“TikTok made me buy it!” If you’re an author, you can barely escape these words, which are now used as a seal of approval on hundreds of books. However, if you’re shy about social media, or (god forbid) older than 30, TikTok may seem like a strange and foreign land.

So is it actually worth the hassle for authors to build a platform on TikTok?

As the author of four books (one self-published, three traditionally published) and the creator of Author Website Marketing, I’ll give you my take on TikTok.

First, a quick primer.

TikTok is a social media platform for videos and photos which now boasts more than a billion users worldwide, making it the 5th biggest platform. It’s so successful that other social media sites, like Instagram, are aping its style by prioritising “reels”, which are essentially TikTok videos.

TikTok videos are usually noisy, fast-paced, and heavy on the clickbait (“here’s one thing you need to do right now to lose weight!” – that sort of thing). It’s very, very easy to get sucked in and accidentally scroll for hours.

As a platform, it runs on an algorithm. If you watch one video about thriller books, it will serve you up more videos about thriller books. Although you can follow other users, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually see their videos, because… algorithm. TikTok tracks your views, likes and comments and serves up more of the same to you.

#BookTok is a hashtag and an informal community of people who talk about books. TikTok isn’t actually a monolith. Most people who use it end up in one of its niches, like FitnessTok or TravelTok.

Some people use TikTok as a form of search, asking questions in the search bar and finding videos that answer those questions, like “how do I get published?” (A question like that will take you to #WriterTok or #AuthorTok, another thriving community.)

On BookTok, enthusiastic readers post videos about their favourite books. BookTok has been responsible for huge spikes in popularity for mid-list or indie-published books, like Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us and Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You. Even a pensive dystopian read from the 90s, I Who Have Never Known Men, has inexplicably become famous on BookTok, leading to massive mainstream popularity.

Misconceptions

Now let’s talk about some misconceptions that authors have about TikTok.

“If I start posting on TikTok, I’ll immediately become as famous as Colleen Hoover, right?”

Uhh… probably not. There is a strong element of luck involved with “BookTok Famous” authors. It could happen? But I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

Many of the biggest books on BookTok are actually the result of careful PR campaigns by publishers. They send free books to BookTok influencers, who gush about how much they love THIS BOOK, which makes other people buy it, who then gush about how much they love THIS BOOK.

Also, there are some genres that are vastly more popular on TikTok, namely romance, fantasy and romantasy.

If you’re not writing spicy romance and/or you don’t have a hefty PR campaign behind you, don’t feel bad if you struggle to get traction on TikTok.

“Hmph. I bet TikTok is a waste of time for authors.”

Hold on, hold on, I wouldn’t go that far, Eeyore.

Authors CAN get visible on BookTok, making it a viable platform to spread awareness about your books. This is where the algorithm is a good thing: it doesn’t matter how few followers you have, or if your account is brand new, TikTok will scan your videos for keywords (like “best romantasy” and “thriller books”) and then serve them up to users who’ve demonstrated they’re interested in those things.

If you post good content that relates to your subgenre, your videos WILL get seen. That’s more than I can say for other social media platforms, where you have to spend months diligently building up follower numbers before you get any views at all.

“TikTok is just for youngsters, I won’t fit in!”

Sure, when you join BookTok, you should get ready to see a lot of teenagers posting from their bedrooms. However, that’s not the entire user base. TikTok is growing, especially among older people, where “older” means over 25.

You’ll find plenty of wrinkles and grey hairs on BookTok, so there’s no need to feel uncomfortable.

“I don’t want to look at my big face in a video…”

As someone who has historically preferred text-based social media, and can easily take 30 selfies before I find one I’m happy with, having to see my face in videos has been… an adjustment.

There’s no fix for this apart from: get over yourself, stop being so shallow.

Yes, some people will probably judge you for your appearance, but who cares? People judge you for your appearance when you’re shopping at the supermarket, too, and that doesn’t keep you up at night.

Also, it may seem like a cliché, but the thing that always does well on TikTok is authenticity. Your authenticity may include bad skin, dark circles under your eyes, or unwashed hair, and that’s OK.

“You have to be a video-editing whiz to do well on TikTok.”

Wrong. TikTok has its own video-editing software built into the app and they have a vested interest in making sure it’s easy enough for laypeople to use. The most you’ll need to do is watch a 10-minute primer on YouTube to learn how to trim video clips and overlay images.

Plus, don’t get bogged down in trying to do fancy stuff. You can get thousands of views on a video that’s just you talking to the camera, provided what you say is interesting and useful.

Yay or nay?

“Soooo, bottom line, should I join TikTok or not?”

Like all social media, TikTok is better for “brand awareness” (i.e. a way for people to know your name and see your book cover), rather than instant sales.

If you’re short on time, I think having a good author website and author newsletter remain much better book marketing tactics, but if your already have your bases covered there, I do think TikTok can be worthwhile.

It’s a lot of fun once you get into the swing of it, and there is a thriving community of bookish people there. Check out: BookTok for Beginners: 13 Tips for Authors on TikTok