Simplifying Book Marketing: It isn't magic. It's just messaging and repetition.
WE ARE BACK, BABY! This is a long boii so make sure you get your favourite bevie and snackie before you dive in. I’ve been big nervous about this blog post because I’d hate to disappoint (people pleaser here, hello!) after seeing my last blog post has helped a lot of authors.
BUT, in this house, I don’t gatekeep and I do my best to explain how to approach marketing without feeling like you have to keep up with social media trends all the time.
So… Hi! If you’re new here, my name is Mel, and at this point of writing this blog post, I just turned 3 months old as an Author PA, about to be 4 months!
I’m a jane-of-half-ass-trades (my unfinished notebooks would like to have a word) but I also have a background in social media strategy from my past work in various industries. When I’m not being a workaholic working 16-hour days (mostly due to me rawdogging life with unmedicated ADHD) I hang out with Mr Mel, disturb the peace of our 3 cats, and forget that I have a life outside work. Yeah I haven’t been reading much outside of work tbh lol
Oh and if you’re very, very new here, I wrote a blog post about sustainable book marketing a few weeks back. I highly recommend you read that first because this blog is a follow-up from that.
HOUSEKEEPING SO WE CAN SET EXPECTATIONS
I’m not coming into this blog like a marketing guru. I’ve done my best to break things down in a way that’s over-explained and probably cringey which is probably why this whole thing is 9K words-long (ish). My point being, I’m taking into consideration that authors want answers and understanding so they can stop wondering what the hell they can do with marketing. This is meant to be a starting point. Also, it’s so my author PA baddies can have a guide they can follow to help their authors. We’re all here to help each other, yeah? 🫶🏼
To start, I’ve been posting 9 trial reels a DAY since February 5th and that started out as an experiment for one of my authors because her IG algorithm just stopped working one day and I took it personally. I’m still beefing with Instagram but that’s a tale for another day. So for now, I’ll be featuring her books and the hooks we’ve tested in case you’re wondering why there are so many mentions of her books LOL
The trial reel insights I’m sharing are from my account. I’ll tell you what worked, what surprised me, and what I thought was weird. But please don’t treat this like gospel. Think of it as a checklist of things you can test for yourself. Compare results. Tweak what flops. Keep what works in your evergreen rotation.
It’s easy to get sucked into the numbers game. What I’ve always like to preach is that you stay consistent and post as much as you can. 9 reels per day is an intimidating number to start off with (not to mention ambitious) so start small first. Build up once you get the hang of it.
If you don’t have access to trial reels, digest my advice anyway, use as you see fit, and just post regular reels. My regular reels still reach mostly non-followers (like 97% of my views). You’re missing opportunities if you’re just sitting around waiting for trial reels to unlock. You can post up to 3 reels a day.
Successful marketing does not automatically equal sales. I cannot stress this enough. It CAN lead to sales and that is the goal, but I want you to build the habit of consistent marketing first. Don’t just post when you remember to. Knowing what scenes to market with or how to adapt/pivot when shit hits the fan is just as valuable even if it’s not tangible at times. You need to do all that you can to reach new audiences as often as you can.
And, let me hold your hand by adding this: I know it’s tempting wanting to see immediate ROI every time a post does well, but social media marketing is for the long haul. Every post feeds the algorithm more data about who should be seeing your content. And in an era where long attention spans are pretty much non-existent in an overstimulating world, we only have about 3 seconds to capture someone’s attention and 7 seconds to keep it. So, again, focus on being consistent, keep posting, and keep testing. Let the algorithm marinate your content as it finds you your ideal readers.
Lastly, posting nine trial reels a day is NOT a strategy. That’s just a tactic. The frequency just amplifies the message. It doesn’t replace it. Strategy is knowing:
What to market (which scenes, which tropes, which emotional beats)
How to market it (the angle, the hook, the framing)
And everything you’re learning here? It’s not limited to trial reels. These principles apply across platforms and formats. Once you understand the core idea, you can adapt it anywhere.
Andddd as usual, if you ARE new here, I have ADHD and while I have done my best to organise my thoughts I will still be rambling! I also have (thoughts) inside my thoughts. I drafted this in Google Docs so I can ensure that you can read at your own pace… but I can’t help yapping okay!! I’m just not writer. So, just skip the to the parts you need.
Basics of Marketing
As a wee baby in the publishing industry, I don’t market myself as an author PA as often as my peers do. In fact I’m pretty sure I don’t market myself AT ALL post launch because I hate doing it. Marketing for others? Yea that’s more my speed lol.
