A “Duet” on TikTok is where you can record a video next to someone else’s video. There are actually four different ways you can position your duet recording:
- Left & Right — your video side-by-side with the original video
- Green Screen — your face /upper body over the original video
- React — your video as the main screen and the original video in a box in the corner
- Top & Bottom — your video on the bottom with the original video stacked on top of it
You can use the duet function to react with your face to someone else’s post. You can turn on your mic when you duet another video or you can leave your mic off and only use the sound of the original video.
Dueting other people’s content can help you reach more of your target audience. For example, there are some romance authors (i.e. @chellewritesromance and @authorjmwalker) who frequently duet sexy videos. This speaks directly to their ideal readers. It gives the message: Like the content I post? You’ll probably like my book as well!
Here are a few other ways I’ve seen authors duet other videos:
- Other TikTokers who mention their book
- Sharing character inspiration or people or scenes that look like something in their book
- Relating something in a totally unrelated TikTok to the author experience. I love this duet by @authordankenner (below). The original video he’s dueting shows a man with a child on his shoulders. They’ve stacked cups up from the floor higher than his head. Another small child comes into the room and kicks down the stack of cups. Dan says, “This is an example of when you have a perfectly crafted story and then your characters decide that they don’t like it anymore.”
You can even invite people to duet you. Here’s a great a great TikTok @liladuboisbooks posted where she acts like she’s asking the viewer a question:
“Okay, BookTok friend, I screwed up. I forgot to write down the title of the book that you recommended, so you have to tell me about the book again. First, what was the title?”
Then she pauses and acts like you responded (which is the opening for the dueter to respond in the duet).
“Perfect. Okay, let me find a pen. Um…the author name?”
<another pause>
“Awesome. And what’s the genre? Just remind me because you know I’ll read anything.”
<another pause>
“Awesome! Okay, great, thank you so much. Oh, hey, have you read this one?”
<a book cover pops up on the screen>
“I actually wrote it.”
This is such a great video because she’s inviting readers (and/or authors) to basically reshare her video as a duet which allows them to share something about themselves—a book they read or wrote—and simultaneously promotes her and her book to their audiences.
I wasn’t following Lila before I saw this TikTok, but I saw her video because another author dueted it and shared her book in the duet. What a win-win for both TikTokers!
Dueting other people’s videos allows you to make relatively quick TikToks while expanding your network and having fun.
For more tips, see this post on 19 ways to promote a book on TikTok.
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