Quick Guide to Bookstagram Hashtags

Oh, hashtags. Why must you be a necessary evil? If you can figure out the right hashtags, your account can grow without a lot of effort. If you’re not using the ‘right’ ones, your account can feel like it’s stagnant.

Last updated: 3/15/21

This isn’t a comprehensive guide but rather some inspiration to change and play with your hashtags.

Looking for more bookstagram help? I’ve got you covered.

If you’re needing additional hashtag inspiration, try Display Purposes. You can put hashtags in and the site will generate some relevant other hashtags for you to try.

Hashtag basics for Bookstagram

• You can only use 30 hashtags on a post.
• Never, ever use #books
• Use a mix of large (100,000+ posts), medium (50,000), and small (less than 1,000) hashtags.
• Don’t use the exact same hashtags on every single post. Mix it up!

Basic

Title, Series, & Author of the book (featured)

When doing a book stack or a picture featuring several books, I try to do the title of each book.

Daily Hashtags

• #socksunday
• #sundayshelfie
• #onsundayswepostpotter
• #mapmonday
• #mugmonday
• #teatuesday
• #wickwednesday
• #waitingonwednesday
• #swapwenday
• #throwbackthursday
• #tbt
• #flatlayfriday
• #funkofriday
• #followfriday
• #stacksaturday
• #sleevesaturday

Describe the item(s) in the photo

• #booksandflowers
• #bookishcandle
• #bookishmerch
• #candlegram
• #enamelpin
• #shelfie

Monthly Challenges

Each month various bookstagrammers put together photo challenges. I love them because you can find new accounts and it gives me inspiration for taking photos.

You’re probably already following someone who is hosting a challenge.

I refer to Bookstagram Challenges or Challenges of Bookstagram for my challenges.

Kell Jasmer created a handy tool to round up the monthly challenges. Check late in the month (25-30) to see all the challenges for the next month. Select the challenges that interest you & hit generate. Now you have a list broken down by the day. I keep my list in Evernote. I look over it each day as I’m working on my post & then delete the day as I’m done.

Shops

Bookstagram is all about small shops. Use the shop’s name for a hashtag.

Some shops even have special hashtags for you to use. Flickerwix uses #flickerwixflavors for a monthly contest. Novelly Yours uses #novellyyoursfeature to find pictures to post on their IG page.

The Rest

After using hashtags specific to the picture, I fill in the rest of my 30 hashtags with general hashtags.

• #allthebooks
• #alwaysreading
• #beautifulbooks
• #becauseofreading
• #bookaddiction
• #bookaesthetic
• #booksbooksbooks
• #bookcommunity
• #bookdragon
• #bookflatlay
• #bookgeek
• #bookspine
• #bookstack
• #bookworm
• #bookishlove
• #booklife
• #booknerdigans
• #bookobsessed
• #booktography
• #coverlove
• #igreads
• #ilovereading
• #instareads
• #ireadya
• #prettybooks
• #readaholic 
• #readersofinstagram 
• #ReadingTime
• #totalbooknerd
• #yabooks
• #yabookstagram 
• #yafiction
• #yalit
• #yalovin

Mix It Up

When possible, I try not to use the exact same hashtags on every post. Sure, the ones I use work but if I only use them, I’m reaching the same audience. I’ve started using Hashtag Shuffle for my posts. Thanks to cookies, the site saves all of my hashtags and I add to it when discover new ones.

After using specific and relevant hashtags for the post, I figure out how many more I can use and do a quick shuffle to get the exact amount of ‘fresh’ hashtags for my post. Bam! Instant access to a new variety of relevant hashtags for my post with basically no work.

What hashtags are working for you?

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