10 TikTok Challenges for Authors

An “Author Challenge” is a type of video where another TikToker asks authors to show (or tell) us something about them and/or their book(s). By searching the #AuthorChallenge hashtag, I found the following ten Author Challenges that authors can participate in:

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1. In this Author Challenge, the sounds prompts the author to show that book that:

• took the most amount of time to write
• took the least amount of time to write
• you had the most fun writing
• you wish more readers would read

2. In this Author Challenge, the sound prompts the author to tell us:

• how many books have you written
• how many books have you had published
• what genres do you write in
• what name or names do you publish under

3. In this Author Challenge, the sound prompts the author to show:

• the first in your most popular series
• your most popular standalone book
• your book with the most reviews
• the book you almost didn’t finish writing
• the book you were most nervous to release
• the book that was the easiest to write

4. In this Author Challenge, the sound asks the author about what they’re currently working on, what’s the: 

• working title
• genre
• song you’re using for inspiration
• and a one-line pitch

5. In this Author Challenge, the sound prompts the author to show us:

• the first book you wrote
• the last book you wrote
• your favorite book
• your bestseller

6. Similar to the one above, this Author Challenge sound prompts the author to show us:

• your first book
• your newest book you wrote
• your longest book
• your shortest book
• your best selling book
• your favorite book that you’ve written

7. In this Author Challenge, the sound prompts the author to show us:

• your newest book
• the book you’ve re-covered the most times
• your most emotional book
• your dirtiest book
• your darkest book
• the book you wish more people would read

All of the above were a similar type of author challenge, asking the author to show (or tell) us something about their book. The last four are different types of Author Challenges

8. In this video, @heathercarsonauthor asks authors to read the opening lines from one of your books. Then she asks readers to indicate in the comments if the book is something they would want to continue reading.

9. In this video, @jcageauthor asks authors to show us your book cover and then to show us the first page of the book. Then she asks readers if they want to keep reading. She demonstrates this with her own book, so she created a challenge for authors and is promoting her own book at the same time. Her video has a stream of positive comments, including “is it out yet?” and “where can I buy?”

10. In this “Put a Finger Down” Author Challenge, the sounds tells the author to put a finger down if:

• you’re self published
• you’re traditionally published or want to be traditionally published
• your manuscript has ever been rejected
• you’ve seen your book in a library or bookstore
• you own a typewriter
• your book has ever been included in a book box
• you are currently writing in over 10 notebooks
• you get overly excited for Bookstagram pics
• you secretly hope you’ll get fan art
• you freak out when authors you admire follow you on social media
• you dream of a universe where someone loves your words enough to get them tattooed
• you’ve been an Amazon bestseller
• a reader has ever made you cry

To participate in any of these challenges, open the link to the challenge. If the link goes to the Sound, you’ll see a button at the bottom of the screen to “Use this sound.” Click on that and record your video. If the link goes to a sample video, click the sound button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Then you can click “Use this sound” to record your video. 

For more tips, see this post on 19 ways to promote a book on TikTok.