Pinterest as Social Networking

I've been hearing a lot of talk about writers using Pinterest as a social networking tool. I think this is a great idea.  Quite some time ago,  I "pinned" my blog as a way to increase its visibility.  Now, how successful this has been for me is questionable, however, I can see this being great tool for those who are newer, published authors.  Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America did a nice post on this here.

If you aren't familiar with Pinterest, you should check it out.  It's a lot of fun, and you can spend as much or as little time on it as you want to.  Basically, once you obtain membership, you "pin" images to your "boards" which are collections that others can view,or choose to follow.  Clicking on the picture will take you to the link where it was obtained.  For example, you could have a "crafts" board with pictures of projects and links to the instructions. I have an "Urban Fantasy" board where I have pinned book covers from my favorite authors, as well as the banner for my blog. If you were a published author, you could create a board, which your fans would follow, then when you posted a new "pin" (ie: your next book) they would be notified. I also have an "Inspiration" board where I post pics that remind me of my novels- just for fun. The ideas for boards are endless.

If you are curious, you can check out my boards here.

You need an "invitation" to join (otherwise you get put on a really long waiting list, for whatever reason). If you don't know anyone on Pinterest, contact me and I'll invite you. Have fun!