What I did do in November last year though was making sure I’d start strong when I was finally ready to launch. Before officially offering anything, I made one specific post about wanting to work with romance authors and explained how we could work together. I shared the vision before the offers or interest form were even established.
That post wasn’t about “hire me next month!” Instead, it paints the picture for authors to understand that what I am doing is giving them back their time to write. This is especially important for me because I’ve always been a cheerleader and a gofer for creative entrepreneurs and I wanted to channel my core values.
I also try to inject my personality in my posts whenever I yap on Threads because it’s a way for authors to vet to see if they like working with me. I’d like to think my yaps also give me some social points lol
Now, I know what you’re thinking–why the hell am I bringing this up? What does this have to do with marketing if I hate marketing myself? Bear with me for a second. I got another short story to share before I make my point.
A few days ago, I shared a “quick tip” for Author PAs who want to attract more authors, and that is to be SPECIFIC. I suggested naming the author’s actual pain points instead of vaguely yelling “I can help with ARC management!!” or “I make pretty graphics” into the void. (Just to be clear, I am not shitting on my colleagues’ efforts, we all gotta hustle here and I support them, but I’m just trying to nudge them to work on getting better traction with their marketing by being specific!)
THESE TWO POSTS got me thinking about how we often forget about the fundamentals of marketing. Because, marketing isn’t just about broadcasting your offer and hoping someone bites. It’s identifying the gap between you (the service provider or product) and your ideal audience, and then clearly showing how you close that gap. The wider and more obvious that gap is, the more compelling your offer becomes.
Well, in this case, I’m gonna be talking about how to present the curiosity gap of your books with your excerpts and make your readers frothing at the mouth WANTING to read them.
With book marketing, you specifically want to invoke ✨feelings✨ to get readers to want to read your book. If readers don’t feel something, they’re not gonna click. And throwing a few tropes into the wind and praying they’ll do something isn’t a strategy either.
So my goal for this blog is to help you figure this shit out. If my last blog post was about learning how to churn out a lot of content efficiently, then this blog should help you nail the emotional aspect of your content.
How do we make readers want to read your book more? What emotional experience can you sell? And how do we get your content in front of your ideal readers?
Trial Reels? What the fuck is that?
TLDR: Trial Reels are reels that don’t show up on your main feed and your followers won’t see them. It’s a section on Instagram purely for reaching cold audiences, also known as non-followers.
You can test hooks, scenes, angles, and formats without cluttering your grid. And, once you nail your messaging, repetition becomes your best friend.
Ultimately, like the name says, they’re built for trial and error. But, when done right, trial reels are a powerful tool for authors who want to create high frequency of content without giving existing followers content fatigue.
So… Test. Learn. Keep what works. And then we do it all over again whenever something new comes around.
How I post my Trial Reels without losing my damn mind
I post 9 trial reels per day in groups of 3 videos back to back. I utilise the Edits app by Instagram and set up 1 scene per project. I set up my hook, book title, and tropes text placements before duplicating them for other scenes. I used my shared content planner with RD to copy my hooks, captions, and hashtags.
Since RD has 4 books she’s actively promoting right now, it took me a while to set all my projects up. Now I just go into my app, pick 3 books of the day and post the same 3 scenes 3 times, only changing the video background.
Note: This is not the ONLY way to be efficient for Trial Reels. This is just what works for ME. I have a section specifically on batch creating content for my authors that you can read about in my previous blog and how you can do the same in Canva or CapCut if you don’t vibe with my system.
Find a system that works for you and stick to it. Start small and work your way up.
Before we move on to the next part, you might be wondering: “What does you posting Trial Reels on your account have to do with fixing your author’s algorithm?”
Short answer? It doesn’t. My account has zero impact on hers.
But, what I was actually doing was testing audience behavior in real time. I wanted to see what kind of content people were actually responding to right now. Instead of going back and forth asking, “Did you try this? Did you post that?” I decided to just walk the talk.
I mean it’s one thing to bully, I mean uh instruct your author into posting NINE trial reels a day and up to THREE regular reels a day, it’s another if I can’t help her if I don’t test things out myself too. Plus, apps like TikTok and Instagram loves it when we spend a lot of time on their apps. I figured, I might as well feed the algorithm constant data consistently and then share my findings with RD.
My Trial Reels Insights
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I only started taking Trial Reels seriously (on my own account, I mean, because IDC about growth on my account LOL) to help my author figure out content ideas she could try on her account. I couldn’t understand why even her evergreen/best-performing hooks weren’t getting any views anymore.
