consistent feed, but my account was a cold potato until I did so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. props? we gotcha props
I only use books and flowers. A LOT OF FLOWERS. I’ve taken a long time to build my collection and, again I’m so so lucky…but I got a ton of these for free from garage sales! I also use eBay and 2nd hand stores. I drew my background for my photos myself to keep with my rainbow theme. But I once had a fake-wood piece of material that I got for like $7 on ebay. So that’s worth looking into.
Hey but props can be anything. Mugs, pencils, laptop, tea, blankets, your bed, notebooks, candles…YOURSELF.
@novelescape uses the bath for some of hers and I love it!
@berrybookpages has a lot of hessian mats, handwritten letters, pinecones and leaves!
@crispdawn uses old book pages and forestry!
And also you can focus on JUST the books. (This is me tbh.)
@opalbookjems uses mostly just books
@abookworld__ does too!
@bookwnoname has a very dark aesthetic (looove) and very simple.
@bookandbeverage features stacks!
And @betterwithabookinmyhand and @xenatine (two of my ultimate faves) do lots of book shape arrangements! They fold books??? So amazingly???
5. and lastly…the camera
So this is hard, because you obviously need one and cheap cameras mean less quality. I don’t have an iPhone (iPod here, sir) so I started off using my parents’ DSLR and eventually I could afford my own Nikon on a sale. I still take everything on automatic though.
You can rely probably on editing to get you through. Especially if you use a nice filter.
But whatever camera you’ve got, remember: LIGHTING IS KEY! No flash. Take a ton of photos because, if you’re like me, about 7 out of 8 will be blurry lmao. Even if your images are simple — make sure they’re focused and there isn’t anything weird in the background. (Like, your kitchen or dog’s toy or whatever.)
I hope something here might help those of us who can’t spend a lot of money on bookstagram right now.
And I don’t want to diminish anyone who can’t utilise these tips because they’re still out of your price range. I’ve had a lot of luck with free flowers and free books. (Although I do work for the books!) Also time and practise have helped my photos improve. But hey, hey, I know it’s super easy to be jealous of other bookstagrammers. I go there. But we are still all doing our best to promote love for art and books. I can’t even express how epic it is, from a very small time author’s standpoint, to know people are taking photos of your book and helping you promote it out of love?! Eeep! This is also so amazing for minority authors and diverse books.
So shout out to all the bookstagrammers, big and small, who have got authors’ backs and just share their love for books through this art medium. You are marvels.
➸ And just before we go? I’ve seen people say you “have” to have an instagram to get ahead in blogging. But you don’t! Definitely not. If anyone wants a post on how to make nice graphics (for free) for your posts, shout out!
And hopefully it goes without saying but: BE INSPIRED by others = don’t copy or steal. 😘
do you have any tips to share?? any of these sound helpful to you? if you’re a bookstagrammer, tell us what you use for props or what your favourite style of photos are!
and don’t forget to find me on instagram!
Yay!! I love your bookstagram– it’s so colourful and magical. I just recently got instagram and I am enjoying (except when photos don’t go your way *sad face*) But having low budget ways to improve them definitely suits– I accidentally spent all my money on books recently I have no control!!! But I have no regrets either haha!!
I love the flowers as props– I have been meaning to find some myself!! And I definitely have to take many photos of the same thing because the odd blurry one does creep in (I have no idea how this happens– obviously not my fault) and I always have to remember about lighting!!
Great tips!!
I’m so glad you’re having fun with IG!! It is a great place and the community is really niiiice. And omg if I have money to spend, it goes towards books, which is probably why I have no props except flowers haha. (I take like 10 identical photos because always half of them are blurry for me too!)
Well this is a useful post for right now because I’m probability going to start Bookstagram soon and I wouldn’t say I own as many books as I see a lot of popular Bookstagramers do (I really only buy favorites) but I think I’ll utilize all the library books I usually have.
Ahh I’m glad it was helpful!! I really like to be able to pass on any tips I managed to find that work!
Aw thanks for the mention, Cait! *happy squeals!* (autocorrect changed squeals to squeaks at first and TBH either would be accurate) one prop that I love using & seeing in people’s photos is FOOD! If I’m feeling uninspired by my props I just dig around the pantry cause there’s always chocolate and tea in there at minimum… and then I have a delicious photoshoot reward to boot so BONUS WIN!
Aww you are a wonderful bookstagram queen you know that. 😘💛Also I should have definitely mentioned food! I keep asking my family if we can have a pie because it would look good in photos. I mean, priorities, yes?
