As a writer, your tribe is your core group of fans that buy every book you publish, spreading the word to friends and family and growing your reader base without you having to lift a finger. It's been said that if a writer has a tribe of 1,000 fans, he is set for life. Those thousand people will cause a ripple effect large enough to turn any book into a best seller.
The hardest part is finding those first tribe members and keeping them happy. The first step is writing great books, of course. Books that make readers ask for more, books that keep them up past their bedtimes, reading just one more chapter. This only goes so far, and you have to put your books in front of many eyes before some will look further. One of the best places to get those looks is Pinterest. It's visually based and its membership is rabidly loyal. Find a group on Pinterest and you'll have loyal fans who'll give your books every chance.
The First Steps
Whether you have a Pinterest account or not, you'll need to set up a new one just for your writing career. Once you have a new account, the key to the whole task is in what boards you create.
Think about your books, your main characters, your settings. What things to they have in common? If they're set on the Florida coast, start a Florida board, or a board for beaches. Does your main character live on a houseboat? Originally from Lansing, Michigan? Use these key phrases to create individual boards. Add a board titled Books Worth Reading or something similar, then start to populate your boards.
Fill Them Up
Type in each of your board titles into the search bar to find pins about your topic. Click on a few to pin them to your boards. Choose four or five this first time, just to start the process. In addition, when you find something online that fits, pin it to one of your boards. Fill your books board with current books in your genre, plus, of course, your own books. This will be a daily process, adding pins to your boards, but it should only take five minutes each day.
Follow Them
When you find pinners that post many pins that fit with your topics, follow their boards. You'll get all of their pins on your wall, and you may find more interesting pins that way as they grow their boards. Once again, look for 3-5 new boards each day, which should only take five minutes.
How Your Tribe Grows
Every time you pin or follow, the pinner gets an email with your board. This gives them a chance to check out your work, and look at your books. Every time you pin something new, it goes on every board that's following your board. It's a geometric progression that can grow fans with very little daily effort.
Keep the faith and may the force be with you!
