You are not here to sell your book. You're here to find your people — and make them feel seen before they ever open a page.
10 steps
AI prompts included
Works with any AI
01
Know Exactly Who You're Writing For
Before you create a single post, you need a real person — not a demographic.
Give her a name. Give her an age. Think about what her life looks like — her job, her relationships, what she does on a Saturday morning. What has she been through? What does she reach for when she needs to escape?
This is your reader avatar. Everything you create is for her.
The more specific you are, the better your content will be. A post written for everyone connects with no one. A post written for her will find her.
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What does she feel when she picks up a book in your genre?
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What has she experienced in real life that your book speaks to?
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What line from your book would she screenshot and send to someone?
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What would make her say "this author gets me"?
02
Find the Feelings
Your reader isn't buying a plot. She's buying a feeling she's been chasing.
Your book is full of plot. Forget the plot for now.
What your reader is actually buying is a feeling — and she's learned from experience which books deliver it and which ones don't.
Write down 5 feelings your book delivers. Not themes, not topics — feelings. The kind a reader would describe to a friend.
Examples to spark yours:
“The rush of wanting two people together when they absolutely shouldn't be yet”
“The satisfaction of watching someone finally get called out”
“The devastation of a moment that was almost okay”
“The ugly cry you didn't see coming”
“The exhale at the end when everything lands”
03
Build Your Three Pillars
You need three types of content. That's it. Three.
Think of these as three different ways to invite your reader in. Every post you make fits into one of them.
Pillar 1: Emotional Experience
Posts that make your reader feel something she recognizes. She saves these. She shares them. Your book is never mentioned.
"Do you ever think about the version of yourself you perform when you're not okay? How good you get at her?"
Pillar 2: The Reader You're Writing For
Posts that make her feel seen. These say: I know who you are, I wrote this for you.
"She's the one who makes sure everyone else is okay. She's funny. She's capable. So no one worries. She's fine. (She's not always fine.)"
Pillar 3: World Mood Board
Posts that invite her into the atmosphere of your book world. Not plot. Just mood.
A warm vineyard at golden hour: "the kind of place that makes you believe things are possible."
04
Find Your Voice
Your content needs to sound like a real person. Specifically, like you.
You are not a brand. You are an author. There is a human being behind these books and your reader wants to feel that.
Write your posts the way you'd talk to someone you like. Not formally. Not like an advertisement. Like yourself.
A simple test: read your post out loud. If it sounds like a commercial, rewrite it. If it sounds like you, you're done.
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Are you warm and open, dry and witty — or both?
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Do you lead with heart or earn the heart through humor?
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What do you believe about love or relationships?
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What would you say about this to a friend over coffee?
05
Structure Every Post
Every post has three parts. Once you know this, you can batch fast.
1
Part 1: The Image
Stops the scroll. Doesn't need to show your book or cover. Just needs to create the right feeling — atmospheric, warm, real. Not stock-photo-fake.
2
Part 2: The Text Overlay
Short copy on the image itself. This is your hook. Two to five lines maximum. Make every word earn its place.
3
Part 3: The Caption
Two to four sentences underneath. Warm, genuine, no pressure. You're not asking her to buy anything. You're sharing something real.
06
Create Your Visual Identity
Your feed should look like it belongs to the same person.
Find one image that feels exactly right for your brand. One image that makes you think: yes, that's the world I'm creating. Save it. That is your reference image.
Everything you create should feel like it lives in the same world.
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Light quality — warm golden? soft natural? moody?
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Color palette — creams and honey? deep jewel tones? muted neutrals?
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Setting mood — cozy interior? wide open landscape? intimate close-up?
You don't need a photographer. You need a good prompt.
Use Midjourney (midjourney.com) to generate exactly the images you need.
A prompt is just a description of the image you want. Think of it like instructions to a very talented photographer.
Prompt structure
[what's in the image], [the light], [the mood], [the style], [what you don't want]
Example
woman sitting on a wooden fence, back to camera, oversized cream knit sweater, warm golden backlight, soft and contemplative, film grain, --ar 4:5 --style raw --v 6 --no dramatic lighting, no cold tones, no stock photo feel
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Be specific about light. "Warm golden backlight" gives you something. "Nice light" gives you nothing.
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Tell it what you DON'T want to keep results consistent.
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Add --ar 4:5 for Instagram ratio.
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Once you find a style that works, save it and use it on everything.
08
Batch Create Your Content
Never create one post at a time.
Set aside one session — two to three hours — and create three weeks of content at once.
Once you have your pillars, your voice, and your visual style locked, the posts come quickly.
Monday
Emotional Experience
Tuesday
Reader You're Writing For
Wednesday
World Mood Board
Thursday
Emotional Experience
Friday
Reader You're Writing For
Saturday
World Mood Board
Sunday
Something personal — a thought, a line you love
Schedule with Later, Planoly, or Meta Business Suite (free).
09
The Rule of Five
For every post that mentions your book, write five that don't.
This is the step most authors skip because it feels wrong. It feels like you should be talking about your book more.
You shouldn't.
The posts that drive the most readers to your book are the ones that never mention it. They just make the right person feel understood. She follows you because she feels seen. She buys your book because she trusts you.
That trust is built post by post, over time, by showing up as a real human being who has something genuine to say.
5:1
non-book posts to every book mention
10
Let It Be Imperfect
Your first posts will feel awkward. That's not failure. That's the process.
Your voice will take a few weeks to find its rhythm. Some images won't land. Some captions will fall flat.
Show up consistently. Pay attention to what resonates. Adjust. Keep going.
Your readers are out there looking for you right now. They just don't know your name yet.
Go introduce yourself.
Go introduce yourself. ✦
Your readers are out there looking for you right now. They just don't know your name yet.
Created for the Mastermind by Elle Wilder · April 2026 Built with AuthorDash