When I had started, I had a good handful of videos staying within the 200-300-view range. And since I wasn’t sure what to do with Trial Reels yet I did everything I could think of, so the views only became more consistent after about 3-4 days once I got my groove.
Essentially what I did every time my videos flopped was:
I changed the music.
I swapped the background videos.
I tweaked something about the hook.
I switched the cover photos.
What I have learned so far since posting 9 trial reels almost every day (I missed 1 day where I had only posted 6 videos)
My algorithm likes specific cover photos. This sounds ridiculous ngl BUT look at this screenshot and tell me there isn’t a pattern?? I know some reels can show up as the cover photos in the explore page so maybe the audience may gravitate towards certain covers, but idk how it makes sense if my videos are mostly showing up on the reel tab though??
Weirdly, I think music plays a part. I am still not 100% sure because my trending audio is local and not bookish at all, so it’s not like I could be certain, yaknow? BUT ONCE, I did an experiment where I posted the same 3 scenes every day for almost a week straight with only changing the background videos and I had consistently fast 4-figure views on the regular. And the minute I deviated away from the music choices… meh. I mean it’s probably not related but it’s good to keep some reliable music in my arsenal even if they don’t fit the scenes. Saves me the time to find new music.
On that note, some scenes HATE my face. One time I was so salty over a GREAT hook not performing that I kept everything the exact same way and just changed the background video to a stock and suddenly…. It’s 3K views. I thought it was a fluke. So I did it again with my b-roll face and I kid you not, it went back on the struggle bus… So I only keep certain scenes with stock videos now.
But also on that note I find that if my text hooks aren’t working 3 times in a row, I’d go OTT with my emojis or I change the background to something with a lot of movement in the first 2 seconds. That usually helps too. 👁️👄👁️
Hidden keywords in the video and in the caption? At first I wasn’t super consistent with them, now I always add them, that even my worst performing videos have 400+ views instead of 300 views lol. But, I don’t rely on them for my videos’ success.
One of the things that surprised me was that I started seeing an increase in high views on my regular videos. This tells me that posting consistently in Trial Reels trickle down to my older content. Although, it’s important to note that my older videos getting traction is just a vanity metric because the engagement rate did not go up with the views.
And for the number peeps, I shall let the screenshots do the work:
Additional notes:
I don’t post using VPN to post like I do with TikTok. I remember reading about your account getting flagged if you do, and as much as I don’t care about growth, I still want to keep my account.
Like TikTok, I also engage every other day to keep my account book-ish. So start here if your video views have yet to improve. Just remind yourself that daddy algorithm is a clingy MF and you’ll be set.
At this point in time I think I have about 60 videos with over 10K from my Trial Reels thus far. That’s about 1/4 of the videos I posted.
The combined efforts of all of our postings (including YouTube and a bit of TikTok, for a total of 20+ videos a day?) got RD to hit her first 50K pagereads in a day and 800K+ total for the month of February.
Replicate My Successful Reels
Before I show you the roundup of hooks that performed well, PLEASE NOTE the SCENE TYPES so you can use them as a checklist to look for in your own book(s). Half the battle of marketing is knowing what to market in the first place. They go by HOOK — SCENE TYPE + a short explanation, if there is any.
Side note: not all of them are trial reels! I just want to highlight my authors because I adore them and will take any excuse to shout them out a little. 🫶🏼
college student x professor? WORSE. he’s also her best friend’s ✨dad✨ — trope switch up. Find a scene where you can use 2 tropes that are related. Use WORSE/BETTER depending on the context.
that moment when the tattooed biker ✨finally✨ says he wants him 🥵🫶🏼— highlighting a vulnerable moment. Especially with MM and not having the prior experience, this scene gives you that giddy feeling.
that feeling when he knows he’s still too far away to reach her in time 😭 — edge-of-seat feeling. The scream I scrumpt. RD still owes me my therapy bill. LOL JOKES (or am I????)
that moment when she sneaks in to 🔪💀 her FUTURE HUSBAND but he made her 🥵💦 instead — highlighting a plan vs what actually happened. This book hates me BUT this scene though…
POV you’re trying to take it slow but then she asks for ✨just the t!p✨ — spice highlight but also OMG. What did she say?????
when it’s the human’s first 🍑 experience and the VAMPIRE won’t let her run away 🥵 — 🍑 action. Yea okay spice sells. We know that. HudCon knows that. But also you can add a bit more context in the hook before the screenshot scene.
