The Struggles of Being a Bookstagrammer - The Bloggers League 2022

There is a dark side to every beautiful thing!

Being a bookstagrammer has a lot of advantages, including being able to talk about books, get book recommendations, connect with your favorite authors, participate in readathons, reading challenges, and giveaways, make friends without feeling like a nerd, show off your book collection without being teased for being boring, and much more. To clarify, a bookstagram refers to an Instagram account whose contents revolve around books.

However, there are numerous difficulties that a bookstagrammer faces in managing their account and in their daily lives. There are some people who are dedicatedly doing this job but most of this population have jobs, studies and families to take along besides running the bookstagram account. Here are a few of the most typical issues that every bookstagrammer encounters in Behind the Scenes of Bookstagram:

1. Time Management - When you see a post, you might believe that the photo was snapped impulsively, or that the reviews/caption were written in a few minutes while just chilling out. But in fact, even making a single post on the account necessitates a great deal of meticulously timed planning. You should make use of any opportunity in your life to work on this, such as drafting rough caption draft in between lecture breaks or simply capturing images before going to bed or to your office/class.
2. 
   Clicking Pictures - Behind every beautiful post you see over the bookstagram there are at least 5-20 snaps that have been rejected to provide you with that "perfect click". And behind every perfect snap there is at least 15-30minutes preparation process, arranging your props and your book in the proper places to get the best shot out of it or just simply decorating your whole bed or study table just to take that one picture while your roommate just gawk over you from time to time with the expression of "What the hell are you doing exactly?". The struggle doesn't end here. You must further edit your pics because you don't live in a perfect world with perfect lighting or background, especially people like me who live in PG, hostel or rents. There also have been times when you have a great picture, but you can't post it because it doesn't match the theme of your account like recently, I had been to Crossword Jaipur, and I have like 40-50 amazing clicks, but I just can't post it. On the left side there is a glimpse of one of my folders in my mobile's gallery dedicated to pictures I'm planning to post on bookstagram (mind it I have already deleted a lot of pictures at the time of clicking).
   
3. Content Planning - "What exactly should I post today?" is the portion that I struggle with the most. There have been instances when I've been completely stumped for ideas or simply don't know what to write about, and I haven't posted in days. You don't want your feed to be clogged with the same image you posted a few days ago while others are creating beautiful content every other day, so sometimes I just post anything for the sake of posting, like when I have exams to write or events to attend, and I don't have time to read books properly to post reviews or just write about my current reading stats, so I'll just post a random picture with anything in the QOTD and Caption or simply won't post at all.
4. 
   Books and Props Hoarding - You know how you get that feeling of "Why don't I have that book or that piece of prop" or "I should get that book or prop too so that my feed will look more aesthetic/pretty" when you see a picture on bookstagram with a beautiful hardback or collector's edition of your favorite book accompanied by beautiful props and bookish merchandise? Because not everyone has the financial means to get whatever we desire, you must make do with the alternative and hope that one day you will be able to obtain all the collector's editions and merchandise. Again, the struggle isn't limited to this; even if you can get all those books and props, where are you going to put them? Especially if you share your small dorm room with another person, how are you going to confront your roommate who is mad at you because you have 70+ books in every corner of your tiny room, or how are you going to finish all those books that bookstagram obligated you to buy?
   
5. Competition to fit and grow - Let's be honest, it's one of our basic human natures to compare ourselves to others or to feel jealous when you see others developing but you can't grow despite your best efforts. You feel on top of the world when you notice an increase in the number of your followers and story views, when your request for an arc is approved by the publisher, or when you are chosen as a REP for your beloved small business, but you can also feel depressed when someone unfollows you or when other bookstagrammers are getting arcs every other day while you haven't been approved for a single time.

Despite all the challenges I face on a daily level, the ultimate results are well worth it. I've met so many lovely folks because of this organization. Everyone is always polite and happy, and they are eager to discuss novels with you and enthuse you over your favorite characters. People that share a passion for the same books form a unique kinship, and it is this bond that distinguishes the bookstagram community.

Thank you so much for reading :)

Disclaimer: This article is written as a part of The Bloggers League conducted by Vidhya Thakkar Neelam Sharma and Siddhi Palande powered by Penguin India, Dreamland Publications and Acclidesign should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Hosts are not responsible for any infringement caused.”