I was scrolling through LinkedIn earlier today, and I came across a post from an author named Steve Carter. He had been receiving random text messages informing him that his non-fiction book called, The Thing Beneath the Thing, had sold out on Amazon, even though it had been out for two years. The book had catapulted to #189 on the Amazon Charts.
Naturally, Steve went hunting for answers. He checked Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms, until he finally came across a TikTok video by influencer, Michael Mums.
Michael's video about Steve’s book had gone viral with over 255,000 views. It was ground zero for his resurgence.
This trend of bringing old titles back to life is my favorite trend in the vertical video era. Song of Achilles, They Both Die at the End, and a Little Life — all fantastic books that deserved bigger audiences. Word of mouth on TikTok gave it to them.
This is a great time to be an author.
Yes, it’s crowded.
Yes, it’s not the most lucrative profession.
But think about the magic of it all…
Within minutes, we can upload our books onto the internet and have worldwide distribution. Then we can film a video marketing it, and within seconds, have readers download and read it. Imagine how many pre-internet writers never got to publish their books. How many people died with a book inside them?
We live in an era of possibility.
Where we can put our art into the world and let the universe and readers decide our fate. Maybe your launch didn’t go as planned. Maybe your book sales were dismal. But maybe one day, a reader will decide to give your book a shot.
Maybe they are so moved that they post a passionate video on TikTok.
And just maybe, a book you spent years creating, is brought back to life.