Switched Topics Around
Initially I planned to either cover apps that aid productivity or programs to edit photos on computers. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that we should tackle this topic first: real time vs. planned content. There are different approaches and there’s no hard and fast rule but it is worth thinking about levels of spontaneity. Knowing which approach you choose will make it a lot easier to keep your bookstagram account going.
Real Time vs. Planned Content
The difference between these two is that when you post in real time, you upload photos on Instagram straight after taking them. Planned content (usually) means taking photos ahead of time and posting them later. I say usually because planned content could also entail a frame set up for the sole purpose of a bookstagram post and still be uploaded straight after.
Which Approach is Better?
Neither, really. It depends on your resources and on what your goals are. Personally, I’ve a hybrid going on @wordrevel with a strong tendency towards planned content. I post most of my photos shortly after taking them but every so often specifically lay things out for my photos. I recently started an experimental account, @litgraph where my content will predominantly be planned and photographed in advance.
To decide which approach suits you best, let’s break them down.
Real Time Content
Spontaneity is the key factor of real time content. You capture what’s before you and post that. Examples would be photos taken at bookstores, libraries or perhaps even your own bookshelf as well as your current read at a café or sprawled out on your bed. It’s a very interactive way to communicate what is happening in your life right now.
Doing this requires little investment in time because you’re already in the moment. It could be considered a more authentic voice because you’re “not putting on a show”. You’re portraying yourself through your books the way you are.
Posting photos in real time also means that you can cover events very quickly. That’s what I did when I attended the Frankfurt Book Fair last year. I still relied on my DSLR to take the photos that I wanted, then transferred them to my phone via Wi-Fi. This allowed my followers who weren’t able to attend to see the book fair through my lens.
The problem is that when life takes over, your bookstagram account inevitably becomes dormant. During the times that you’re not reading, not visiting bookstores and aren’t adding books to your shelf, you’ll not have any content to post. To stay relevant in social media, posting regularly can make a huge difference. Although, don’t get too hung up on it. There are bookstagrammers who disappeared for months and when they returned, their followers welcomed them back with open arms.
Planned Content
A huge benefit of planned content is that you’ve got your photos ready to roll. Even on days that you aren’t in the mood to press a shutter, you have something to post. It’s also very useful to take photos over the weekend when you can take advantage of daylight. Many of us only reach home from work or school after sundown — not ideal times to take photos. Planning helps combat this.
Planning also helps to keep a consistent feel to your feed. For instance, if you want to post photos only taken outdoors like @abookishheart used to do, then you do need to plan. If you want to stick to pretty consistent backgrounds like @sapphire.reads and @outofthebex do, then you definitely need to plan. Taking photos in advance takes the pressure off during the times that you’re unable to put together new photos.
One downside is that some people consider planned content “unattainable”. I can’t remember who commented this once on one of my photos but that person preferred real time photos with less emphasis on attaining a perfect feed. It does make sense since after a while, photos that look identical can come across as rather clinical. That’s were you’ll need more creativity to break the monotony, particularly if you don’t want to change the overall look of your photos.
Hybrid
Marrying real time and planned content is my solution to address the problems of strict adherence to either approach. I plan @wordrevel such that I alternate between dominant white and colour, forming a chequered pattern. This makes everything look cohesive while allowing me to post whatever I’m in the mood for. When I have time, I take a few extra photos in case I need fillers.
Stellar examples of hybrid bookstagram accounts are @lookingforabura, @crimeofrhyme and @paperiot.
Abeer mixes books and lifestyle exceedingly well yet still manages to make everything look very cohesive with her brown tones. She shows us a glimpse of her life through a lot of spontaneity, sometimes falling back on planned content.
Alison also sticks to brown and white. A lot of her photos are specifically set up for her bookstagram photos but when she sees colour in her life that matches, she adds her books to the frames and shares those moments.
Judith could be considered a part-time bookstagrammer. She also documents food and other life snippets. Since she keeps things clean and simple, any book photographed on a white or wooden background fits right in.
Determine Your Level of Spontaneity
As I already mentioned, your level of spontaneity depends on your goals. Think about how much time you’re willing to invest. Do you want to integrate other aspects of your life? If you only want to feature books, do you want them to be “models” or do you want to portray them in a more personal light? Do you want to recommend books or do you want to have conversations with others who have read them too?
Considering all these aspects should help you decide which approach to take with real time vs. planned content.
That being said, planning is always involved. You probably don’t want to bore your followers by posting photos of the very same book ten times in a row. Chances are you won’t have anything new to say and your followers might grow bored. Even if it takes you a month to read a book, maybe insert a book recommendation or a couple of books that you plan to read soon. That will help to keep your content fresh and the converation going between you and your followers.
This post was so interesting Jo! I definitely use a hybrid, there’s something satisfying in posting photos in real time, based on what you’re doing. I also preplan photos a lot based on the daylight issue after work. A combination of both is the best of both worlds!
When it comes to my instagram account, planning ahead is a must. My life is busy and unpredictable so very often a day comes along that doesn’t allow me to snap a photo. So I usually take the time twice a month to snap a dozen or so photos at a time. I plan them out and use them over the next two weeks. However life happens and often inspires me in the moment so I also take ‘real time’ photos and post those too. This way my content feels alive and real but at the same time I rarely miss posting at least one photo a day even when life gets crazy.
