Coming up with social media content can be surprisingly difficult as an author. When most of your creative energy goes into writing, thinking of new posts every day can feel exhausting. If you find yourself getting stuck and wondering what to share, here's three super simple ways to find inspiration for your social posts.
1. Look at What Other Authors Are Posting
One of the easiest ways to find inspiration is simply to look at other authors in your genre. Pay attention to the kinds of posts they share and what seems to resonate with readers. There's a fine line to tow here, so be sure you aren't outright stealing their content.
You might notice authors posting character introductions, quotes from their books, aesthetic graphics, or small writing updates. Make a note of the types of posts, and instead of lifting their posts and trying to pass them off as your own, combine ideas, join trends, and share support.
2. Use Templates to Speed Things Up
Creating graphics from scratch every time you want to post can quickly become overwhelming, especially if you're already struggling for ideas. A super simple way to find motivation is by digging through templates!
The Canva community is absolutely filled with Canva templates for authors, and you can find super specific, genre-friendly Instagram templates (or for any other platform) available pretty much anywhere you can find digital files for sale. With templates, you can simply drop in a quote, character detail, or update and have a polished post ready in minutes - without the added stress of thinking of a bunch of content ideas first.
If you're on the market for some templates that are hyper-focused on genre, I create Canva template packs designed specifically for authors, which makes it easy to create professional-looking posts without needing design experience.
3. Turn Your Own Story Into Content
Your book itself is a great source of social media ideas. Dialogue, emotional moments, character introductions, and small worldbuilding details can all become posts.
Instead of thinking about social media as something separate from writing, try looking at your story and asking: what parts of this might readers enjoy seeing? For some, it's hard to pick out quotes or moments that might resonate with readers. You can recruit the help of betareaders, friends, reviewers, or even hire a marketer to perform a content pull on your manuscript.
After all, the best content is already in the pages you’ve written.
Social media doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. By looking at what other authors are posting, using templates, and drawing inspiration from your own story, you can quickly find ideas for content that connects with readers. And if you're ready to make the jump to high-performing, beautifully made templates, you can explore my author Canva templates over on Etsy!
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