A Guide to Instagram Hashtags for Book Bloggers

Are you a book blogger who uses Instagram? Are you struggling to find hashtags that work for you? Do you want to up your Bookstagram game? This guide is for you.

Last year I wrote a guide to Twitter hashtags for book bloggers. Now that I’m trying again to up my Instagram game, I realized that it can be pretty hard to find and use Instagram hashtags for all your bookish needs.

This is a list for new and veteran Bookstagrammers to get more involved in the Instagram book community. There are way too many hashtags in existence for this to be a comprehensive list, but this list does intend to be a starting place.

General and Miscellaneous

#amreading / #currentlyreading / #nowreading

These are self-explanatory.

Book Lovers

These hashtags can indicate that you are a book lover by any other name or that you would like to talk about the subject.

#bibliophile, #bookaddict, #bookish #booklover, #booknerd, #booknerdigans, #bookster, #bookworm, #literaturejunkies, #readersofinstagram, #areaderlivesathousandlives

Book Titles

Some popular books and series have their own hashtags. Examples: #harrypotter, #LoveSimon, #TheHateUGive, #grishaverse, #acotar, #TheCruelPrince, #iamnotyourperfectmexicandaughter, #averylargeexpanseofsea, and #ThreeDarkCrowns.

You can also use some character names or ships as tags: #drarry and #malec.

Or author names: #leighbardugo, #sarahjmaas, #amyreed, #taherehmafi, #johngreen, and #shakespeare. Please note that you can tag authors too, but please don’t be that person that wants an author to see your negative review or you bashing their book.

Bookish Merch

#bookishmerch, #funkopop, #bookinspiredcandles, #booksandcandles, #booksandcoffee

Books

#bookcommunity, #booksbooksbooks, #booksofinstagram, #bookstagram, #bookquotes, #booktography, #igreads, #instabooks, #weekendreads

#bookstagrammer / #bookblogger / #booktuber

These are generic hashtag that call attention to those who use different platforms in the online book community.

Fan Art / Fandom

#bookfanart, #bookart, #customfunkopop, #digitalart, #cosplay

Genres

Children’s Books: #childrensbooks, #kidlit, #mgbooks, #kidsbookstagram, #bookishplay, #picturebooks, #kidslovebooks, #readingisfundamental

Contemporary: #contemporaryfiction

Comics / Graphic Novels: #comics, #manga, #manhwa, #webtoon

Fantasy: #fantasyseries, #fantasybooks, #lgbtqfantasy

New Adult: #newadult, #newadultbooks

Nonfiction: #architecturalbooks, #biography, #memoir, #nonfictionbooks, #selfhelpbooks

Poetry: #blackoutpoetry, #makeblackoutpoetry, #poetry, #poetryporn, #visualpoetry

Romance: #romance, #queerromance

Young Adult: #ireadya, #yabooks, #yalit, #yareads

Libraries

#librariansofinstagram, #libraryart, #librarylife, #librarybook, #librariansdoitbetter

Subscription Boxes

I’m not sure how popular subscription boxes are, but there was certainly an era of seeing them all over BookTube. If you order subscription boxes, many of them encourage you to share what you got through a predetermined hashtag. Examples: #OwlCrate, #litjoycrate, #romancereveal, #revealbookbox, and #wickandfable.

Aesthetics

These refer mostly to the general aesthetics of the photo or the books. Very general ones that you can use are #beautifulbooks and #bookaesthetic. You can also use the ones that belong to these other categories.

Bookshelves – #shelfie, #bookspines, #booktower, #mylittlelibrary

Layout – #bookflatlay, #booktower, #flatlayfriday,

Diversity

#AsianLitBingo

There is a reading challenge currently in progress this month where you challenge yourself to read more books starring Asian protagonists by Asian Authors. You can find more about this annual challenge on Lit CelebrAsian.

#diversebooks / #diversebookbloggers

These are self-explanatory.

#lgbtqreads / #lgbtbooks / #queerlit / #queerbookstagram

You can also tack “ya” to the hashtag for some of these if you want to emphasize that it’s a young adult book.