I used to be mostly spontaneous, but now I’m mostly planned and a little bit of spontaneous, which works for me since now I’m a lot more busy. Plus I like that my book pictures look much better now since I take them with my DSLR rather than my phone. I definitely think being a mix of both is good! Great post!
~Sara
I prefer accounts that aren’t as uniform, regardless of whether the photos are spontaneous or not. I do follow a few accounts that use a lot of props and have similar layouts for every picture, which are clearly curated, but for the most part I prefer minimalism. I think it’s easier to switch between curated and spontaneous posts with a minimalist style. I hadn’t noticed your checkerboard pattern before, since I usually look at pictures as they appear on my feed, but wow, that’s so cool! :D
I am a mix of both. You are right. When life takes over, you wouldnt have anything to post. And sometimes after a new buy I might take dozens of pics of my books. But I would post just one because even if I am excited my followers wouldnt be pleased about so many pictures in a single day
Ah, balancing excitement and good sense can be really difficult sometimes xD Though if you take photos of your books individually at that point in time, you can post them later when you start reading. Then when you’re in the midst of reading or done with a book you can take another photo and voilà! Same book featured but with different set-ups, ensuring a variety of posts.
I’ve just recently started a bookstagram with my friend and although I’ve planned out a couple majority of our uploads have been real time! I geuss as we get more into it we’ll start to descover what works best for us!
Happy exploring, Amy! :) Keeping these thoughts at the back of your mind will surely help you decide soon enough. You’ll have tried both and will also get a sense of your followers’ responses.
I am definitely 100% planned. xD It works perfectly fine for me and I don’t really do much that would make spontaneous photos work? I’m not sure if posting at a consistent time is good though…like I always post at the same time each night but GAH. Maybe I should be switching that up. I NEVER KNOW FOR THESE THINGS. :P
It’s great that you’ve found what works for you, Cait! Planning keeps you prepared :D I’ve been testing the best times for me to post. I also found that my time evenings seems to reach the most people simply because more than half the US starts their day then while the rest of Australia’s just about awake still before calling it a night. Everyone in between is awake too, so it does seem to be beneficial to pick such a time when your follower base is spread out across the globe.
I usually have planned and real time posts, but mostly planned. Even if it is a real time post, I still take the time to quickly edit it so it fits my theme. Now my theme is something I have trouble with! The days get darker much faster in the winter so I have nowhere with enough light to take any pictures. I really like your theme with the checkered pattern, I never really noticed until you mentioned it!
I also have trouble with setting up my photos. I know I can do much better but I can never find the right objects to add or even the time to do it all. I get lazy and so I’m not happy with a lot of my pictures. You’re a great inspiration though!
Yeah, the chequered theme is only evident to someone who specifically visit my account but I do it because I used to hate the random sprinkling of full white against darker photos. The contrast was just too stark. Since I do love white backgrounds but would grow bored if I exclusively used them, I decided to alternate. So far that solution has worked for me.
I’m totally with you about props. I’m amazed by those who manage to completely fill every single photo with a hundred props. I’ve a fairly minimalist approach to photography, so thankfully I don’t have to keep sourcing for something new every day. I don’t have the resources for that. Lol. If you’re not too happy with your photos and the lack of objects, perhaps try taking your books and camera outdoors. The change of scenery but spark some fresh creativity.
And thank you for your kind words, Chelsea :)
I love the topic of this post! As far as instagram and bookstagram, I love bookstagramers. I love looking at books and everyone’s beautiful pics of their books. I tried to have a bookstagram account but lost my mojo. As far as planned and unplanned, I am currently struggling with both. I have pictures that I’ve taken, my problem is that I look at them in comparison to everyone else’s and think, well they’re not good and don’t bother to post. Overall, I feel like I’m in a rut with what I want to post to my instagram account. I recently took a new direction with my blog and that change hasn’t filtered into my account yet and I don’t know how it will or IF it will.
But for when I do figure out things and get back my mojo, lol. I was wondering, how do you keep track of your planned posts? Do you have some kind of editorial calendar to track all your pics and when you plan to post them?
Thank you, Nicolette! Don’t stress about dropping your Instagram account. If you’re not feeling it, then don’t push yourself to go the direction of bookstagram. Comparing yourself with others could eventually take a toll and suck the fun out if it — not something worth subjecting yourself to. But if you do want to talk this as a challenge to improve your photography (as I did when I first ventured into bookstagram), then what others post can become a source of inspiration and a motivation to keep getting better. In that case, learning more about photography would be a great start!
I’m not so structured with my planned posts that I draw up a schedule or anything. Since I often cross post photos that are headers of my blog posts, I consider what kinda photo would be relevant. Then I check if it should be white or coloured and then roll with that. Lol. Though once in a while I do note down all the tags I’ve been tagged with. Then I cross out the ones that don’t interest me and take a bunch of photos, mixing white and colour. Those make great fillers that my followers are also interested in.
I definitely want to learn more about photography! And I think it would be a fun challenge. Thank you so so much for your positive encouragement and the advice! I appreciate your tips! I don’t have a camera, just my iphone, so I think I will start by looking for books at the library that can help me with taking photos with my phone. Actually, I do have a very old camera but I don’t know anything about cameras so I don’t know if my iPhone is better to work with or not. Again, probably something I should start researching. Unless you have a quick tidbit to share also?