Your pictures are so pretty! I still haven’t been able to motivate myself to use Instagram regularly. I go through phases where I post a lot, and then I don’t even look at Instagram for months.
It’s hard to find time to do it all too, right?! Like agh, sometimes I bookstagram so much I don’t have time to read. 😂
Hi! I really wanted to make my feed more consistent, so I tried many things. Filters, check. Background, check. Now I needed some pretty props. The thing is, money is definitely an issue. So I found some fake flowers I got for about five dollars, and there! I was so very lucky to have found them, and now I sprinkle them in all my photos and they really bring everything together!
I’m glad you found some flowers! I definitely use my flowers to sort of bring cohesion to all my different set ups. Plus they’re pretty. 😂
Thank you for all the tips, Cait 🙂 I love your bookstagram, it is so colorful and lively. And lol I never imagined that the pic of TBWSH is fake 😀 Thank for the tip.
I love Canva too. It is so useful. Now a days, I am using Canva too, for everything.
P.S. Loving your new theme 🙂
Aw thank you about the theme and about my photos! You are SO KIND and it’s very encouraging *sends cake*
These are some awesome tips, thank you so much Cait! The biggest thing I struggle with rn is to get everything to look cohesive. I love how certain feeds have a tint to their photos or cohesive look and I have trouble getting that. I’m actually applying a filter on my phone to all my photos from now on so we’ll see how it looks after this week. 🙂
Your feed is GORGEOUS! So I think you’re doing amazingly. 😉
Aww thank you so so much! That means so much to me. 🙂
I like to use props which match the book! So if it’s set in Paris, I might place a miniature Eiffel Tower and a macaron in the picture. Or sometimes mine focus on just the books. I seem to be useless at spotting issues so numerous times I’ve uploaded a picture, looked at it later and realised it was completely blurry.
yess I love matching the props to the book if I can! My sister had a little fake clock that looked like a stopwatch too, and it matched my cover of Timekeeper…so I definitely “borrowed” it several times.😂
Thanks for the tips! They will definitely transfer well to my calligraphy instagram (@calligraclaire), so thank you. I would love to learn how you make graphics for posts! Right now I use attribution free stock photos and it feels kind of……. mmmm disingenuous. Did you ever use stock photos? I’ve always admired how your graphics seem really true to your blogging style and your #brand (lol).
Aw thank you!! I do kind of keep everything on brand.😂I don’t use stock photos here though! But I do know of many great sites so I’ll try and do a post sometime linking some more resources!
You’re bookstagram is such goals and I am in forever awe of these photos <3 I'm lowkey too lazy to ever be a bookstagrammer loll (you mean I have to get off my bed?) but as a broke teenager who basically never buys books (like…maybe 2 books a year) I think it's so great that you did this post to help us cheapos out
lmao I totally understand.😂 It’s really hard to find time (and motivation!?) to do eVERYTHING. Eep.
What a helpful post! ❤️
I don’t put a lot of effort into Instagram. I used to take photos that were always so busy and crowded with props. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve stopped using props entirely. I’m liking my minimal feed a little more now. 🙂
It’s great to find your personal style! I used to be minimal and then switched to crowded photos!!
This is a fabulous post! I am glad that you have such great tips for people on a budget, because I won’t lie, some of the posts I see, I cannot help but seethe with jealousy and think “sure I’d be an awesome bookstagrammer if I was a millionaire too” hah. And I KNOW not everyone is rich or anything, but… it has to be easier, right? I mean, LIFE has to be easier if you’re rich, so it just makes sense. But I digress, you definitely CAN make it work with a small budget- or no budget, honestly!
Incidentally, you reminded me that I am supposed to be posting a picture on Insta as an addition to a blog tour on Thursday only Cait, I have NO IDEA where the book is because my life is still all boxed up can I just cry instead?
lol yes I do get jealous too!!! Like some people even have whole ROOMS for libraries, not to mention all the props.😂 One day. We will be rich and famous and have all the things haha. But yeah! You can definitely succeed and not be rich, or find short-cuts. I’m proof of that.😂 I do not spend much money on this at all. (Well except for books, but that’s only because I can afford to buy them right now lmao.)
*sends you cake to help with the tears*
Canva is amazing. I used it to design my logo and my dividers. I personally like using blankets as bookstagram props and sometimes bookmarks.
Canva is like a GIFT and saviour. 😂 I would be lost without it!
