Welcome to the start of a brand new paid subscriber series, where I’m walking you through everything I did to monetize my book Instagram. From creating your account, to setting up your bio, to designing your feed, to the apps I actually use, all of it. Documented. Step by step. In one place.
If you missed the first post in this series, I covered all the different income streams available to book lovers (social media, print on demand, affiliate, digital products, the works). You can read it here: Passive Income for Book Lovers →
Today’s post is the practical setup guide. By the end of it, your account will exist, your bio will be optimized, your toolkit will be ready, and you’ll know exactly how to create your first 9 posts. In future editions of this series I’ll cover: setting up your link in bio, finding endless posting ideas, growing past 5k, and how to actually start selling.
A quick hello if you’re new here
Hi, I’m Nissa. In February 2025 I started my bookstagram. Six months later, I monetized it. Reading has always been my escape, and I work full time in tech as a QA Engineer for a US-based company as a contractor. That sounds fancy until you realize it also means they can let me go at any moment with no warning. Since I want to become a mom soon, I needed to take matters into my own hands and build something I could actually rely on.
So that’s why this series exists. If I could go back and hand my past self one document with every step laid out clearly, this is what I’d want it to look like.
First things first: what even is a bookstagram?
You probably already know this since you’re here, but just in case: a bookstagram is a book-focused Instagram account.
To succeed on social media, you need a niche. There are fitness creators, beauty creators, art creators. And how many times have you thought “I want to start an account, but all I do is read. I have no other passions. I don’t know what my niche would be.”
Welcome to bookstagram. ❤️
Chapter 01: Start Your Account
The number one rule: don’t use your personal account. You want full creative freedom, and knowing your friends and family are watching every post can quietly hold you back from creating the kind of content that actually works. You also want access to Instagram Insights, which only comes with a professional account.
Step-by-step: creating your bookstagram
1. Tap the hamburger menu (the three lines at the top right of your Instagram page).
2. Scroll to the bottom of the settings page and tap “Add Account.”
3. Tap “Create a new account.”
4. Pick your username carefully.
Your username is your brand identity. It’s the first thing people see, and it needs to be memorable, easy to spell, and ideally give a hint about what your account is about.
What works:
- Include a book-related word: reads, books, pages, chapters, shelf, bookish, literary
- Keep it short and easy to type (under 20 characters is ideal)
- Make it unique to you. Adding your name or a personal twist helps it stand out
5. Switch to a Professional account.
Once your new account is set up, go back into Settings and tap “Account type and tools.”
Switch from Personal to Professional, and you’re set. You’ll now have access to Instagram Insights, which is going to be your best friend as you grow.
Chapter 02: Set Up Your Profile
Your profile is the very first impression someone gets of you. We want to optimize your profile photo and bio so that anyone landing on your page knows exactly what to expect, in under three seconds.
Your profile photo
Profile photos matter more than ever, especially with the rise of AI accounts and bots. You want people to feel like there’s a real human behind your account.
Do you need to show your face? Honestly, no. It’s slightly more advised because it humanizes your account faster, but you can absolutely grow and monetize without ever showing yourself.
Option 1: Yourself, but covering your face
A photo of you with a book or your phone in front of your face is a classic bookstagram move. It gives “real human” energy without sacrificing your privacy.
Option 2: Stock images
Not everyone wants to be on the internet visually, and that’s completely valid. What helped me feel safer was actually blocking everyone from my personal account on my bookstagram. Once I knew my real-life people couldn’t see what I was creating, I felt free to actually create.
Truth is, they’re probably ghost followers who don’t engage anyway, but if you’d rather stay completely private, stock photos are your friend.
Quick: what even are stock images?
Stock images are professionally taken photographs (or illustrations, textures, and graphics) that are made available for anyone to use. Photographers upload their work to stock image libraries, and you can download and use them, often completely free.
Why bookstagrammers love them:
- Backgrounds for Canva graphics and quote cards
- Cozy aesthetic shots (coffee, autumn leaves, candles) to complement your feed
- Textures and overlays to make your stories look polished
- Book cover mockups for reading lists and recommendations
- Seasonal imagery for themed content
The best free stock image sites
All of these allow personal and commercial use without attribution. My personal hierarchy:
- Unsplash – gorgeous, high-resolution, bookish and lifestyle heaven. This is where you’ll spend the most time.
- Pexels – similar quality to Unsplash, also has free stock videos which are perfect for Reels.
