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BookTok and Beyond

With over 1 billion monthly users, TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world — and it has a thriving, highly engaged community of readers and reviewers, dubbed “BookTok.” TikTok allows users to create short-form video content and slideshows of no more than 1 minute in length. The app is designed so that videos have a much greater chance of going viral than content on Instagram or YouTube.

Why is TikTok such a powerful tool for authors?

  1. It enables authors to interact with fans directly via video and text.
  2. Viral videos are common on the app, which can lead to exposure and sales boosts indefinitely post-publication.
  3. Booksellers are even making recommendations based on BookTok’s top titles! 
  4. Tiktok’s video content is also easy to cross-post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
I really appreciate your insight into TikTok, and it's saved me many, many hours of semi-mindless scrolling trying to figure out what's trending + what works for my book. Thank you so much for these and all the fantastic guidance you sent before! They have been so helpful and really helped me become more comfortable with a platform that was new to me.
Author Tracy Badua
whose video became a viral hit with more than 90,000 likes and nearly a million views

Books Forward can introduce you to TikTok in a way that is most advantageous to your book and author brand with:

  • Personalized pitching to BookTok influencers, specific to your book and genre
  • Easy-to-use recommendations for how to get started on TikTok and how to make the most of the app’s features
  • Personalized content strategy tips for the types of videos you can create, how to grow your following and how to engage more fans
  • A curated list of BookTokers and other authors that we recommend you follow and engage with
  • A curated list of specific, personalized hashtags you can use to find comparable creators and fans to engage with, and that you can use to accurately label your own content for maximum exposure
  • Swag design and production to send something special with the book to incentive BookTokers and enhance their video coverage

Note: TikTok requires an author’s genuine engagement in order to build a platform on the app. If you’re not sure if TikTok is right for you, we’re happy to send you a brief Q&A to determine how impactful it may be for you and your work specifically and how to best introduce you to the platform.

Excited to find readers on TikTok?

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