Do Bookstagrammers Make Money? (6 Surprising Ways) Do Bookstagrammers Make Money? (6 Surprising Ways)

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Do Bookstagrammers Make Money? (6 Surprising Ways)

Do bookstagrammers make money? This is something I’ve asked other bookstagrammers and other bookstagrammers have also asked me!

Yup, the question keeps going in circles.

There’s always not a clear answer on how do book influencers make money, especially on bookstagram.

Can bookstagrammers make money? YES. After speaking to a few bookstagrammers and doing some digging of my own, it is a hundred percent possible to make money from bookstagram.

But how much money? Well.. that depends on which of the 6 ways you select from this article to monetize your bookstagram.

Do bookstagrammers NEED to make money from their bookstagram?

No, it is not a must to monetize your bookstagram. Some do it for fun because they enjoy reading, while others want to earn a little extra from their hobby. Either way is fine.

But if you’re looking to monetize your bookstagram and want some answers to this burning question – “do bookstagrammers make money”, then you’re at the right place!

Disclaimer: This blog post may contain affiliate links. This is of NO EXTRA COST to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and I hope you find this information helpful!

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Is Bookstagram Profitable?

do bookstagrammers make money — Image by Brewing Writer

Planning to treat your bookstagram like a business instead of a hobby?

Before you read this section, I would like to make it clear that you can start a bookstagram, do it for the love of it and make ZERO money if you want to. It is not a must to monetize your hobby and passions.

I am just helping those who want to make money from their bookstagram by gathering some information and resources for them.

First, we need to understand the meaning of profitable. When a business is profitable, it means its revenue is more than its cost and therefore the business “profits”.

If you want your bookstagram to profit, you’ll have to make more money than you spend.

List down your expenditure (books, props for photos, camera, paid apps, filters, etc).

Some of these expenses are a one time thing (camera, props). This means you can easily make money from bookstagram to cover up for the one time cost.

While some expenses like books, filters and paid apps can be recurring. One way to reduce this recurring expenditure is by getting free books to review.

So depending on your costs and how much you can make from bookstagram, your bookstagram can be profitable if you want it to be.

Now you must be wondering, but can bookstagrammers really make money and how do they do it?

Yes, they can and the following sections will teach you how!

Is Making Money On Bookstagram Ethical?

By ethical, I mean morally ethical. I am by no means a lawyer to discuss this from a law perspective.

Are paid book reviews morally ethical?

This has always been something I want to discuss. However, it is a rather sensitive issue to authors, reviewers and readers.

I will try my best to explore this topic without offending any parties.

In my opinion, book reviewing can be viewed as a job. And for any job one does, there should be compensation.

A book reviewer has to put in a lot of hours reading, writing the review and creating content around it in various forms (IG posts, stories, reels and IGTV are some ways to create content on bookstagram)

This type of book reviewing is also known as a sponsored review, often said to be “sponsored posts”.

Sponsored posts are one out of the 6 ways mentioned in this article to make money from your bookstagram.

However, I am aware that not all authors can afford having an influencer marketing budget as part of their marketing plan.

Some readers don’t like it when bookstagrammers take on too many sponsored posts because they might be “biased” towards a certain book review/author as they are getting compensated.

Now of course not all bookstagrammers who are making money via sponsored posts are biased, but from an audience perspective – you can’t help but wonder at times.

This is why as a reader, it is important to follow the bookstagrammers you trust.

That way, even if they receive a sponsored opportunity, you will not second guess them – in fact, you would feel happy for them because their hard work is being recognized by others and opportunities are being sent their way!

Some Ways Authors Can Compensate Book Reviewers Despite Not Having An Influencer Marketing Budget.

Giving More Than One Copy Of Their Book

This is to encourage a giveaway so that the book reviewer can grow it’s platform. At the same time, this is also publicity for the author.

Gifting Book Vouchers

Many book reviewers are open to receiving vouchers instead of cash.

These vouchers do not have to be funded by the author, they can be sponsored by publishing houses or bookstores.

Of course this does not entirely make up for monetary compensation, but it would be a kind gesture for the author to consistently take an effort to engage with your posts and get to know you better via your other reviews, not just the review of their book.

Leave A Recommendation

If the book reviewers has a business page on Google, a website or even a LinkedIn – take a couple of minutes to leave an HONEST recommendation despite whether the reviewer enjoyed your book or not.

If you’re an author who has author friends, do share the book reviewer’s contact details with them! Recommending the book reviewer also helps.

Although the suggestions above are not exactly monetary compensation, both parties get to mutually benefit.

Also note that as a book reviewer, you are entitled to your time and therefore are responsible to set boundaries/rules before taking on a review.

