Lauren Dee Boskie

*CLICK PLAY ON VIDEOS AND SCROLL DOWN FOR COMMENTARY*

Have you heard of Booktok? Booktok is simply TikTok videos about new books, authors, and characters within beloved series. I have been a follower of many well-known influencers on the app that have published, reviewed, and explained novels. My goal in learning how to create ‘memes’ for the subgenera of TikTok, Booktok, was to research what others posted and what they did that helped their video gain traction.

Did my videos draw in a ton of followers? No. Sadly, they did not. Which tells me I need to try again in an altered or new format.

Did I learn more about the characters I created? Heck yes. I was able to explore the personalities of the characters I am creating in my novel.

Overall, I’d say making TikTok’s about your book might seem like a waste of time to the public eye. With a small follower count and a like count that could make you cry compared to that of larger creators, it can feel as worthless as it seems sometimes.

To create these videos, I had to learn and use Capcut (a video editing app used by hundreds of creators on the app). Thanks to my attempt at creating memes, I explored my characters’ depths further than I planned to within my debut novel. I would never have known my main female protagonist related to Rapunzel from Tangled until my search for funny videos came upon me.

Likewise, Percy Jackson may have been a favorite of mine growing up, but I had no forethought about Rick Riordan’s series while creating my main male protagonist. Turns out, the two have much in common and I may have been more influenced by the series than I predicted.

Goes to show that with a little outside-the-box thinking, discovery is bound to happen.

Edited on August 23, 2023 at 8:00 a.m (MST).

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