when her VAMPIRE stalker smells another men’s scent on her and LOSES it — when the LI does something unexpected/out of the ordinary and react in a dramatic way.
that moment when her ✨stepbrother✨ picks a random book from her bookshelf and it’s very 🌶️🌶️🌶️ — a spicy high tension moment but also a little taboo.
when it’s the human’s first 🍑 experience and the ✨VAMPIRE✨ uses his 🩸 as lube 👁️👄👁️ — same 🍑 scene but I changed the hook a lil. NOTHING was working on this day until I added the eyes and mouth.
reminding you that there’s a Victorian era 🌹dark romance🌹 where the MMC loves how much the FMC hates him — use a character art as a background. I actually was just testing this but I was pleasantly surprised it worked. This book seriously hates me LMAO.
unfortunately i do LOVE it when the MMC punctuates with ✨thrusts✨ — I was looking for ideas one day and saw the thrusts and thought… what if… ANYWAYS it goes to show that sometimes non-video hooks can also work for videos! Use this to highlight a trope/microtrope (though imo microtrope is more impactful)
when it’s the tattooed biker’s ✨first time✨ 👀 — this was RD’s idea! She tried it and I tried it either that same day or the next day.
My version that also got >10K: that bi-awakening moment when it’s the tattooed biker’s ✨first time✨ with his guy best friend 👀
that moment when you wake up with your best friend’s ✨DAD✨ !nside you 🫢 — a spicy kink highlight. I’ve wanted to figure out the hook for this one for some time now. And while I don’t think it’s an original idea, it did come to me randomly as POV you wake up with your best friend’s ✨dad✨ !nside you 👀
that moment when she has no one else to call for help so she calls the ruthless mafia boss 😫 — something your MC had to do simply because there is no other choice. OR POV you don’t know who else to call so you call the one person you hate 😫 which has 105K views.
when the ruthless mafia boss found her again after 6 years already making it clear no one ✨touches her✨ — Touch her and DIEEEEEE. Gotta love this trope!
when she thought she’s marrying a ruthless mafia boss but then he says… — a love declaration is always such a good scene especially when paired with a character archetype. PLUS it ended on an open loop which keeps the reader guessing!
POV you booked a nude modelling gig and it turned into a pr!vate showing because he got jea/ous 💀 — a possessive MMC highlight. Gotta love our morally-gray MC.
what do you do when the mafia king thinks you stole from him and forces you into marriage? 🙈 — a trope highlight, in this case forced marriage. This is Dani’s idea! Another version that I have in my Airtable is what do you do when the mafia king thinks you stole from him and ✨blackmails✨ you into marriage? 🫣 but it didn’t do as well as this one which has 40.9K.
when you’re supposed to prep for Thanksgiving but your best friend with benefits ✨distracts✨ you instead — what your MC is SUPPOSED to do but did something else instead. I’ve been working on this book for so long now idek if this was my idea or Lizzie’s but in our cases of singular shared brain cell, it’s not unlikely we collaborated to come up with this hook together LOL. But this was one of the firsts of this book to gain traction on Instagram! So this deserves a shoutout. If you want an all smut, no-plot novella, you might enjoy Poppy and Nixon from Friendsgiving with Benefits!
he’s a 10 but he ✌🏼s her in the middle of a bar crawl while their friends are ✨blissfully✨ unaware — another spice highlight but the scene isn’t super graphic! Oh my god I’ve wanted to feature this scene in a long time and finally decided to use a trendy hook!
when he’s always been the one in control, until she makes HIM ✨beg✨ — unexpected bedroom dynamic. We love women in male-dominated fields!
he’s a 10 but he’s dead and guilty of 3 murders and seeking a second chance. he’s a 10 but he’s a grim reaper falling in love with the dead human on the job — another trendy hook but this time NOT A SCENE and instead character introductions. I had to include my favourite lemon idiots!! If you like no spice MM novel about an immortal and a dead mortal, you’ll fall in love with Grim and Isaac from When Death Gives You Lemons!
when she jokes about having other guys over and his text is not casual 🤭 — a text exchange highlight scene!! I love this one for their banter!
I hope this list provides an insight and gives you inspiration on getting yours going! Most importantly you have to know what scenes to market before even trying to write a hook for it. I will have more hooks below that I’ve tried to break down and explain, but before that, let’s make sure you start your Reels on the right track!
