I'm relatively new to Pinterest but I've quickly become excited about the possibilities it holds for non-fiction authors. For me, it is all about creating additional visual context about the people, places and incidents that are described in a book.
For authors of history, I think Pinterest can hold particular value because so often in the process of researching a historical work, much is left on the cutting room floor such as photos, letters, audio and video material. Much of this material is simply not suitable to use in a traditional book but if you are able to combine a traditional print book, with an eBook and have additional supporting and contextual material in blogs and places like Pinterest, then this can greatly enhance the subject matter. Furthermore, it can broader your potential readership/viewership and it can be great publicity both before and after a book is published.
It can also re-ignite interest in a subject if new photos or material comes to light years after a book is published. An example of this occurred recently when the State Library of Queensland published photos of a period that authors I'm working with wrote about.
Peter Thompson and Robert Macklin's The Battle of Brisbane: Australia and the Yanks at War, explores a time when Australian and US servicemen in Brisbane in 1942 had a pitched battle (over girls, among other things) and one Australian was killed and many were injured. The State Library of Queensland published some wonderful photos of that time which provide a fantastic visual context to the incident. Pinterest lends itself well to this sort of visual storytelling.
Have a look at the Battle of Brisbane Pinterest board here.
I'd be interested in how you think Pinterest can be utilised for both fiction and non-fiction authors.
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