The TikTok Experiment
Is 54 too old to start?
Tickets are still on sale for Wordstruck, a literary celebration happening in October. For $25 you will meet some fantastic authors, and hear from two distinguished guest speakers: Calgary’s Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster and acclaimed author Janice MacDonald. Your ticket includes one drink (wine or beer/ coffee, tea or soda) and snacks.
Email fwgwordstruck@gmail.com to reserve your seat.
(TIP: If you screenshot the image and open it in your photos app, you can press and hold the QR code to be taken to the Wordstruck webpage. Easy peasy.)
Good morning friend,
In January of this year, I decided to sign up for TikTok. At 54 years old. A veritable on-the-deathbed senior citizen when compared to the app’s demographic. I leaped in when the platform was under threat of being banned in the United States. Hmmm, I thought, maybe there is an opportunity to play in an arena that’s about to be thinned out.
The ban never fully went ahead. TikTok went dark for American users for a day. But I had already blocked out calendar time to play, so I forged ahead. I had committed to six months, to see if anything changed for me (read: book sales increasing).
I enrolled as a business user, which gave me the ability to list links on my profile for 30 days. After that, if I don’t have a business number (which I don't since I dissolved my corporation), you are downgraded to only allow an email link in your bio.
My first video had 43 views. My 10th had 918. My 16th had over 1,400. That one was me shit-talking about the price of books (have you seen the cover price for Dan Brown’s latest? $51.00 for the hardcover. WTF? I can by a whole steak for that price. 😂) My latest video (posted below) at time of writing has passed 1,200 views. I’ve added 13 followers in 3 days. Not big results at all. FYI: I need 1,000 followers in order to be able to add links back into my profile. I have a ways to go.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
❌ Views will not necessarily translate into book sales.
✅ The more controversial your take, the higher you go in the algorithm.
✅ Thrift store videos take off like rocket.
❌ People really don’t care about your books.
✅ People really care about why you wrote your book.
✅ You have to really blow viewers away in order to trigger comments.
❌ Temper your expectations of view counts. For me, the average is around 350 views per video. Since I started, I’ve had 37,000 views of all my videos.
✅ Following trends is more work than I am willing to put into TikTok, so I’ll just quietly do my own thing.
✅ Set up a business account. The analytics I have access to are 🔥.
Now that I am nine months into my 6-month experiment, I will see it through to the end of the year. This month, I did see a lift in sales, but I have no idea where those sales are coming from. I’m not savvy enough to track that information.
If you want to follow me on TikTok, here’s my profile link: https://www.tiktok.com/@authordanagoldstein
Some lovely highlights from recent book signings:
🎉 I heard those words every author wants to hear: I saw your book on TikTok.
🎉 A woman came to a dead stop in front of my table, asked if I was the author, and got so excited to take a picture with me. Katya Noskov’s Last Shot is on her night table, a birthday gift from her best friend. 🥹
🎉 A fellow writer and I had a long conversation about why he has lost faith in his published novel. I told him to keep pushing, book some in-store signings, and know that his readers are out there. His book is only available on Kindle right now (and yes, I had some words about that), but please check it out.
🎉 A young woman who was wasting time in the bookstore plucked a copy off my pile and asked if she could go read it. I thought she’d read the first chapter. Nope. She read nine chapters in 33 minutes (I know because she asked me the time when she stopped at the table.) “Annalise is SUCH a queen,” she said when she brought the book back. “I love her.” Alas, she did not buy the book. 🤷🏻♀️
Have a wonderful week!
xo Dana
MEET AN AUTHOR
Robin is a curious spirit whose passion for storytelling, theatre, travel, and society infuses every page she writes. With a background in Social Psychology and rich life experiences across multiple continents, Robin writes with the mission of helping people navigate their personal and physical journeys while getting the most out of every experience.
When not at her writing desk, you’ll find Robin pursuing adventures with loved ones, savouring the perfect slice of pizza, exploring new destinations, or losing herself on the dance floor.
Sunrise or sunset and why? Sunset. Mostly because im not as much of a morning person. Ive seen beautiful sunsets and sunrises but I will always chase a sunset first. It’s a moment of reflection and awe for nature.
What other career did/do you have? I’m a business owner.
If you can order anything for dinner tonight, what are you having? Top three treats is sushi, pizza or thai. In this case ill say Sushi, which I, funny enough, did have for dinner today!
What is your favourite place to write and why does it work for you? Airports/ planes/trains and parks. I think it’s seeing people around me and yet be in a “bubble of time” where I’m more stuck with my thoughts. Sometimes I get random thoughts at random times though, out of nowhere.…
Link to book? Find me here.