Be sure to clearly state what you require/accept as compensation along with deadlines.

How Do Bookstagrammers Make Money?

So far, we know that bookstagrammers are able to make money – some are even able to sustain a living with their bookstagram account. But the question is, how to make money from bookstagram?

Here are 6 ways for bookstagrammers to make money:

Re-selling Books Your Own

As a book lover, you’re going to own many books.

Sometimes, you might even have duplicates of certain books as you receive gifts from friends or review copies from authors/publishing houses.

Besides donating these books or hosting a giveaway, you can also sell these books for a lower price compared to the original market price to earn some cash.

This is not a very difficult way to make money on bookstagram.

I’ve seen many people do it by posting stories on the books they wish to sell.

Affiliate Marketing

This is one of the most passive ways to make money on bookstagram.

However, not many bookstagrammers are aware of this method.

First off, what is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when companies get other people like you and me to promote their products or services. In return for a successful sale, we get a small cut from the sale price.

Affiliate marketing are for people who are:

Content creators
Do not have their own products/services to promote
Want to earn money passively

As a bookstagrammer, you are already genuinely reviewing books and bookish products, might as well recommend them so others can enjoy them too! (Be sure to be genuine though!)

Affiliate marketing on bookstagram has become easier to carry out in 2022.

Previously, bookstagrammers would insert affiliate links in their linktree account as Instagram only has space for one link in the bio.

Now, bookstagrammers can link their favourite books and products in their stories with the link sticker!

This has changed the game for affiliate marketing within the bookstagram community.

But what affiliate programs do you join as a bookstagrammer?

Here are a few of my favourite affiliate programmes for bookstagrammers:

Awin (Book Depository and Etsy are on this platform)
Etsy
Amazon
Involve Asia (Shopee, Lazada, Sephora, Kinokuniya and more)
ShareASale

Freelance Writing/Book Reviewing

Did you know that you could make money as a freelance writer with zero experience?

Technically if you’re a book reviewer on bookstagram, you have some experience with writing a review and that totally counts!

This is one secret way I personally monetize my bookstagram. I have pitched to a couple of bloggers and I’ve written book reviews for them to publish on their website.

If you ghost-write it (this means you are not credited for the article) you can charge a higher fee per article than writing a book review article and being credited for it.

The amount of followers you have on your bookstagram does not matter for this way of making money.

As long as you’re a good writer and deliver reviews by the deadline, you’re going to get recurring work.

To learn more on how to become a freelance writer (book reviewing or even in another niche) you can read my free guide here!

As an experienced social media manager and bookstagrammer, I’m going to let you in on a little secret!

Managing a bookstagram is basically managing a social media account and you can show it off as your PORTFOLIO.

This means your bookstagram can get you actual social media management gigs.

This is how I initially became a freelance social media manager (especially Instagram).

I found love in taking pictures of my books and coffee, overtime it improved and I learned some editing using simple apps like VSCO and presets from Etsy.

Canva also did wonders for graphic design.

I took their free trial for 30 days as an opportunity and watched these Youtube videos to test out features on Canva for FREE.

After a few months of being on Bookstagram, I started approaching local cafes and showing them the pictures on my bookstagram as proof of my work!

Think about it! As a social media manager, the scope usually consists of:

Content Calendar/Strategy
Photography
Graphic Design
Caption Writing
Hashtag Research
Community Engagement

These are things you’re already doing for your own bookstagram. Who says you can’t do it for other brands?

Tip: you can curate a package at a much lower price point initially for a few months until that contract expires and your client is willing to pay full price for the following months. I personally did this with a couple of clients when I first started.

Sell Your Own Products

The last couple of points were more about selling your services.

However, you can actually sell relevant physical products to your audience too.

As a bookstagrammer, you have a ready-to-go audience to tap into. This is your target market!

Some products you can create and sell as a bookstagrammer:

Bigger business model perspective, you can also:

Create A Book Subscription Box
Have Your Own Bookcafe!

As for the bigger business model ideas, not everyone can instantly come up with a successful business model such as a book cafe or book subscription box.

You need investors, material, labour, etc – it is not easy.

Do not beat yourself over it or compare yourself to others. Do what is within your means and set little goals that’ll take you from not having a book related business to successfully owning one.

And there you have it, to answer your question – do bookstagrammers make money? YES they do!

But how much they earn really depends on which monetization method they end up choosing.

I hope this has helped answer some of your questions related to earning money on bookstagram. Wish you all the best!

Related Posts:

Do Bookstagrammers Make Money? (6 Surprising Ways)

Do Bookstagrammers Make Money? (6 Surprising Ways)

Is Bookstagram Profitable?

Is Making Money On Bookstagram Ethical?