Here are some more: #lesfic, #lesbianfiction, #lesbianromance, #lgbtqliterature, #queerbooks

#MuslimShelfSpace

This hashtag was created by S.K. Ali to share more books with Muslim characters by Muslim authors. In other words, these are #OwnVoices books.

#OwnVoices

This hashtag indicates books that feature diverse characters who were written by authors who share those identities and intersections.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

The We Need Diverse Books organization, which created that hashtag, has a mission of “Putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children.”

The purpose of this hashtag then is to bring awareness to the issue of needing more diverse books and giving a space to talk about it. It encourages all to seek out diverse literature and to produce it.

Think about using these as they apply.

#asianamericanliterature, #AsianLit, #AsianLitPhoto, #blackauthors, #diversityinchildrensbooks, #inclusivefiction, #islamicbooks, #litcelebrasian, #muslimauthor, #muslimkidlit, #pocbooks, #poccharacters, #readwomen, #representationmatters

Weekly Hashtags

I am sure that there are more that exist, but these are a few that I’ve seen for more than a year.

#fandomfriday

It’s the day to talk about or otherwise showcase your fandom.

#funkofriday

FunkoPops aren’t only book characters, so you will see more than just bookish photos. This hashtag can be combined with #fandomfriday.

#mapmonday

It’s pretty self-explanatory: maps on Monday.

#shelfiesunday

Also self-explanatory: anything that involves a picture of bookshelves on Sunday.

#socksunday

I see a lot of photos with sock-covered feet, paired with books or other props.

#throwbackthursday

If you’ve been on social media for many years now, you know that #throwbackthursday isn’t books only, but it can work for your Bookstagram needs if you want it to. It also has potential to increase views from outside the book community.

Bookstagram Challenges

It can get very challenging to come up with new posts regularly, so I recommend participating in Bookstagram Challenges. Some of the prompts they give can be colors, shapes, quotes, or themes. Bookstagram challenges can be great inspiration for new posts, and they often drive more traffic to your photo when you time it right.

@bookstagramchallenges

This account is a great source for finding Bookstagram Challenges. I started following @bookstagramchallenges to try to get a more consistent source of currently running Bookstagram challenges. New challenges are shared frequently, and the account tells you who the source of the challenge is.

Other resources you can try are these hashtags on Instagram: #BookPhotoChallenge, #BookChallenges, or one of the previous with some version of the date in front of it.

Bookstagram Challenges That Run Regularly

Some challenges exist only for a few weeks or a month, only. For example, the first #FinnFury October Challenge only lasted a month, but I loved it. However, you may find you want to participate in challenges that happen every month.

This will be a very short list of regularly running Bookstagram challenges that I have participated in. I will give you the name of the challenge, the current hashtag it is using (some change by the month), and the account(s) that host it.

• Ampersand Challenge. #AmpersandMay19, hosted by @commasandampersands
• BookQueens Challenge. #BookQueensMay19, hosted by @readandwonder_, @thisdreamofmine, @readitandweep_girls and @fablesandwren
• CreativeBookstagram Challenge. #creativebookstagram, hosted by @xenatine and @betterwithabookinmyhand
• Read Gush Challenge. #ReadGushMay19, hosted by @marissa_writes, @tall_telle_tells_tales, @justicereads and @kylielovesbooks
• Wishful Wonder Challenge. #WishfulWonderMay19, hosted by @rissi006

Final Tips

Pay attention to other Bookstagrammers.

I mean this especially if you are trying to figure out what works. Try using the hashtags that your favorite Bookstagrammers use. Go down the rabbit hole of hashtags that are related to the one you want to use and see what others get paired with it. You never know what you might find.

Experiment!

I’m not as great with this when it comes to Bookstagram, but hashtags are fast-evolving, and you may stumble on something that is popular.

Are there other hashtags that you think new and veteran book bloggers should be aware of? Have you seen any of the hashtags above change in usage? Let me know in the comments!