- Pixabay – massive library. Quality varies, but you’ll find real gems for textures and backgrounds.
- Canva’s built-in library – we’ll get into Canva in a sec, but its free image library is huge and right inside the design tool.
- Kaboompics – a hidden gem. Beautifully curated, feminine and lifestyle-focused. Perfect for bookstagram.
- StockSnap.io – another solid option with new photos added regularly.
Search terms that always deliver: cozy reading, book and coffee, autumn aesthetic, library shelf, reading nook, open book, fairy lights, warm tones, vintage paper, dark academia.
Your bio: make every character count
You get 150 characters in your Instagram bio. That’s not a lot, so every word needs to earn its place. Think of it as a tiny elevator pitch: who you are, what you post about, and why someone should follow you.
Here’s the anatomy of a bookstagram bio that actually converts:
Chapter 03: Your Bookstagram Toolkit
You don’t need expensive software or a design degree to create beautiful bookstagram content. The tools I’m about to walk you through are either free or very affordable, and they’ll cover 90% of everything you need.
I grew my account to 50k followers in one year purely with carousels, and I’d never created content before in my life.
1. Canva: your new best friend
If there’s one tool in this entire guide that will change your bookstagram game, it’s Canva.
What is Canva? It’s a free, browser-based and app-based design platform that lets you create stunning visuals without any design experience. Think of it as the easy button for everything visual. It works on drag-and-drop templates, which means you pick a template, swap out the text and images, and you have a professional-looking graphic in minutes.
What you’ll use Canva for as a bookstagrammer:
- Instagram posts – book review graphics, quote cards, “currently reading” posts
- Pinterest pins – to drive traffic back to your Instagram
- Digital products – reading trackers, bookmarks, planners, all the stuff you can eventually sell
If you want a shortcut, I have a pack of 80 bookstagram Canva templates specifically designed for creating aesthetic posts without showing your face. They’re plug-and-play.
2. Goodreads (for downloading book covers)
It doesn’t really matter which app you use to track your reading, but on the desktop browser version of Goodreads, you can download high-quality book covers, which is something you’ll be doing constantly.
3. Photo editing apps
Your phone camera is more than enough. But a good editing app takes your photos from “nice” to “that’s a whole aesthetic.”
- Lightroom Mobile (free) – the industry standard. Use presets (essentially one-tap filters you save and reuse) to create a consistent look across your entire feed. You can find free bookstagram presets online or create your own. I also include 30 of my own presets inside my growth toolkit.
4. Reels editing apps
For editing reels, I recommend InShot (the cheaper option) or CapCut.
Two reel tips that genuinely matter:
- If you do talking-head videos, edit out every pause. Get straight to the point. Don’t say “hey guys, here are 5 book recs I love.” Say “these are 5 thrillers with plot twists I never saw coming.” You need to hook people in the first 3 seconds, no exceptions.
- If you do vlog-style reels, keep each shot to 2 seconds maximum. People scroll the second nothing visually changes on their screen.
Chapter 04: Creating Your First Posts
Your account is set up. Your tools are ready. Now comes the part that actually matters: creating content. And I know this is exactly where the nerves kick in. So let’s break it down and make it feel manageable.
The types of bookstagram content you can post
Bookstagram is not just photos of books on shelves. There’s a whole range of formats, and knowing them will help you stay creative when inspiration runs low.
Book reviews
A photo of the book paired with your honest thoughts. Keep it genuine. You don’t need to write an essay, 3 to 5 sentences about what you loved (or didn’t) is plenty.
You also don’t need to read 5 books a week to always have a review ready, and honestly? You don’t even need to post book reviews at all to be a bookstagrammer. In my case, since English is my second language and I have ADHD, I often don’t know what to say about books. So I lean into other formats instead.
Truth bomb: book review posts often don’t perform that well on their own anymore. With everyone scrolling Reels, sitting down to read a whole caption about a book is rare.
The fix: bundle reviews into a story-driven carousel. Instead of one book review per post, do “mini book reviews from this week” or “how much I read as a 9 to 5 corporate girly” or “books I finished as a mom.” Make it aesthetic, make it a journey, not a single isolated review.
Book recommendations
“If you liked X, read Y” posts. Carousels work brilliantly here, and these are some of the most-saved formats on bookstagram.
Flat lays
Styled photos of books with cozy props. This is the classic bookstagram aesthetic and it never goes out of style.