I am already doing a lot of these things but it’s always nice to get confirmed that I am doing something right 😂. I just have one question though: is it better to use an editing programs filters rather than Instagram’s?
I just think with the filters, it’s better to find ones YOU like? Maybe the ones on IG might be overused? I haven’t really liked any of them consistently haha, but I actually don’t use any filters. I just edit and go for it.
I don’t even bookstagram lol I just wanted to find out all your dirty secrets because of how much I love yours. IT’S SO BRIGHT AND PRETTY. Definitely going to look into faking the book covers though to use in my own posts! That would be so helpful for books that I maybe just have the ebook version of or just can’t get a decent enough photo of the cover to use. Thanks so much for sharing!
Aww thank you!! 😂😘I have a ton of fun with it, even if I complain about the algorithm like 90% of the time haha. And it’s helpful to have the fake-cover-tips on hand for emergencies!
It also helps to tag your pictures. Not a thousand tags, just about four or five. I’ve had my account for about two weeks and I have almost 100 followers??? I think???
And pop figures are the cutest props I’ve seen on bookstagram. If you have any, put them in your pictures on occasion. Even if they aren’t from a book.
Look at other people’s work for ideas!!! Especially if you are new at photography.
Trust me, you will regret it if you take pictures and you don’t know what you’re doing. I regret it… I have ATROCIOUS pictures on one of the other photography accounts and I don’t know what I was thinking. They’re awful.
With props, literally just use what you have. Don’t spend money you could be spending on something else (like books….) on super expensive flowers and mugs and stuff. (Unless you really want to)
And Christmas lights. Dude. Beautiful. Literally just use some old Christmas tree stuff and it’s amazing.
I may or may not be going over the top with my advice I just like photography 😹
Hope it helps!
Yes tagging helps! I didn’t mention that because I was more doing photo-taking centric tips, but YESsss tags. I can’t decide if more or less tags helps? I experiment with both but don’t have consistent results. 😂 And lmao agreed about how we improve as we go. My first photos were a nightmare.
I honestly quit bookstagram because it was just so hard, time consumming, and clearly I just didn’t have the eye for it. But I looooove yours *heart eyes*
This is such a great post, thanks for sharing,
~Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
Aw I’m glad you enjoy my photos though! It IS very time consuming haha.😂 Sometimes I find it ironic that I can spend so much time bookstagramming, I run out of time to read.😂
Useful tips, Cait!! For my bookstagram, I probably use 0 dollars…lol…I don’t buy anything specifically for it. I use the library books and stuff lying around like blankets, clothes, knickknacks, etc. I know library books don’t look that great in photos because of their plastic covers but I try to avoid their glare by taking different shots. And they turn out quite satisfactorily in my eyes, though I imagine I’ll end up cringing a year down the road (I have this issue with cringing at anything creative I do after a while oops)
I’m glad you have fun and keep it low-cost! I think it’s really important to remember we don’t HAVE to have all the props and all the books to have fun with this. It isn’t totally fair which photos get the most reach but eh, if we have a lot of fun and enjoy the community, then that’s so so important. (Oh don’t worry, I hate my archives fiercely.😂 I was HORRIBLE when I started haha.)
I never would have guessed that those photos were fake. If you ask me, they are some of the best you have posted. I will definitely use these tips.
Awk I’m so glad then.😂 My flimsy photoshop skills are workingggg!
Ha! This is a great post! It’s funny cos I actually originally discovered your website when I first started on instagram from googling bookstagram how to guides!!! It feels like a full circle! 🙂
(P.S – I am loving your new website design! It is very inspiring! I wanted my blog to be not centralised (so I could do a side bar) but because of how I’ve laid out my posts it just looks dumb when I try….. But maybe I’ll have another go! 🙂
omg really!? I didn’t know that’s how we met! 😂 That’s awesome though, I’m so glad we got to find each other through bookstagram!!
(I’m also really glad you like the new look. I don’t think it fixed my email problem buuuut, it’s pretty and fresh at least!)
I’m absolutely loving the new look Cait! I haven’t visited on my laptop for a while so finally seeing the new look and it’s beautiful! I’m very much dark woods and mood lighting which is pretty much my home aesthetic too. I like the rustic look and I think I’ve reached a point where I’m content with my photos mostly. I absolutely love your photos, they’re bright and joyful but the effort you put into them right down to making your own backgrounds and taking the time to colour them in. Truly breathtaking.
Aww thanks about the new look, Kelly!! *shimmies around* And I LOVE your aesthetic! It’s also totally recognisable, which I think is important when everyone’s photos can tend to blur together haha.
