I’m Selling Books on TikTok, No Dancing (or Crying) Required

Today’s post is by Ashleigh Renard (@ashleigh_renard), author of the memoir Swing.


Two months ago, mentions of TikTok flooded my online writers groups, all due to a New York Times headline: How Crying on TikTok Sells Books.

Yes, it’s true, TikTok does have the remarkable power to sell books. Ever since I started marketing and promoting my memoir, sales have correlated to the popularity of my videos on TikTok. Visitors who come to my website from TikTok are ten times more likely to click through to purchase my book than those who come through targeted (and expensive) Facebook ads.

TikTok has also driven the increase in my Instagram audience (+33k in eight months) and my newsletter sign-ups (+3k in eight months).

How in the world am I getting people interested in my writing (and actually buying my book) by using a video-only app?

TikTok doesn’t care if you’re popular.

Whereas Instagram can feel like a meadow overgrown with Momfluencer Clones (duck—wide-brimmed hat!), TikTok is more like a house party with witty and intelligent conversation in every corner. This app, created with the singular focus of easily creating lip-sync videos, has evolved into an entertainment and educational hub.

Want to hear teenagers on the spectrum talk about the misconceptions about autism? TikTok’s got that. Want to see a sneaker artist transform a pair of Air Force Ones into a masterpiece with a couple sharpies in thirty seconds? TikTok’s got that. Want to hear how to keep monogamy hot from the world’s worst attempted swinger? That’s where I come in.

I had five followers (two of my kids and three of their friends) when my first video took off. It was called My Favorite Way to Stay Not Pregnant. I stood in front of a lunar phase calendar that I used to track my menstrual cycle. I explained that we do not have intercourse around ovulation. Instead we, well … it’s sort of like Taco Tuesday … but he eats taco and I have burrito. It got 250k views in two days.

It doesn’t matter if you have zero followers. TikTok will show your video to a few people, maybe five to start. If some of those five people do not swipe away and watch at least a few seconds, you’re on your way. Then TikTok will push it out to a few more people. If any of those users watch the whole thing, watch it more than once, click like, comment, start conversations with others in the comments, share it, or click on your profile to see if you have any other great videos, the algorithm shouts “PRAISE BE” and makes plans for you to go viral.

As your video is pumped out to more accounts, the algorithm continues to assess if your video is good or if it is boring. For this reason, you cannot effectively trick TikTok into making your video go viral by asking friends to engage on it early.

How to make something good on TikTok

Okay, this sounds obvious, but for a video to do well on TikTok it has to be REALLY GOOD. TikTok users are generous with their time—spending an average of 89 minutes a day on the app, but they will not think twice about swiping off your video if you do not hook them in the first second. By “second” I don’t mean quickly or somewhere in the first third of the video. I mean you have less than a literal second to grab their attention. Then you have to keep it.

If you make something entertaining or engaging it will get views. If it’s not getting views (1k–10k in the first day) think about it like you would an essay that doesn’t get picked up on the first pitch. Is it the concept or is it the execution? Usually, it’s the execution.

How would you sum up a 1,000-word essay in 30 seconds? Now tell it to me so I am on the edge of my seat. Break it into four evenly balanced sections, or strategically imbalanced sections, whatever will hold the attention, because I firmly believe the best performing videos have impeccable pacing. Now you have your first good TikTok.

Know how to use titles on TikTok.

Videos do not need titles, and most users never use titles. But I think one of the reasons I’m closing in on 170k followers on TikTok is because of the way I use titles.

Reading is faster than speaking. Remember that we have less than one second to convince viewers to stick around? Well, it takes me about three seconds to announce the title of each of my videos. I’m guessing it takes most people less than a second to read it. For this reason I start every video with a face to camera shot and the title of the video.

One of my very first videos was called “How to Keep Monogamy Hot – Part 1.” I had no idea what I would make for Part 2, but titling it this way made me think quickly about the second installment, and had users clicking like crazy to my profile to see similar content.

My other regular video series are Before You Get a Divorce and How I Get My Kids to Clean the House. Additionally, I’ve done a set on Intimacy and Enneagram Types, Intimacy and Astrology Signs, Love Languages, How I Talk to My Kids About Sex, and How I Talk to My Kids about Politics.

Well, you must write a bit in the captions, right?

Nope. TikTok limits captions to 100 characters, so it’s wise to fill it with hashtags.

I use hashtags not to categorize my videos, but strategically to attract my target viewer. I don’t try to target people searching for my kind of videos—I want to delight people who didn’t even know they needed my kind of videos.

