IS TIKTOK GETTING BANNED???

The United States Congress is at it again, y’all.

So I’m gonna start off by saying I don’t think TikTok will actually get banned in the US, but since so many authors depend on TikTok for their income, we need a contingency plan.

So here’s mine.

First, Meta.

I don’t post slideshows on Facebook and Instagram reels (IE the Meta-owned sites), I post aesthetic videos of my books on a nice background, and I shorten my hooks.

For IG and Facebook Reels, I make my hooks about 15-20 seconds and each “slide” of text is up for about 2.5 to 3.5 seconds depending on the length.

The audience on Meta leans 30+.

Second, Snapchat.

Yes, Snapchat has its own TikTok-esque function. It’s…fine. However, viewership is going up there, and they pay creators for views if you join whatever their creator program is called.

The pay is comparable to YouTube, as far as I’ve heard from others, nearly $1 per thousand views. (This may have changed since writing this). I’m posting content about a minute to a minute and a half there for now, then reevaluating to see how well it’s working later down the road.

I’m still working on optimizing my algorithm on SnapChat as well.

The audience on SnapChat is mostly 30 and under.

The most important thing, and I will say this until the cows come home, is your hooks.

You have to pull GOOD hooks, or you won’t get sales. You can re-use those same hooks over and over again, and if they’re fantastic, you’ll keep getting sales! The biggest issue I’ve found when talking to other authors is “I don’t know how to make my books marketable! I don’t know what people like!” Well, what are some of the guilty pleasures you threw into a book?

My first book that is STILL my top seller to this day is about a lost princess who transforms, I sh** you not, into a PINK DRAGON. I wrote it because that’s what I liked, and I liked having a character that started out the series being basically useless and then developed and grew throughout. When I’m selling that book, I share the things about it that are relatable and make people want to know how it resolves, and I ALWAYS include: 1) a character archetype (IE the grumpy guy or the billionaire best friend, etc) and 2) Conflict (Give people a reason to keep reading!)

I don’t share anything about the dragon war where she has to defeat an evil dragon dictator. Instead, I share the scene where the guy who’s been hot and cold for 200 pages decides to reject her, and it breaks her heart!

I share the scene earlier on where she’s sick and that same guy shows up to make her feel better even though they’re wary of each other.

Also, keep in mind that IF this bill passes everything, it would take close to 6 months for TikTok to see an actual ban, and that’s IF they don’t figure something else out.

Basically, we have time. Breathe.