BookTokStagram and the Emerging Writer: Wearing the Hats of Author and Content Creator and the Challenges of Self-Marketing

Algorithms. Trends. Hashtags.

I hate thinking about it, but I must. Because in this day and age, social media is the way to promote. Writing the book is only half the job in the world of an author. When I am not spending time on my manuscripts, I am coming up with new videos for my TikTok and Instagram pages to promote myself as an aspiring author and to start giving bread crumbs about my work.

I watch certain videos do better than others. I watch engagement rise and fall, and follower counts increase or decrease. I hope for something to grab attention, while expecting it may not. And I hope that as I continue to query my debut novel that agents and publishers will see that I have a willingness to contribute to promotion, while also hoping that some assistance on their end might also be part of an eventual offer.

I am not a marketing expert. I am not an influencer. I find making content and constantly coming up with ideas for it to be exhausting. I would much prefer to spend my time solely as an author buried in the manuscripts I am writing. Instead I am thinking about whether my TikToks are doing well.

That’s not the only thing to think about as an author and content creator. Social media is constantly surrounded by controversy. In the past few weeks, I have observed post after post being circulated about decisions authors make, the behaviour of authors, or the views they’ve shared. Posts detailing why certain authors should be cancelled for their words or actions.

Not just their actions as an author either. The books themselves. Lines in books are quoted to expose their problematic nature. Characters are dissected as too problematic or too perfect. There is too much representation or not enough. Themes are discussed at length and debated over lengthy posts on Threads or X.

It seems like we as authors, in our bid to self promote, are exposing ourselves and putting everything under the microscope for scrutiny. As an author, we have to think about what is in our books. As a content creator, we have to think about how we present ourselves. It is a tangled web we weave.

In querying, we are also marketing ourselves to publishers. We are trying to sell the idea that our work will be the next big success story. We are finding comparable titles or markets to relate our work to and showing where we fit. That’s an essential part of an author, and also fits into the hat of content creation. As a content creator promoting our books, we are making that same argument to readers.

I’ve gotta say, the hardest thing for me is this: right now I am promoting books that aren’t ready for consumption. I have been told to build hype but then have to tell those who ask where I can find my work “hey, it’s actually not published yet.” And that can be a hard sell in itself.

By no means do I ever think I will be an expert at this, rather a perpetual learner.

I hope, that once I have at least one book out there, that this will get easier.