Social Video Secrets: Taking Your Books to TikTok, Instagram, and Beyond
Within a few years of TikTok's meteoric rise in popularity and adoption, vertical video became core content across every social media platform, with algorithms reworking to prioritize creators and personalities who make video part of their mix.
Video-forward platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube shorts—but also Facebook, X, Threads and even LinkedIn—reward users for bravely showing up on camera to share their thoughts and passions, and they all host rich, engaged and voracious communities of readers ready to discover you and your writing. In this session, discover what it takes to get started with (or improve!) your social video game, including what to post and where to reach new fans, build your platform and become an influential author.
What You Will Learn:
- How social videos can boost your author platform
- How to build your audience and determine what type of content to create
- How to tell compelling stories in a vertical and social video format
- How to create videos for platforms including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts
- How to think about different features and video styles
- How to decide which platforms to choose and where to spend your time
- How to sell books using vertical video platforms
- How to interact with fans and readers on vertical video platforms
Instructor:
ess Zafarris
Jess Zafarris is the author of etymology books Words from Hell (Chamber 2023), Once Upon a Word (Rockridge Press 2020) and Useless Etymology (Chambers 2025), and a content director, editor, podcaster, event programmer, audience strategist, short story writer, game maker, educator and TikTok creator with 14 years of experience crafting quality journalism and digital content across magazines, stages, news sites, social media, newsletters, audio, and beyond.
Her TikTok channel @jesszafarris (95,000 followers) taps into the wonder of word origins, and her blog, UselessEtymology.com, has been widely cited by media and scholars alike. In 2024, she launched a popular podcast called Words Unravelled with YouTuber RobWords.
Jess has presented at conferences including the Writer’s Digest Conference and State of Social. She has been profiled in the Boston Globe, quoted in the New York Times, and interviewed on NPR, as well as appearing on dozens of podcasts including Something You Should Know and Dear Hank and John.
Read about her at jesszafarris.com, and learn about etymology at uselessetymology.com.
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