Recently, I admitted I was an iPad kid in my latest edition of  Long Story Longer.

(Long Story Longer is my weekly newsletter that starts with a random life story from me and ends with a lil’ reader-connection tip for you. So, if you’re nosy AND want tips on connecting with your audience, you should totally sign up here)

And I came to that conclusion because my screen time has been truly abysmal.  I’m like a Candy Crush mum now, except my fix is TikTok.

So I figured I might as well make my hours of scrolling slightly less shameful by turning one particular bit of BookTok gossip into an educational blog post.

Because then that makes it research, right?

If you’ve spent any time on BookTok (so… all of you, lol), you’ll know it’s the corner of TikTok where you’ll get recommended cheesy romance novels that are addicting-A-F and fantasy books with mandatory “who did this to you?” scenes.

And recently, there’s been some D-R-A-M-A.

An indie author, which we’ll call Author A, released her debut novel. She’s been building this world for 10 years and hyping it online. So much so that she sold thousands of copies, which is absolutely incredible for a first-time indie.

BUT, once the public got their hands on it, the reviews were unfortunately brutal. 

They were saying the writing was bad, the editing was bad, the plot was bad. The only thing people seemed to like was the book art, which wasn’t done by her.

So of course, everyone went on a feeding frenzy.

Creators started making face-to-camera rants about the book—what they hated, how they’d fix it and generally offering their two cents—even though I’m sure 90% of them have never written anything longer than a caption, lol.

And at first, I was like: OoOoo. What’s this drama about???

But TikTok, being TikTok, saw I’d watched two videos on the matter and thought “Ohhh, you like this, do you? You want MORE of this? Well, imma give you more.” and then my entire For You Page became Author A related.

And after the tenth identical ranting video, I realised:

Everyone was regurgitating the same thing, just in a slightly different word order.

And so, not only was I overwhelmed with all the negative vibes everyone was putting out, I quickly got fed up of hearing about it all. 

From then on, I skipped straight past any video that had someone sitting in front of a bookcase in fear of TikTok thinking I was interested in this gossip again. 

UNTIL.

I came across a book editor who also thought the novel wasn’t great. HOWEVER instead of filming another generic face-to-camera dramatic rant, she plonked the first page of chapter one on the screen and edited it in real time, explaining every change she would have made.

She taught things like ‘white box syndrome’ and explained why certain sentences didn’t work. Showed me the problems, not just told me.

She was still part of the trending conversation, using the same book everyone was talking about.

But she:

• Approached it differently.
• Made it relevant to her audience.
• Showcased her skills while doing it.

That’s when my brain went bah-bingg and things started clicking.

Algorithms love sameness. But your audience? Not so much.

If something is doing well, the algorithm will keep shoving it in your face. But your audience doesn’t want to watch the same video, hear the same opinion or read the same blog post 12 times in a row from 12 different creators. 

Even if they liked the first one, they’ll most likely be tuned out by the fourth. 

Following a trend or weighing in on a popular topic is smart, it’s super good for brand awareness. Plus, who doesn’t love to join in on the fun just for the sake of it?!

All I’m saying is → HOW you do it is so, so, soooo important. 

The BookTok editor could’ve made a bog-standard gossip video and maybe it would’ve done okay.

But by flipping how she approached it and making it educational for her specific audience, she flexed her knowledge and expertise, attracted the right kind of people AND got to join the trending-topic fun. Wins alllll round. 

So, if you’ve got a trending content piece you’re currently thinking of making, have a think about these things first to see if you can somehow switch it up  bit ↓

1. How are you going to make sure your audience gives a flying fuck?

Remember the trending topic is the hook but your audience is the priority! So think about how this trend can benefit them. Ask yourself: 

What would my people actually care about here? 

How can I connect this to what I normally talk about?

For example, if you’re a book launch strategist, you probably don’t need to be dissecting the latest singer-celeb’s album like a gossip columnist with all your hot takes and wild theories.

BUT, if you enjoy a bit of music artist gossip and want to join in on the conversation, you can totally still  bring it into your work!

Instead of focusing on the hype around the music itself, break down how the artist launched the album:

→ What cool things did they do to promote the album and get pre-sales?
→ What in particular do you think helped make it a success? (or a flop?)
→ What would you have done differently?

Then, tie it back to your audience. Talk about how authors could apply the same or similar tactics to their own book launches.

Now, you’ve taken the gossip everyone’s talking about and turned it into a relevant, valuable conversation for your people.

Can you be a show-off? If yes, SHOW. OFF.

Not the obnoxious “look at me, I’m the best” kind of show-off because nobody likes that, but the “you can totally trust that I know what I’m doing!” kind. 

Can you tweak this trend slightly so you have a chance to show your expertise and knowledge, just like the BookTok editor did?

Let’s say there’s an author carousel trend going around called ‘Why This Character Died.’

The carousel starts with a picture of the character, then each swipe shows all the things the character did throughout your book/s that inevitably led to their unfortunate (or totally not unfortunate) exit from your book.

As an author you could jump straight on the trend because it’s relevant to your work, BUT that alone doesn’t show expertise. For all your audience knows, you could have just copied someone else’s take on the trend.

So you can expand on this trend by:

• Diving deeper through long form. Write a blog or newsletter explaining why you made that choice, how it shaped the story, and educate your audience on character arcs and plot tension.
• Invite them to participate. Ask your audience which book character deaths they’ve loved or hated, then dissect why these deaths worked or didn’t work in your blog.
• Showing your expertise. Include written drafts of the character’s death scene that you scrapped or alternative endings for your character that you considered, and explain why they were not chosen. 

Not only would this be following the trend, it’s an amazinggg connection piece with your audience and you get to show you know your sh-tuff. 

Are you being YOU, or just being them?

Sometimes, trends are literally maaddeee for you. They are relevant, on brand and speak to your specific audience. HOWEVER, you still need to make sure you’re not falling into the trap of just sounding like everyone else.

When you’re adapting a trend, ask yourself things like:

• Am I using my natural writing style or talking voice?
• Is there a way to flip the trend’s usual tone—make it sarcastic, heartfelt, educational—so it feels like my style?
• Is there a way to add my own humour in?
• Could I exaggerate something I’m known for (my fast talking, my crazy hand gestures, my sass) to make it more me?
• Does my facial expression, body language and delivery match my usual vibe?

Something I preach online, non-stop, is the importance of showing your personality through your content. It’s how your audience gets to know you and connect with you on a deeper level (nobody likes pretenders). 

Just because you’re following a trend, doesn’t mean your personality should disappear!

So, long story longer, hop on that trend girl and have FUN with it.  

Trends are a fabby way to bring in engagement and followers, just don’t forget to make sure you’re using that trend to your full advantage!