Reels Best Practice
OKAY SO I NEED YOU to temporarily forget about branding for a sec.
I’m saying this because I have SEEN (book) people arguing on TikTok about how they think it’s important to stick to their branding when posting online because they have spent a lot of time crafting their brand. I’m not disputing that. That is great for when you post graphics or book trailers. It’s not the same when I’m teaching you to make Kindle screenshot videos.
And in my experience, it’s important to stick close to the familiar format:
Clean, legible white text
Black borders/strokes
Screenshot large enough to read without squinting
Decent font size of the screenshot and text on screen
Decently lit background, and if it’s too bright or too dark, add a background to your text. I find brightly lit videos with sunlight works the best for my algorithm.
I’d also add in the graphic design rule of making sure there is enough negative space so your entire video is not filled to the brim with all the book info.
Now, I’m not shitting or hating on aesthetics. I’m just merely trying to say familiarity lowers friction. Because this marketing tactic is the most common way to market books out there, there is a pattern recognition, right? Readers in the bookish space are already trained to recognise these Kindle screenshots video. This instant recognition alone buys you an extra few precious seconds of attention.
So, if your videos are overly stylised with your branding, you’re actually asking readers to work. On social media, putting in effort = scrolling away. Clean formatting on top of the video format being familiar and readable removes unnecessary decisions and brings cognitive ease.
ALL OF THIS TO SAY…
Post like your favourite booktoker or bookstagrammer. Be your book’s unhinged hype person that it deserves. Talk like you would with a bestie on facetime whisper-screaming on the latest hot gos. Don’t just see your book as a product that you NEED to market as a sales pitch but instead invite readers to witness the drama, i.e what your main character just did to their love interest. (If you can’t tell already, I’m a romance reader… I’m sorry to all the authors who don’t write romance… I don’t know any other examples…)
Explain the mess. TEASE the TENSION. ZOOM in on that close proximity that makes your heart go pitter-patter.
When you can find different ways to gush about your characters and frame them as micro-stories, the excitement can come off more naturally than “hey please i beg buy my book it’s good i promise”
Let’s shift the vibes to “you are NOT going to believe what this character just did omg” instead.
Before we get into MORE hook examples, I don’t want you to overthink shit and just follow this guide OKAY?
Write your caption as a mini sales pitch with all the keywords relevant to your book and your ideal reader. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Darby Quinn’s example because it’s not only straightforward but it’s also SO simple. I took inspiration from that and wrote some for RD taking into account how she wrote hers before so I could have a 3 variation of captions I can rotate around per book for my trial reels. Examples:
AFFLICTED by RD Baker is a 530-page spicy vampire/human dark paranormal romance set in a post-apocalyptic world with an obsessive vampire MMC who is dangerously protective and possessive, endlessly annoying (to her), and completely fixated on a human FMC who hates him. Perfect for readers who enjoy reading dark romance books packed with banter. Read now on Kindle Unlimited. You’ll love this book if you love tropes like:
📖 Fracture by RD Baker is a 460-page dark and spicy MMF why choose romance with bi-awakening between two best friends, a woman torn between her stepbrother and her ex, and a story fueled by revenge, angst, and dedication. For fans who enjoy reading dark romance books on Kindle Unlimited. You’ll love Fracture if you like…
DANGEROUS PLAY by RD Baker, a forbidden age gap romance set in a Premier League world, follows a club owner who faces a PR crisis when his son, Arlington’s star striker vanishes mid season, all while navigating tense closeness with his daughter-in-law. Full of emotional intensity, forbidden attraction, and a man used to control suddenly out of his depth, it’s the perfect read for readers looking for a sports romance with a twist. You’ll love this book if you love tropes like:
Dangerous Play comes out on Kindle Unlimited April 20th, 2026. Pre-order here or sign up for the ARC here!
Make a list of additional bookish keywords that you can add in your video
I’d start with keywords related to your subgenre, the tropes, microtropes, and general bookish ones. I said RELATED TO so if they weren’t a part of your captions and trope list, this is where you add them.
[workplace romance, spicy contemporary romance, rebound to lovers, he falls first, he falls first and hard, open door romance, secret relationship]
NGL I am still experimenting with this but if there are any authors out there who have examples you are using, please share them in the comments below!
Hashtags — some people have seen success with them. Some NEED them. Many of us are limited to 5 these days so my best advice for you is to be as niche and specific as you can. Use the ones that genuinely describes your book. Sometimes I’d add 1 or 2 bookrecommendations or spicybookrecs but I don’t pay close attention to it to notice any significant difference.
