A newspaper slogan once said, “Why would we shout it out loud when we could put it in ink?” As a culture, we have moved from having our stories told orally to the printing press to social media—but now, even social media is evolving.

When social media was first introduced—with platforms like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter—it was a platform of words. It was a way to tell our friends and family what was on our mind, in a very public way. Like most trends, advertising and marketing were close to follow.

While using social media to promote books is not new, there have been some fresh and out-of-the-box trends that have popped up in a post-COVID-19 world. What many of these trends have in common is a switch from the written word to the spoken word. With this change comes an opportunity to explore these platforms to allow your books to reach new audiences.

New studies show that Facebook’s target audience is now an older consumer than when it first started. Both Facebook and Twitter are declining in users. Instagram is not seeing a decline, but it has not seen much growth since the pandemic. The appeal of Instagram is Instagram Stories, which serve as bite-sized pieces of information that are easy to digest, and photos that call attention to what is going on for the content creator. In most cases, the word content and explanation is low, with the video or images doing the heavy lifting.

But no other social media platforms are seeing the growth that TikTok has seen in the past two years. While TikTok is full of creators, more and more celebrities and businesses are flocking to it as a way to connect more organically with consumers and fans. While influencer marketing is not a new concept, this type of marketing has exploded into many forms and options that help both consumers and businesses connect. The book publishing industry has also found that the change from the written word to the spoken word on YouTube and TikTok is a great way to connect with readers.

Sarra Cannon’s YouTube Story

Author Sarra Cannon (youtube.com/c/SarraCannon) is not a newbie to the writing community, but she had never personally used video to market a specific book. She took a small book, Witches Key, she had been working on and wrote it chapter by chapter when COVID-19 started. She read each chapter live on her YouTube at 3 p.m. every day until the story was completed. Along with listening to the story, fans were able to interact with questions and reactions, and she hosted a special party at the end via YouTube Live to celebrate the last chapter of the book.

The book was then edited and released for purchase, including an option to buy an autographed copy directly from Cannon. She had a fairly low following prior to this, but she used the book to build her author YouTube account. This also gave fans a chance to interact and go through the dark first days of the pandemic. She has since then continued to read books, although not on a daily basis. Her current subscribers sits at 8.56k followers. Her other account, Heartbreathing, which is about writing and publishing, is sitting at 55.4k. This is not abnormal for authors.

GenZ Publishing’s Twitter Story

Morissa Schwartz started GenZ Publishing straight out of college without the help of a loan. With no budget, there was no money to advertise traditionally. However, she realized that organic social media is a great tool that can allow businesses to get in front of millions of people without spending a penny. Using hashtags on Twitter like #amwriting, posting content that was attractive to readers and authors, and fostering genuine connections/engagement, Schwartz’s startup was able to connect with its first groups of authors and readers. It grew organically for years this way, and the SEO continued to improve due to GenZ’s consistent posts. More recently, this branched into cross-promotions. For example, when a video is posted on TikTok, it also goes to Instagram and Twitter as well for maximum exposure and SEO benefit.

TikTok Is a Growing Trend

Moving over to TikTok, just type in #BookTok to see all the fun ways authors and publishers are promoting their books. A TikTok viewer favorite is when the author tells the story like it really happened. They explain the synopsis and draw the reader into wanting to know what happens to the characters. Several nonfiction authors also do this with their subject matter, giving facts and information from their books and then giving a teaser to purchase the book for more information.

Another trend with fiction writers is creating a series of videos pretending to be the main character of their book telling their story, then in the hashtags they let the viewer know it is part of their writing. Other authors are taking TikTok trends to customize it to their book topic to promote.

Laura Snider’s TikTok

Author Laura Snider, whose handle is @laura.snider. writer, is also a lawyer who has found a niche writing legal dramas. She has created videos explaining different aspects of trial law, things that are often misunderstood by people outside the lawyer realm, and topics she explores in her books. She will also clarify with videos highlighting questions asked in the comments of her videos. Her videos get high traction because they are fun to watch and offer value to her audience.

Social Media Is Both the Present and the Future

One reason these new trends are so successful is because of the personal connection and access it gives the reader to the author. With so many books in the market, the audience needs that driving factor to feel like they are talking to a friend or relating to them on a personal level. Video allows the reader to feel like they are personally interacting with authors and hearing why they wrote the book and are passionate about it.

This type of communication makes way more of an impact on consumers than a formal press release does. Gone are the days when bookstores were one of the only places people could discover books. Social media is often now the king, showing readers what is out there. Sometimes their perfect next read is just a swipe on TikTok away.

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