Q&A: Which Books to Keep, Growing on Instagram, & More

The answers to four more questions from my recent AMA

Hi, friends.

A few weeks ago, I put up an “ask me anything” question box in my Instagram stories. Four of the questions you all submitted warranted a bit more space, so I thought I’d give them to you here on Substack instead.

But first, a quick note to say that there are a few more hours of free shipping on Bookshop.org as they continue their good work in the battle against Amazon. Get yourself a treat! You deserve it! Also, Libro.fm is having a sale! Bestsellers are on sale until October 13, and if you’re not a member yet (what are you waiting for?), you can join with code BOOKSHOPLOVE to get two free audiobook credits, aka three for the price of one.

Okay, on to the questions!

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Q: How do you decide what to keep for your beautiful shelves versus part with after reading?

A: Thank you to the bookworm who phrased this question so kindly!

First of all, I will say that I probably end up getting rid of more books I haven’t yet read than books I’ve already read. I’m in a unique (and very lucky) position to get quite a few books in the mail from publishers every month, many of which I did not ask for, and there’s just no way I can keep up. I tend to keep those books around for a year or two, but if I haven’t been moved to pick one up after all that time, I admit defeat and lovingly send it off to my mother’s Little Free Library.

I’m actually overdue for one of these cullings. Because I knew I was going to be building a whole library in my dining room and didn’t want it to look empty, I haven’t gotten rid of any books in quite a long time. But if I don’t soon, I’m going to find myself in a place where more than half of the books I own are unread — and that just feels so extra. 😅

As for books I’ve already read, I wish I had a straightforward answer for you, but alas, it’s really just…vibes lol. I literally just ask myself, “Do I want to be the kind of person who owns this book?” Maybe I could see myself rereading it someday, or wanting to lend it out to friends or family. Or maybe it’s a classic, or a book that just fits with who I feel I am as a reader. If it feels like it goes “with” me, it stays in my library.

Q: How do you decide what to read next?

A: I am a creature of lists and plans and goals, so I almost always know what I’m going to read next. And if I don’t know exactly, I have a monthly TBR of about 10 books max that I choose from. (I’ve written about how I organize all this using Airtable before!)

Some of each month’s TBR is dictated by book clubs, or library due dates, or publication dates for advanced copies of books I really want to read. Sometimes it’s in service of a larger reading project, like reading a prize list, or when I made my way through Toni Morrison’s novels or all the previous Women’s Prize winners.

And then, of course, there are the books that are just calling to me. I have a list in my Airtable marked “shortlist” for those I want to keep top of mind for myself, or “super-shortlist” for the ones I want to get to very very soon. (I told you I love lists, lol.)

Q: Faves so far of each of the prize shortlists?

A: I will admit that I saved this question for Substack because I wasn’t done with the Naitonal Book Award list yet — but now I am!

I’m currently only reading two lists: the Booker Prize and the NBA for Fiction. I’ve read three out of the six Booker Prize finalists: James, Orbital, and Creation Lake, and I’d rank them in that order. And among the five NBA finalists, I’d rank them James, Ghostroots, My Friends, Martyr!, and All Fours (although I liked them all a great deal).

Q: Advice to grow your following [on Instagram]?

A: This is the age-old question. First let me acknowledge that Instagram is so incredibly frustrating for creators, and that while everyone says they “don’t care about the numbers,” of course that’s not 100% true. It’s inherently demoralizing to put so much time into creating content that you’re proud of, only to feel like you’re yelling into a void. I see you, and you are not alone.

Personally, I managed to break the impenetrable 5,000 mark and climb my way to where I am today the way most do: by sheer luck. One of my Reels happened to go viral, which exposed my account to enough new people that the algorithm started showing my content to folks outside my little circle of the internet — for a little while, anyway. I may have 11,700 followers, but I have only gained about 100 followers over the past 90 days. And that’s pretty good for me, tbh.

Anyway, once I found myself with some momentum, I did my best to capitalize on it by focusing on creating extremely sharable content. Because mechanically, you are not going to grow unless your content gets served to people who don’t already know you, and the best way to do that is to post something that people will want to share to their stories. Yes, I’m talking about Reels, but also static memes and screenshots of funny or relatable tweets. (Make sure you ask permission to share a tweet, even if the person who posted it has a lot of followers. Don’t steal people’s work!) At the time, infographics also worked very well, although that moment is mostly past now. Today, I still try to post memes every once in awhile — and they continue to perform the best for me.

The other advice I’d give you is to make some really good friends who are all committed to lifting one another up. They will talk about you and tag you and share your stuff, and you will do the same for them, and then any rising tides can help lift all of your boats. Bonus: This is what makes Bookstagram fun and wonderful.

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That’s all I’ve got for this week, friends. Was this interesting, and should I do more AMAs here on Substack in the future? Let me know what you think!

As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me. It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. And finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.

See you on Instagram!

— Deedi (she/her)