Maximizing TikTok Momentum to Land Major Publishing Deal
Thomas R. Weaver had already made waves in the U.K. with his indie-published sci-fi technothriller Artificial Wisdom before Books Forward came on board to help launch the book in the U.S. This tiered-launch approach created a solid foundation for our team to expand his audience further. It didn’t hurt that the book was absolutely stellar—shocking and terrifying in the best way!
Building Critical Acclaim and Reader Buzz
To ensure the book reached a wide audience, we started by securing critical acclaim from premiere trade publications to validate its credibility. Then we developed a strategic social media campaign to connect directly with readers and encourage reviews. Weaver understood the importance of building long-term readership, rather than focusing solely on a quick ROI.
A key element of our strategy was designing a custom PR box — eco-friendly and themed to the book — for an extensive Bookstagram and BookTok campaign. We sent early review copies of the U.S. edition to influencers who loved sci-fi technothrillers, ensuring organic coverage. Additionally, we arranged sponsored influencer promotions to amplify high-impact exposure.
Viral TikTok Success, With Influencer Support
Our goal was to spark word-of-mouth buzz among avid readers — and that’s exactly what happened.
Two TikTok reviews in particular gained massive traction, with the videos about Weaver’s book receiving more than 230K views and 110K views, respectively. The influencers genuinely loved Artificial Wisdom and continued to post about it multiple times.
One influencer went a step further, selecting the book as their book club pick for over 12,000 members. This choice led to 700+ 4-star reviews on Fable’s book club app, along with a surge in reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. The book also gained traction within the Reddit community through a combination of our paid advertising campaign and organic posts from passionate readers.
From Indie Success to a Major Publishing Deal
Thanks to its viral success, Artificial Wisdom climbed the Amazon charts, reaching #1 in technothrillers and landing in the top 20 sci-fi books. Weaver leveraged this momentum to approach a prominent literary agent, who ultimately secured a six-figure, two-book publishing deal with Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
This achievement was especially sweet for Weaver, who had once queried 35 literary agents without success before choosing to self-publish and establish his own indie press.
