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Category: News

Purchases on Bookstagram

| Ad | FIS – GenPay Report |

How do you spend money on bookstagram? What are the habits of bookstagrammers in relation to purchases on social media? Who is the average bookstagram consumer?

I was approached by Global Fintech FIS about a topic I would like to present to you guys today for discussion! Have you ever thought about how our book community is spending their money and how we are influenced to purchase online?

I have been in boosktagram for almost 4 years now and I have spent thousands of euros related to purchases influenced by the bookstagram community. I learned of new merchandise related to books that I had never heard of before, and also of new payment methods that I didn’t use before.

“From the young to the young at heart, the way generations pay globally is changing. That’s why getting to know your audience is so important.”

Generation Pay report 2021

Majority, if not all, of the payments in bookstagram are cashless and contactless. Mostly via payment tools such as paypal or via credit card. Bookstagram is a huge online community with various different types of merchandise related to books. I had never heard of a booksleeve before and now I own over 30! Cashless methods are beneficial in many ways, including: reduced costs and business risks, transaction speed and convenience…

Through my observation over the last few years and also my insights of my own account @tata.lifepages (currently at 60k followers), I have noticed that the bookish community on Instagram consists in majority of woman and mostly from the Gen Z (18-23 years old) and Millennials (24-39 years old) generations.

What are their payment preferences? Where do they spend their money? Taking myself as an example (a 28 year old woman): I prefer to use my mobile wallet for payment and I purchase mostly book subscriptions boxes and special editions.

The Generation Pay report by FIS digs deep into consumer payment preferences, financial attitudes and spending habits. This report is free and can be accessed via their website. The report explores:

  • How generations adapt to new payment methods and agile businesses turned a turbulent year into a year of opportunities
  • The vital role of payment acceptance in meeting customer expectations.
  • Why future success will rely on continued digital investment.
  • Why channel mix will continue to be crucial to building loyalty.
United States data from the 2021 FIS GenPay report

This free report is most useful for business owners looking for more insights of the payment preferences of their consumers across countries and different generations.

North Street Book Prize – contest for self-published books

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As you guys know I often review books by self-published authors, also known as indie authors, to help promote and spread word about their books. More and more writers are choosing the path of self-publishing; this allows them to have complete freedom and control of the publishing process.

I was recently contacted by Winning Writers, a platform that creates resources for poets and writers, about an ongoing contest for self-published authors. This contest provides not only exposure to self-published works as well as some incredible prizes.

  1. Grand prize winner: $5,000 and a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value).
  2. Top winner in each category: $1,000 and a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and one free ad in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $175 value).
  3. A honorable mention in each category: $250,00.
  4. Published online excerpts from all entries that win a prize, along with critiques from the judges.

Various categories of self-published books may join the North Street Book Prize contest (Mainstream / Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children’s Picture Book, Graphic Novel & Memoir, Art book) with no restriction of the publication date.

Fee per book entry: $65,00

Grand prize winner 2020

I will be supporting Winning Writers this upcoming months in spreading word about their contest and their work. The North Street Book Prize is recommended by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), a designation for “contests which are organized for the benefit of the author rather than the profit of the organizer.” Are you a self-published author? To find more information on the North Book Prize contest for self-published works check out their website.

My experience with SCAMMERS on Bookstagram

Times are truly sad if this is what desperate people have turned to.

Online scamming has always been present, however in the year 2020 it has increased exponentially in the Bookstagram community. In the last couple of months I was impersonated a total of 5 times on Instagram. It is an infuriating and disheartening moment, to see how low a human being can go when they are hopeless.

(Left) Fake scam account impersonating me. (Right) My account. Notice the differences?

What is their strategy and how do people fall for it?

  1. A TARGET: The scammers choose to impersonate big bookstagrammers who host giveaways for big prizes. Usually ones that are for money giftcards and have a visual calling on the photo of the giveaway.
  2. A FAKE ACCOUNT: The scammers then proceed to create a fake account with a very similar handle and bio to the original bookstagrammer, as well as the same profile photo. They take screenshots of the most recent photos from the bookstagrammer’s feed and post these on the fake account, including the giveaway post.
  3. A FAKE WEBSITE FOR PRIZES: They create a fake website using photos of the bookstagrammer and the giveaway post. Their strategy is to lure people to this website to register and give them their bank information.
  4. ATTRACTING VICTIMS: They start to follow people who entered the giveaway on the original bookstagrammers post. They want people to believe they are the original bookstagrammer and to lure them in to their scam. Their strategy is to get people to click the link (either sent via DM or in the scammers bio) by making them believe they have won the giveaway prize.

Scammers use malicious links to obtain your bank account or credit card information!

Never click any suspicious links!

Message from a fake scam account

How to recognize a fake scam account?

Recognizing when an account is fake is not always easy, however there are some signs to look out for:

  1. FOLLOWER COUNT: The bookstagrammers they are impersonating usually have thousands of followers. The first thing you will notice is a very small (usually less than 1k) follower count.
  2. NUMBER OF POSTS: Scammers don’t have the patience or time to go and screenshot 500+ photos and post them all. They usually have small number of posts.
  3. BLURRY PHOTOS: Scammers screenshot the bookstagrammer’s photos which makes them blurry, easy to see that the photo they posted isn’t the original.
  4. THE ACCOUNT IS NEW: These fake accounts are created on the same day they hope to scam people. Real and big influencer accounts have been around for years (I will show you how to see this information below).

Fake scam account impersonating me. You can immediately spot the small number of posts, followers, blurry photos and the obvious scam link in the bio.

Besides those four main signs of fake accounts, other ways to identify is: when a person DM’s you with a link asking you to register for a giveaway, usually they have grammar mistakes (they are nervous and in a hurry), they don’t have any stories or highlights (they don’t have the time to put these up they want to scam a few people and bring the account down fast before someone notices it).

Another way to clearly identify who is the real account and who is the fake account, is by clicking on the “3 dots” on the top right corner of an account, as shown on the images below for my profile. Then select “About This Account”. You will then be able to see when this account joined Instagram under “Date Joined”.

  • Click on “About This Account”
  • How to see when an account joined instagram

My next blog post coming this weekend will cover the following topics:

  • How to report a scam account
  • What to do if you are being impersonated on Instagram.

North Street Book Prize – contest for self-published books

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As a personal project I have been branching out more to self-published authors, also known as indie authors, to help promote and spread word about their books. I will be reviewing almost exclusively works by independent authors in the upcoming months here on my blog as well as my main account. I was recently contacted by Winning Writers, a platform that creates resources for poets and writers, about an ongoing contest for self-published authors. This contest provides not only exposure to self-published works as well as some amazing prizes.

Various categories of self-published books may join the North Street Book Prize contest (Mainstream / Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children’s Picture Book, Graphic Novel & Memoir) with no restriction of the publication date. I’ve listed the prizes at the bottom of this article, which are very impressive. They currently have a free book giveaway for the 2019 grand prize winner (Lay of the land) which you can download for free at their website.

Submissions until the 30th of June, 2020

Grand Prize Winner 2019, Poetry

  • Grand prize winner: $5,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value);
  • Top winner in each category: $1,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and one free ad in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $175 value);
  • A honorable mention in each category: $250;
  • Published online excerpts (1,000-6,000 words) from all entries that win a prize, along with critiques from the judges;

I will be supporting Winning Writers this upcoming month in spreading word about their contest and their work. Are you a self-published author? To find more information on the North Book Prize contest for self-published works check out their website.