Bookstagram is so much fun! It’s my most frequent way of wasting my time! I literally spend hours scrolling through pretty pictures of books!
The thing that kills me about taking pictures though is the lighting! I’ll rearrange something that was out of place, and then suddenly the beautiful sunlight I just had is completely gone! I also struggle with finding the right props to fit each picture and I’m starting to think having a go-to prop on hand would make my life so much easier. The tips you listed are super helpful though, especially the editing tools. I haven’t had lots of experience editing photos, but I guess the only real way to learn is to try!
omg me too and no regrets 😍 I just adore how talented everyone is! AND how nice and positive and encouraging!! And ugh I hate it when the light leaves before we’re reading. My room has awful lighting AND it rains a lot where I live. Plus I try to do massive photo shoots and if I can’t get it all together before midday then I’m sunk. 😂
This was super helpful! I have a bookstagram account and it is literally the teensiest account in the land and I am not really blessed with the skill of photography but I think it’s a nice tie in to my blog so I keep it and blah blah blah would love to up my game!
I’m glad you enjoy taking photos! I mean, it gets frustrating that it’s so hard to grow our accounts and ARHG I wish I knew the key?! But then I remember I just really adore arranging photos so there’s that. 😍
AAAHHHH I DISCOVERED BOOKSTAGRAM BECAUSE OF YOU AND I’M SO THANKFUL. I loooove your photos so much too. You inspire me to take better photos everyday.
At first, I was hesitant to start a bookstagram account because I didn’t have enough books. I also didn’t have money for props (still don’t). Most especially, I don’t have a good camera to take photos with. It was really heartbreaking. BUT my friends encouraged me to make an account and it helped me so much. At first, I was confused and scared because I thought I wasn’t taking the most satisfactory photos. I use my phone for taking pictures and it’s not the best either. I ended up changing themes every few months 😢
Now I’m really happy with where I am now on bookstagram. I have support groups to help fight the algorithm and I’ve now decided on a theme I love. Taking pictures really takes the stress out of me and I’m happy because of that. I use props that can be seen around the house like my old jacket, my mom’s scarf, and the candles my best friend bought for me on my birthday. I use VSCO for editing and I use a custom preset. You can make your own preset ingredient on VSCO without paying and that really helped me out a lot.
I’m still growing my bookstagram account but I’m so happy with where I am right now. I’M ESPECIALLY HAPPY FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT CAIT 😭💕
(sorry for the looong comment)
omggg me!? I’m so honoured to have lead you to the dark side!! 😍Or well, the rainbow side? I mean there’s a lot of colour over there, even if there’s a lot of frustration lmao. I’m so glad you’re happy where you are on IG because I LOVE your photos and your aesthetic and themes (and your grids!) are amazing. Honestly if you could see the trash I started out as …we could be horrified together. hhaah. Oh I didn’t realise you could do free custom presets on VSCO?! I should go look. I’m not brave enough to change my theme yet, but somedays I consider it. 😂
Great Tips! Your Instagram are so pretty and feel with colour ! I Started bookstagram December an I will said I was so overwhelmed by all the beautiful pictures by others hence me siting down and asking myself what I want which is a minimalist feed, I have master the art of saving for books over clothing.
Aww thank you!! I really adore the really bright aesthetic as is obvious hhaha. And yes I buy books before, um, other things.😂 Who needs new clothes when you can have NEW BOOKS.
For so long I just avoided bookstagram it stressed me out A LOT as my inner perfectionist rises when visual things are in quetions. So blog graphics and photos can sometimes stress me out a helliva lot. However ignoring the fact my instagram app isn’t working properly still (I should (factory reset my phone again but effort honestly) I just decided to post sporadically on bookstagram as I’m not yet ready to properly immerse myself in that community. However my theme at the moment is still a WIP but it’s more erm books, my duvet, pj’s and sometimes a fluffy blanket. hahaha I’ve no doubt it’ll change as I’m experiment and use some other props around my house.
Another prop people could use are necklaces, I have a ton of necklaces I plan to eventually use in photos. Honestly anything and everything around your house can function as a prop depending on what your theme is in my opinion.
That’s totally fair! Like we shouldn’t feel, as bloggers, that we HAVE to do everything. It’s a lot. 😂 And it takes up a LOT of time. Sometimes I realise I haven’t been able to read for days because I’m so busy like…promoting books lmao.😂 And yes jewellery is a great prop!
