How To Get A Book Deal From Your Instagram Account

If you’re hoping to snag a book deal based on your Instagram account, the good news is you don’t need anywhere close to Kim Kardashian’s 121 million followers. The photo-sharing platform has become a source for books and a gateway to publishing for many who started their accounts on a whim or simply as a creative outlet.

Look through Publishers Marketplace’s book deal listings and you’ll see plenty of phrases like “Instagram influencer,” “Instagram artist” and “Instagram poet.” Books have sold based on all sorts of Instagram accounts, from We Should All Be Mirandas (@everyoutfitonsatc) to Bento Power (@shisodelicious) to Baseball Card Vandals (@baseballcardvandals), and far beyond. But how many followers do you need to rack up before publishers and literary agents are eager for you to turn your photos, artwork or poetry into book form?

How Many Instagram Followers You Need To Get a Book Deal

While of course having more followers helps establish your audience, just as with viral articles turned books, there’s no magic number that will instantly land your work on bookstore shelves. According to Rachel Vogel, a literary agent at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, publishers and agents take into account “more than just the number of followers” you have.

This makes sense, because it’s as easy as the click of a button after seeing an intriguing photo to follow someone on Instagram or other social media platforms. The decision to buy their book is more complicated—and expensive. “The content needs to stand on its own, because over the last five or so years of Instagram-to-book-deals, it’s become clear that not every Instagram page translates into book sales,” said Vogel. “Simple animal photography had a fantastic moment, thanks to Underwater Dogs, but over time, people were getting enough of that for free on Instagram and books sales have dropped off.”

If you’re sitting there thinking, Oh well, I missed my Insta-fame moment, that’s not necessarily the case. Vogel elaborated on the role an Instagram audience can have when evaluating a book proposal. “What works now is content that galvanizes people,” she said. “ Instagram pages that turn into book deals have followers that do more than just smile and keep scrolling. These pages can show that the content is being reposted and shared to people who aren’t even on Instagram. Those are the signs of an Instagram book that will move off the internet and onto bookshelves.”

According to Jen Bilik, CEO and Founder of Knock Knock, Instagram is “by far the single greatest pool from which we’re currently seeking and drawing talent.” Knock Knock, which publishes books in addition to creating gift items, has released several titles based on Instagram feeds, including a photographic look at “horticulturally challenged” Shit Gardens, funny dog photo book Jess Rona’s Groomed, and 50 Totally Stupid Real-Life Reasons to Work Out by Stupid Fit Couple, all released in 2018.

But while Instagram is a fertile source of material, Bilik emphasizes that it’s not the numbers alone that will make her want to sign someone. “At Knock Knock, we’re looking more for high-quality content than community and engagement, because we’re creating a book, not a social media feed,” Bilik explained. “It’s totally unpredictable which feeds will translate into book purchases. We’ve found that the conversion rate of followers to book purchases doesn’t always correlate to engagement rates. You can never predict whether social media followers will buy books.”

Bilik emphasized that “there’s no specific number whatsoever” that they’re looking for, but instead what counts the most are “idea, voice, creativity, and capability” that can be turned into book form. She noted that while “it’s reassuring from a sales and marketing point of view when a potential author has a high following”—meaning, for Knock Knock, starting at 50,000—they’re also interested in accounts with a lower number of followers whose work fits with their sensibility. For instance, when they acquired the Stupid Fit Couple book, their Instagram account had 8,000 followers; currently, it has 11,300.

Not every Instagram-based book has a heavy visual element. Poets have also used Instagram to build their audience and become published authors. “A large following is helpful but not essential,” Kirsty Melville, President and Publisher of Andrews McMeel Publishing told Forbes.com. “We have a poet who had fewer than 2,000 Instagram followers when we signed her, but we signed her regardless because of the quality of the material and the title, which is very strong.” For Melville, high quality content and a strong level of online engagement are equally important when evaluating poetry submissions. “A poet’s community is typically quite supportive, and if those fans are engaged enough to comment and share, then that usually leads to strong sales,” she said.

It’s also important to note that not every successful Instagram account makes sense as a book. What works when users are scrolling through their phones may not be as cohesive, humorous or fun when printed between covers. “Books require a more explicit organizing principle than Instagram feeds,” said Bilik. “Where a successful Instagram feed’s organizing principles might be a particular look, sensibility, and personality, books need a more narrative reason to exist.”

Instagram Users Can Land Book Deals Even When They’re Not Seeking Them

Emma Lee is the pseudonymous creator of the Instagram account Hidden Hearbreak, which currently has 115,000 followers, and author of January 2019 release Hidden Heartbreak (Andrews McMeel Publishing). Lee started on the platform in February 2017 looking for an outlet for her artwork about the pain of a breakup, with no intention of turning it into a book. “I simply wanted a space to be able to express myself, be creative and work through some emotions,” Lee told Forbes.com. “I chose Instagram because I wanted to focus solely on the visual aspect. I didn’t want to have to get bogged down with accompanying my work with writing, which doesn’t come as naturally to me.”

Even though Aaron Denius, half of Stupid Fit Couple, is an author and TV writer, when he and his girlfriend Karley Phillips started the account, they didn’t have a book in mind. The couple told Forbes.com, “We were just looking for a way to keep ourselves motivated to stay fit and at the same time share our goofy personas. We noticed that there were too many fitness accounts that seemed to take themselves too seriously and they were leaving out the fun.” When Knock Knock approached them and asked if they had any book ideas, they pitched about ten different possibilities, which resulted in 50 Totally Stupid Real-Life Reasons to Work Out.

How Much New Material Goes Into An Instagram-Based Book

One key thing to know is that if you do get a book deal based on your Instagram postings, you won’t be able to simply rehash what you’ve already shared and add a few photo captions. Lee estimates that 75% of her book is new material. She had six months to create about 150 new drawings. With a book deadline to meet, it may mean your Instagram posting schedule has to slow down, whether you’re taking photos, drawing art or writing poetry, so plan accordingly.

You’ll also have to be prepared to be flexible not just with your book’s title, but with the name of your Instagram handle. When literary agent Erin Hosier of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency sold Molly Schiot’s “illustrated history of pioneering female athletes,” to Simon & Schuster, Schiot’s Instagram account was called Butch History. They decided to change the Instagram handle to theunsungheroines to best represent the content of the book, which become Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines of Sports History, since the use of “butch” in the original handle was meant an alternative to “tomboy,” not sexual or gender identity.

How To Pitch Your Instagram-Based Book

If you want to be represented by a literary agent, you need to offer them more than simply a spreadsheet of figures—though you’ll need those as well. For an Instagram-inspired book proposal, Vogel will want to know your current number of followers, the increase month over month and proof your audience is doing more than simply clicking that heart button, such as tagging friends in the comments, or asking if you’re going to be putting out a book. As with any book proposal, you’ll have to show how you plan to leverage your platform, not just that it exists. “I’d also be interested to know what your vision for the book is,” said Vogel. “If it’s just photographs, then how will you present it in a way that sets it apart from your Instagram page? How will you get people to pay $15 to $25 for it?