Howdy! My TikTok account is a mishmosh of my varied interests, which is to say not really catered to a single niche. Not ideal for growth, but very real. However, I am trying to lean more into Booktok, now that my second novel is out (Light Step! It's an adult literary fiction novel with fabulist elements.). If you're not aware, readers and writers gather on Tiktok, where they often use the hashtag #booktok, to be easily findable by the like-minded. Indie authors, especially, have proven that self marketing over TikTok can be a very effective means of growing one's reader base.
It's a lot though, posting consistent quality content for any niche on a regular enough schedule to grow. I haven't succeeded yet, for sure, but I have been taking notes. So, without further ado, here are some ideas for booktok videos:
Share a quote: This can be for a book you're reading or have written. You can even show it on the page, or hold the book up while you state it.
Share a book review.
Share your book haul: This is when you show off newly acquired books, generally purchased, but they can have been bought used, or have been picked up from the library.
Unboxing: Show yourself removing the book from the box it came in. Probably bets to do this in a tidy photogenic room with decent lighting (though I suppose that goes for most of these).
Show yourself leaving books at the cutest little library near you.
Show off your favorite books, including why you love them.
Share your reading/writing playlist: If you don't have enough followers where you can post links, you can record the screen on your mobile device to show the title of your relevant public Spotify playlist.
If an album or musician reminds you of a book or author, you don't have to make a whole playlist. You can talk about that connection, sharing music by adding it as a TikTok sound to the video. You don't want to play music without attributing it through their app because they do pull down copyrighted sounds.
Share a mood board, fan art, or book merch: The first option is more author-oriented, but anyone can do these. Regarding fan art, share some behind the scenes information if possible, like why this artist was chosen and what the inspiration was or why this was the best medium for the illustration/design.
Show off the book cover: Explain what you love about it! If you're the author, share some behind the scenes information, like why this artist was chosen and what some of the inspiration was or why this was the best medium for the illustration/design.
Share a cosplay: Dress up yourself or your pets as a character from the story, and perhaps do a video in a setting reminiscent from one of the scenes.
Share an opinion: Are there book bannings happening near you? Or other book related controversies happening that you have an opinion on? Speak up.
Share your recommendations for specific genres or vibes: Is there a song, film, or meme that's both trendy and happens to remind you of some books you've read? Let people know.
Share sales or discounts: If you're books are on sale, or there is a big book sale happening at a large distributer, let readers know!
As always, avoid the posting of spoilers, even for old books. Everyone has their own reading journey and not everyone starts with the classics.
Anywho, I'll eventually get around to making some of these. Hopefully you found any of this helpful! I drop a new blog post every Monday. Toodles!
Newsletter
Howdy! I finally jumped back into my NaNoWriMo2024 story, starting the third draft essentially from scratch. It's a post-civil war horror story set on Roanoke Island. I generally try not to write too far away from contemporary fiction, what with all the research involved, but if I can do this right, then I can revisit that era for future tales as well. Which would be nice, since I have two other stories set around then, that are desperately in need of revisions. So far, I'm on chapter 1 so this is going to be a much slower writing process than NaNo. Right now I'm calling it either The Hesket House Turret or The Turret of Hesket House. Here's the Spotify playlist.
I also knocked out another woodburning. I opted to paint this one, mostly to see if that's a direction I want to continue, now that I'm better able to shade my wood burnings. Honestly, I really like how it turned out, so sure, I guess I'll keep doing that. Though, I want to leave more of the natural wood color in the next one. See how that looks.
This week I intend to do more writing and woodburning. I also got ahold of Spare, by Prince Harry, from the library. I'm about 50 pages into the Large Print edition (that's all they had available) but it's faster moving and less repetitive than the mist recent edition of Diana: In Her Own Words. I'm also reading Coromandel Sea Change by Rumor Godden. At 118 pages in, it's giving Pride & Prejudice meets The Help, but set in India. The stakes are low, everyone is catty, and much of the story is being told as dialogue. I'm having fun with it.
I'm debating writing a contemporary zombie apocalypse about a royal family, based off the Windsors, so I'm counting the biographies as research.
I also have Soul Mates and Fated Tides ready to read when I'm done with my current books. They're part of the Metaphysical Love Story series, by Sarah Faeth Sanders, an indie author. I know Fated Tides has pirates, so that'll be exciting! And a pleasant change from royal biographies.
Thanks for stopping by! I drop a new Newsletter every Monday! Toodles!
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