Awesome tips! I love, love bookwnoname! One of my favorite accounts! And honestly, I draw a lot of inspiration from her (def not half as good though XD). There used to be a dark aesthetic bookstagram account whom I interacted a lot with also, and I never understood why he had so few followers because he was awesome, but he eventually deleted his account. So that was sad. Some of my other favorite accounts (because why not fangirl a little?) are readingawayreality (she uses her plants a lot), bookishsmaug (incorporates journals and laptop), thomreads (study aesthetic by a french man studying Chinese), thejoyceanbooknerd (been doing a PIRATE theme lately), riannereads (cool, cool, aestheticy stuff), coffeeforpages (mostly white minimalist).
omg she is amazing yessss. I love dark aesthetics, it’s so different to what I do but like I LOVE all types on bookstagram!! I do get sad when I find excellent accounts that simply aren’t getting the love they deserve?! Like hey, not fair.😭
These are some wonderful tips, Cait! I really want to get some fake flowers – I hope I can find a place that sells them for a more affordable price! That’s what I love about Spring though – FREE FLOWERS. YAY! xD
I hope you can find some flowers!! They’re so much fun. I am totally here for my room turning into a florist shop.😂
I love this post, Cait! So helpful. Though I decided long ago that Bookstagram just isn’t for me. I don’t enjoy the taking or the editing of the photos. So I got rid of my account, because I don’t really take photos of anything. Lol. But that means I miss everyone else’s artistic abilities. But it is maaaad how skilled some people are at it, like you! Such beautiful photos! (I swear I will one day buy that tote on your Society 6 store that has the rainbow books in a chevron pattern, because it’s GORGEOUS!)
But I would LOVE if you did a blog graphics. I use Canva, but I do the same thing over and over because I don’t really know how to use it well enough. If you could do a tips post on that – the main features you use, etc. – that would be super awesome! But only if you want to, though. 🙂
Great post, Cait!
That’s fair!! It’s great that there are plenty of social media platforms so it doesn’t matter if one doesn’t suit us. 😂 I suck at tumblr haha. I should definitely try and do a canva post and talk about free graphic resources too!! I will put that on the to-do list.
I always love your Instagram pics, Cait! For me, I don’t think the issue is budget, it’s just that I don’t really have that artistic eye. I might try making shapes with my books, though—I might be able to handle that. LOL!
Aww thank you!! And honestly sometimes it is hard arranging things haha. I swear I just throw things together. Some people make the craziest and awesome buildings with their books and shapes and stuff!!! It takes a lot of good engineering. 😂
I love your new blog theme! Although I don’t think I receive your emails anyway 🙁
I can never get around to taking the Instagram photos since there is so much editing. So I post a photo like every month or so. And also, taking photos of ebooks is hard (and nobody really cares for them), and most of those ways of acquiring books just doesn’t work when you’re international xD but I don’t think that’s the problem with me. I just don’t use even the ones I have. I don’t understand how I’m supposed to take photos of more than one book and reuse them. My photos always center just like one book, and that’s that. I guess I am just too uncreative with Instagram xD then again, when you’ve got 50k followers and get 5% reach, imagine how many people that is when you have 1200 followers 😀 I don’t even want to bother. All that work for… exactly why? xD it’s super demotivating. If I had been at insta before the algorithm messed up, maybe I would have warmed to it. But now? One photo a month it is 😀
Maybe try resubscribing? Otherwise I just give up and will resign myself to only 3% of my audience seeing my posts lmao…I should be used to this after bookstagram anyway.😂And I mean I LOVE taking photos! But it is frustrating!
Yeah, okay, let me try, maybe it will help!
Great Tips! Thank you for sharing!
I am a newbie that needs all the help 🙂
I’m glad this was helpful!
I love these tips. I am quite new to Instagram and I have a very few followers. I am looking to up my game and these tips are quite useful Thanks for sharing more accounts to follow as well. Thanks Cait.
Hii. Thanks so much for this. I started posting books on Instagram not too long ago. But I was wondering can I use free stock photos? Because I also don’t have large collection of books honestly and I mostly read ebooks.
If the photos have a free license then yes you can use them. Just make sure you check! Using googles off, for instance, just google isn’t legal, but there are plenty of sites that have free photos (like unsplash.com is one I know of).
So I decided to start a bookstagram account but the books I have are mostly paperbacks and some of their spines are cracked too. I know they don’t make up for good photos but is there a way to get good photos.
Also your bookstagram account and your writing style is amazing.
Just take photos of the fronts then? (And thanks for your kind words!)