Guest blog by Rachel Toye
When I found myself working on Glimpse, I was excited to be tasked with promoting the anthology on social media. I was already familiar with Instagram and Twitter, but TikTok was new to me. Over the course of my placement with Inscribe – Peepal Tree's writer development programme and publishing imprint dedicated to Black British writing – I have discovered the intricacies required for a successful TikTok campaign, and have seen firsthand why BookTok, a community based on TikTok, can't be underestimated in the publishing world. On TikTok, the hashtag #BookTok alone has 117.7 billion views, making it a growing and powerful online community.
Glimpse is the nation’s first anthology of speculative fiction by Black British writers. It's a collection of nineteen writers, pushing the boundaries of imagination and exploring the unknown. My task was to highlight the significance of Glimpse in the speculative fiction genre, as well as in British literature in general, and to promote its authors and launch events.
What I learned about TikTok
To make a successful video on TikTok, you need to make a short, colourful, attention-grabbing post. I had to choose relevant background images to catch the eye without drowning out important information such as where and when events would take place. Throughout the process, I had to keep the visual style and key messages of Glimpse in mind, too.
So, it was apt that many of the posts used the Glimpse front cover as the background, because it was designed by Glimpse contributor Ronnie McGrath, and so emerged out of the same process of artist development that resulted in the book's wonderful contributions. The cover stood out to me, as it encapsulates the book so well – telling us that these stories are designed to move people and go beyond the page to touch the reader.
What I learned about BookTok
I had to research BookTok to discover what makes a literary TikTok successful, as opposed to a generic post on the platform. Each week, you can easily see the top hashtags in the BookTok community, and as well as the top search queries, and these give you pointers for making your posts visible. Viral hashtags included #BookWorm, #Bookish and #BookClub. Within the BookTok community, you're also rewarded for inviting friends, so that makes it especially helpful to have a pool of writers you can invite to join you in your discussions of a particular book.
For a publisher, doing BookTok well can turn into actual profit, as BookTok has become known for selling out books that go viral. But even if your book doesn't sell out, you can find new readers for a book that might not have encountered it before. What's more, they're already book-lovers, so they're already more likely to explore new books.
Trial and error
Based on what I'd observed on TikTok, I theorised that you only needed a few choice hashtags for your video to land in the feed of likeminded viewers. So I decided to put this theory to the test when I set up the account @inscribewriters.
At first, it was daunting to think I'd be competing against such a large pool of #BookTokers – especially when I started with no followers. But I persevered. I consistently posted the cover of Glimpse to reinforce it in viewers' minds and, conferring with Inscribe Series Editor Kadija Sesay to make sure we were getting the right messages across, I experimented with a wide variety of hashtags to see which ones worked best for us. These included, but were not limited to, #SpeculativeFiction, #BlackSciFi and #Afrofuturism. We hoped that, this way, we could target viewers more likely to be interested in Glimpse because they had shown interest in relevant hashtags already. As a result, the posts were less likely to get lost in the shifting trends that can appear on the average person's feed.
In order for a TikTok post to reach the right people, the content must be eye-catching. The ease with which you can scroll onto another video is a harsh reminder that the first few seconds of a video are essential in getting views. The most viewed TikTok on @inscribewriters has 403 views and 1 comment (the account only had 5 followers by this point) at the time of writing, which showed that something had allowed it to connect with all those authors despite our own small direct audience. In this case, the video clearly told users what it was about. I had also included captions and the text was read aloud to increase accessibility. Could these factors have contributed to its success?
I made my subsequent posts in a similar fashion, but amassed varied results. Clearly, this wasn't the whole story, but it certainly helped. And still, the most successful videos clearly stated the purpose of the video in the first few seconds, so I felt like I was narrowing the formula down. In later weeks, I included more information sooner, to good effect. But I also learned that there were other things to bear mind. For example, the less effective videos came from posting consecutively – the last video I posted in a set always did the worst. So, moving forward I posted at timed intervals instead. I also stuck to the most essential hashtags, rather than trying to think of all the options I might use. This proved to be very effective, and it seems to have translated to greater awareness of the book (and more sales too, which never hurts!).
My conclusions
Whilst TikTok is a relatively new social media platform, its influence is significant for publishers and authors alike. The number of users TikTok has speaks volumes, but it is also useful for identifying a target audience and getting to know what their preferences are. I like to think we learned a bit about the kinds of people who are interested in Inscribe's work, and Glimpse in particular, which will help us better reach out to this audience in future.
My experience with TikTok has ultimately taught me that social media is constantly evolving, and publishers must evolve with it to remain relevant in the ever-expanding market. It's also important to be flexible and experiment a little, as something as rich and complex as TikTok might not immediately show results. This takes time and practice, but it's worth sticking with it.
About the author
Rachel Toye is a student at University of Leicester, enrolled on a BA English course. Her interests include exploring diversity issues surrounding classism in the publishing industry. She has experience using social media, utilising it for establishments such as Hertfordshire County Council and Inscribe/Peepal Tree Press. Rachel lives on the outskirts of North London but attends a University in the Midlands as an opportunity to go beyond what she is familiar with and strengthen her independence.
