This Author Got a 6-Figure Book Deal Thanks to TikTok
If you are still on the fence, time to hop off.
You have heard from me — and probably many other authors — that TikTok is an amazing place to get your book discovered. It is not an exact science. You can’t exactly time it or hack TikTok, but if you stick it out, you can see a spike in sales.
For one author, TikTok landed her a 6-figure book deal. Seriously.
I had seen the cover for a while for Lightlark before I knew the story of how the book came to be. To me, the plot sounded like a mix of Hunger Games and maybe a smidge of A Court of Thorns and Roses.
I added it to my TBR. Then, I found an article about Alex Aster, the author.
In the article, Aster explains that she made a teaser video on TikTok about her book and it went viral. I just checked the video. It’s currently at 1.9 million views, 368.5 likes, and 8637 comments.
Now, when I watch the video, it is not anything incredibly special. I’ve seen many videos like it on BookTok. It is essentially a book trailer, revealing the plot of her book. Granted the book plot is very intriguing, but 1.9 million views worth? I am not so sure. But for whatever reason, the TikTok gods smiled on her and the algorithm pushed that video out like crazy.
What happened next for Aster is pretty insane.
Within A WEEK of the viral video, her book was put up to auction and she was offered six figures. That is insane. But really, the numbers were not lying. The social proof was right there. People wanted this book. And so did publishers.
Things didn’t stop there for her. In a later video with 2.5 million views (what!?), Aster overlays text that reads, “When you realize you’re in your twenties, are an award-winning author with 5 book deals, live in NYC, & have been on Good Morning America, NBC News, Teen Vogue & Glamour.”
I see that Lightlark was part of a three-book deal, but I am not quite sure where those other two are coming from. What’s even crazier? Well, Lightlark has a movie deal, too. Truly wild.
So, can anyone get a 6-figure book deal from TikTok?
Yes and no, I guess. When it comes to TikTok, you never really know what is going to please the algorithm and what will go viral. You can’t really time that.
The moral of this story is not to aim for this wild, out-of-the-box success, necessarily.
The moral of this story is to show you the power of TikTok. Personally, I self-publish my books. And I have seen a couple of TikToks (under my pen name) hit at just the right time and send my sales into a spike.
The way to get TikTok to work for you and your books is to post consistently and write really engaging text. Alex Aster’s highly viewed videos are the ones with really captivating words like, “sitting in a famous NYC bookstore, signing hundreds of copies of my top-selling book.” (That is a 4.5 million view video.)
Also, do not be afraid to get personal.
Aster is sharing not only what her books are about, but what it is like to be a young, very successful author who is seeing her dreams come true. That’s amazing. Some of my favorite authors are the ones that I can relate to on a personal level.
I know it can be a little scary to share your personality with the internet, but time and time again, we see that it pays off. Don’t be shy. Turn that selfie camera on and get those TikToks rolling.
So, what do you think? Are you using TikTok to market your books?
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Jenny Bravo writes books and helps other writers through trial-and-error. She’s on Instagram (@jennybravobooks) and TikTok (@jennybravobooks). You can hang out at her website, www.jennybravobooks.com.