Shelfies
Photos of your bookshelf. People are weirdly obsessed with bookshelf tours, and even a small shelf looks great when it’s styled intentionally.
Quote posts
A beautiful graphic with a quote from a book. Easy to design in Canva, and these are some of the most shareable formats out there.
Reels and video content
Book hauls, unboxings, “get ready with me” reading edition, day-in-the-life reading vlogs. Reels get pushed hard by Instagram right now, so even one reel a week makes a difference.
There are way more post ideas than this. I share bi-weekly (sometimes weekly) content ideas on my main account, so follow along if you ever feel stuck.
Your first 9 posts (the launch week plan)
Your first challenge: get 9 posts up in your first week.
Why 9? Because when someone discovers one of your posts and clicks through to your profile, the first thing they see is your grid. Nine posts fills the first three rows, which is enough for someone to think “okay, I like this vibe” and hit follow.
Don’t overthink them. They don’t need to be perfect. The goal of these first 9 is simple: get content up, get used to the process, start learning what your audience actually responds to.
After your first week, you don’t need to post every single day. Just stay consistent and aim for at least 3 posts a week.
Chapter 05: Writing Captions That Convert
A great photo gets someone to stop scrolling. A great caption gets them to comment, save, share, or follow. Your caption is where your personality actually lives.
The caption formula that works
1. The hook (first line). This is the only thing people see before tapping “more.” Make it count. Ask a question, drop a bold statement, share a hot take.
Examples: “This book ruined me in the best way.” Or “Stop sleeping on this author.”
2. The body. Your review, thoughts, recommendation, or story. Keep it conversational. Write like you’re texting a friend who loves books.
3. The call to action (CTA). Ask a question. “What was the last book that made you cry?” or “Would you read this? Let me know in the comments.” This invites engagement, which tells the algorithm your post is worth showing to more people.
4. Hashtags. They’re not as powerful as they used to be, but still add them. Stick with relevant tags like #bookstagram, #readersofinstagram, #bookreview, etc.
Chapter 06: Growing and Building Community
You’ve got your first few posts up. Now what? This chapter is about understanding how Instagram actually works, how to get seen by more people, and how to build a community that genuinely cares about what you post.
The algorithm isn’t a villain (it’s a system)
Everyone talks about “the algorithm” like it’s some shadowy force out to ruin our lives. It’s not. It’s just a system designed to show people content they’re most likely to enjoy. Here’s what it actually weighs:
- Engagement rate. Likes, comments, saves, and shares relative to how many people saw your post. Saves and shares carry the most weight.
- Relevance. Instagram shows your content to people who engage with similar content. This is why a clear niche matters so much.
- Timeliness. Newer posts get a slight boost. Posting when your audience is most active helps. Check your Insights to find your peak window.
- Relationships. If someone regularly interacts with your content, they’ll see more of it.
- Reels get extra reach. Instagram is pushing them hard. They show your content to people who don’t follow you yet, which is the entire game when you’re growing.
Create content people want to save and share. Post consistently. Engage with your community. Mix in Reels. That’s basically the whole strategy.
Your long-term bookstagram plan: monetisation basics
Yes, you can make real money from bookstagram. It’s not overnight, and it’s not guaranteed, but once you’ve built an engaged audience, the opportunities open up fast. Here are the main income streams to plan for:
Brand deals and sponsorships
Publishers, bookish subscription boxes, stationery brands, and lifestyle companies pay bookstagrammers to feature their products. This usually starts happening once you hit around 1,000 to 5,000 engaged followers.
Affiliate marketing
Share links to books and products you genuinely recommend. When someone buys through your link, you earn a commission. Amazon Associates and Bookshop.org are the most popular options for bookstagrammers.
Digital products
This is where it gets exciting (and where I make most of my income). You can create and sell reading trackers, bookstagram Canva templates, Lightroom presets, reading planners, bookmarks, and more. Build it once, sell it forever.
Paid subscriptions and newsletters
Platforms like Substack let you build a paid newsletter where you share in-depth reviews, exclusive recommendations, or behind-the-scenes content (which is exactly what you’re reading right now 👀).
Next up in the series
In the next paid post, I’m walking you through how to set up your link in bio, the exact tools I use to drive traffic, and how to start finding endless content ideas so you never run out of things to post.
If this guide helped, the best thing you can do is keep your subscription active so the rest of the series lands straight in your inbox. And if you want my Canva templates, planners, or growth toolkit to skip ahead, they’re all on my Stan Store.
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