Tag: Writing

The internet has its faults, as does social media. But one of the blessings of the internet is that it’s created pockets of communities where like-minded people can gather and talk about the super niche things they love.

Instagram—specifically, Bookstagram—is one of them. Instagram is one of the most popular image-sharing social media platforms in the world, with an estimated 1 billion active users monthly worldwide. The bookish community there is affectionately referred to as Bookstagram (cute, right?).

If you have a Bookstagram account, then you’ve probably wondered how to grow your following and reach other bookish users. Now, social media algorithms are finicky, and their internal mechanisms are abstract (to me, at least). What worked last week might not work next week.

However. One thing that all social media platforms will always reward is engagement. It is the operating currency on every social media platform, be it Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok or heck, even LinkedIn. The more people who engage with your content, either through liking or commenting on your posts, the more likely that your content will continue to be pushed and promoted, furthering your reach.

The opposite is also true: the more YOU engage with other people’s content, the higher the likelihood that your posts will attract attention by pleasing the algorithm gods.

As content creators, it’s incredibly important to maintain an active presence on social media. However, this can be daunting and time consuming. Not to mention that sometimes, your creativity well runs dry.

Personally, I use Bookstagram to connect with potential readers for the Young Adult High Fantasy novel, The Sapeiro Chronicles: A Forgotten Past. But I also use it to meet other authors in my genre, and have had the incredible opportunity to chat with readers and writers world-wide.

Now, here’s where I am giving myself the hypocrite award. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post with 100 bookstagram prompts to engage your followers. Then, life got in the way and I stopped posting on Instagram for a while, and now my views have tanked.

I am rebuilding, and while trying to come up with more ideas, I realized that what I really want to do right now is to connect with those who enjoy the fantasy genre. Which got me thinking: I needed more fantasy-specific prompts.

And now, here we are.

What I’ve found to be helpful in driving engagement is to ask people an interesting question of the day (QOTD) to try and get your followers to interact with your post.

So here’s a list of topics/questions to ask your followers and maintain engagement!

Let’s start with the basics:

1. What’s your favorite fantasy book?
2. Who is your favorite fantasy author?
3. What’s your favorite fantasy sub-genre?
4. What’s your favorite fantasy series?
5. What’s your favorite fantasy standalone?
6. What’s your favorite fantasy duology?
7. What’s your favorite fantasy trilogy?
8. What’s your most anticipated fantasy book for this year?
9. What was your last five-star fantasy read?
10. Describe your favorite fantasy book badly!
11. What book got you into the fantasy genre?

Get to know your audience:

12. What’s a fantasy book you wish you could read for the first time again?
13. What’s a fantasy book you couldn’t put down?
14. What’s the last fantasy book that made you cry?
15. What’s your favorite fantasy book trope?
16. What fantasy book have you read the most?
17. What fantasy book did Bookstagram make you buy?
18. What fantasy book broke you?
19. Which series do you think is going to be the next mainstream fantasy series?
20. What’s a popular fantasy book that doesn’t deserve the hype?
21. What’s an underrated fantasy book that you think everyone should read?
22. What do you think makes a good fantasy story?
23. What is okay in a fantasy book but would get you arrested in real life?
24. What fantasy world would you want to live in?
25. What fantasy world would you never want to live in?
26. What would you like to see more of in fantasy stories?
27. Favorite fairytale retelling?

Fantasy nitty-gritty questions:

28. If you could have any magical power or ability, what would it be?
29. If you could pick a companion animal, what would it be?
30. Yes or no to maps in stories?
31. Yes or no to pronunciation guides?
32. If you could pick a magical weapon, what would it be?
33. If you could pick an elemental power, what would you want to control?
34. Favorite romantasy trope?
35. Overdone romantasy trope?
36. Favorite fantasy trope?
37. Favorite magical system?
38. What’s a fantasy trope that is overdone?
39. What’s a magical creature that you wish you saw more of in fantasy stories?
40. If you could have one small nearly inconsequential yet useful power, what would it be?
41. Your pet declares themselves an emissary from another magical world. What is their full title?
42. You bond with a magical creature. What is it?
43. What magical food would you want to try?

This or that questions:

44. Magic! Do you prefer earned power or innate power?
45. Do you prefer cozy fantasy or epic fantasy?
46. Which fantasy trope do you prefer, The Chosen One, or Reluctant Hero?
47. Do you prefer fantasy with clean romance or some spice?
48. Dragons or griffins?
49. Unicorns or Pegasus?
50. Ancient powerful artefact or new, never-before-seen weapon?
51. Assassins or warriors?
52. Magical bow or magical sword?
53. Would you rather read from the hero’s POV, or the villain’s?
54. Romantasy or fantasy with romance?

Character-related questions:

55. Who is your favorite book couple?
56. Who is your favorite book girlfriend/boyfriend?
57. Who is your least favorite villain?
58. Who is your favorite villain?
59. What’s your favorite monster?
60. If you could become part of any fictional world, which one would it be?