Here are my usual hashtags for TikTok and the reasoning behind using them.

  • #fam – Fertility Awareness Method (won’t shy away from details about sex, as half of this method is saying hi to your cervix everyday)
  • #nfp – Natural Family Planning (same as above)
  • #enm – Ethical Non-Monogamy (practicing/curious individuals or couples, sex-positive, open to or looking for conversations about intimacy)
  • #mykonmari – Marie Kondo tidying method (who’s tidying? Women 25–55, who’s my target reader? Women 25–55)
  • #intimacytips, #intimacytiktok – sex positive, looking for improvement in sex life
  • #beating50percent – Christian operation: stay married movement (many Christian couples follow me for sex advice)
  • #marriagegoals – usually looking for something sappy or cute (then they stumble across me and are like, holy, wow, I am actually on the verge of divorce I am so grateful I found you)

All video delivery is not created equal (aka you don’t need to buy friends).

I’m investing a lot in Facebook ads to drive awareness of my book, and I’m using many of the same videos that have performed well on TikTok. So why are users on TikTok ten times more likely to click on a purchase button when they come to my website?

The Facebook ad is one video. Then they are asked, “Do you want to buy this book?”

On TikTok, very often users find me because one of my videos comes up on their For You Page. They watch it, click like, visit my profile, like another one of my videos every 30 seconds for five minutes, then follow me. By the time they click on my link in the bio and land on my site they feel like we’ve already hung out. We’ve enjoyed witty and intelligent conversation. Maybe they’ve even shared one of my videos with a friend.

And how would you introduce a new friend you had just met at a house party?

I’m guessing it might be something like, “You just have to meet Ashleigh. Did you know she just wrote a book?”

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Harald Johnson

This is pretty awesome.

Ashleigh Renard

Glad you found it interesting, Harald!

Dave Malone

TY! This is a timely blog. How wonderful to hear you encourage authors to use TikTok. Thanks, too, for these tips about content and how to use the platform—love your strategy with hashtags. I have read that it’s best to plan out and draft about 5 TikToks before you go game on. What do you think, Ashleigh?

Ashleigh Renard

Dave, once you have a video that is gaining popularity it is good practice to post consistently. I think we each know how we work best. For me, I get exited to make new content when people are engaging with a current post. Their questions and comments give me ideas for what to post about next. For each of my series I have a general idea that I could talk about the topic for a few segments, but it’s the DM and comment feedback that usually tells me which direction to go next.

Dave Malone

Excellent. Love it. Thank you!

Kim Catanzarite

I’ve been thinking about TikTok a lot lately, but I wasn’t sure how it could work for writers. Thanks for shedding some light!

Ashleigh Renard

My pleasure, Kim!

April Mack

I can see how this would work really well for nonfiction authors, but I struggle to see how to do it as a fiction author. I tried looking for other fiction authors on TikTok and they give writing tips. But other writers aren’t my target audience… readers are.

Jane Friedman

Hi April: You might find this article useful in seeing how fiction authors are approaching it, with specific accounts to look at: https://mailchi.mp/hotsheetpub/tiktok#mctoc2

Ashleigh Renard

It is so smart for you to identify that readers are who we want to attract, not necessarily other writers. Do you follow Chloe Benjamin on IG? She is a novelist who does a wonderful job showing many aspects of herself on social media. She loves knitting and is a gymnastics superfan. She has a hunky husband from the midwest. My audience members are mostly readers, but letting them in on some of the behind-the-scenes of publishing has caught their interest. I had them vote on back cover copy and weigh in on their preferences for trim size, drop caps, and page numbers at the top of the page or the bottom.

Neil Larkins

Holy…! I don’t see how I could do even a fraction of this. I’m exhausted just reading it! (At seventy-five I can’t do anything in one second.) And the subjects I’d talk about wouldn’t be nearly as – ahem – exciting as the ones you do. But thanks for the info anyway. It was informative.

Ashleigh Renard

Thanks for reading, Neil! It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you like video or short form content there is big opportunity on the platform. Just for fun, check out #grannytok!

Joelle LeGendre

Videos: Just what someone with Tourette’s wants to do. Not.

My daughter would be fantastic — she could sell snow to an eskimo, just her maternal grandfather.

I love the advice, for there are people who will benefit from it.

Carlyn MontesDeOca

Terrific article! Thx for sharing.

Ashleigh Renard

Thanks for reading, Carlyn!