Cover photos. My only reminder for this is to make sure the information STAYS IN THE CENTER. They show up on the explore page so you’ll want people to know immediately what your book is about.
Use stock videos (this is a google drive of videos I downloaded from DUPE) or record b-roll clips and keep them in a folder where you can reuse. Sometimes when I go out and I have makeup on, I’d take selfie videos of myself in small clips if 7s. If you’re a faceless author, you can do the same with typing, holding your e-book, making a drink, walking etc. Use the stock videos as an inspiration.
IG is anal about creating the same content for trial reels (as it won’t get pushed out if you have posted the same content before) so make sure you have a decent variety of videos to use. The best way I’d advice to manage this is to batch create at one go so you can keep track of what videos you have used.
At the same time, using the same video but with different hooks and Kindle screenshot is enough for the algorithm to NOT flag it as dupe content. You can be rest assured on that front. BUT, IF THAT DOES NOT WORK, AJ Wilding provided a good tip on how to reuse your old videos.
AND, you also can keep reusing the same video instead of finding new videos. You can extend the shelf life. This video vs this same video but in reverse. OR This video and this video but they are flipped aka mirrored. The idea is you change a little bit of SOMETHING about the video to give it a new meta data so the algorithm won’t flag it as a dupe.
I have mentioned before that I do not share my Trial Reels to my main feed. Some authors find success in that. My only advice is that you test yours. My views do go up but not by a lot. More often than not they’re just a vanity metric because my engagement stayed the same.
FINALLY, SCREENSHOTS. I do mine on my iPad and just use my Apple pen and the annotation feature to do my underlines and censors. Take the time to do this in one sitting and save them in a dedicated folder of your device of choice so you don’t have to keep doing this every day.
Lastly, just a few gentle reminders… FOCUS ON CONSISTENT POSTING. FIND A SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR YOU. KEEP SHIT ORGANISED. DO THIS and then we can move on to more hooks!!
Just a buttload more of HOOKS you can try
Yea I know. I’ve said a lot of butt-adjacent things now… SPARE ME I’VE BEEN AT THIS FOR TWENTY FOUR HOURS I DESERVE TO MAKE BUTT JOKES
TLDR I saw some hooks I like. I tried to break them down. I hope they make sense. I have done my best. My brain is fried but this is what I get for trying to work on this within 24 hours. I am very well aware this is on me.
To keep things gender neutral, I will use MC = main character and LI = love interest.
🍑 [TROPE or CHARACTER ARCHETYPE] but make it ✨unique but also a familiar identifier✨
I see this as a mix between familiarity and novelty, same but different kinda vibes. The idea is to make them conflicting without being hyperbolic. Trope/character archetype provides the context, and then you hit them with a subversion to create curiosity and intrigue before ending it with a specificity (aka a hook within a hook!!)
Example: ENEMIES TO LOVERS but make it ✨funny✨ or FAKE DATING... but make it ✨spite-driven✨
🍑 When the LI (be specific, like grumpy next door neighbour) [does something out of the ordinary] and they’re [doing another thing even more unexpected like sending a photo of their dog or say more than just grunts]
Think of this like “a glitch in the matrix” because it makes readers do a double take (well in this case it’s TWO double takes). The specificity in the character archetype establishes expectations so when they’re doing something that doesn’t line up it invokes the feeling of “giddy disbelief.”
Grumps for example have a reluctant charm and are dis-alarmingly human (because people forget they’re also people). And when characters like them do something extra, it hints at “special treatment” that no one else gets, creating an emotional pull (in this case, romantic).
Specific contrast is key here. Without it the hook can fall flat. And it needs to relate to the MC for it to hit hard. Just saying a random/unrelated archetype wouldn’t work obviously lol.
Example: When the silent broody bodyguard finally answers one of your million questions and then uses the nickname he gave to tell a joke that made him smirk
🍑 When the LI (just use pronoun) [a short description of a betrayal of sorts, like LI breaking MC’s heart] and now [something possibly bad and edge-of-the-seat thing is happening] AND–
A HIGHSTAKES CLIFFHANGER: A 3-act play of a micro-story compressed into ~20 words. It gives readers a reason to care (Act 1: awful thing), establishes urgency and forces readers to begin wondering (Act 2: current crisis), and by cutting off the climax (Act 3: interruption) you create an open loop and trigger readers to want to read more, establishing THE hook.
Emotionally you’re hitting readers with a cocktail of THREE specific emotions: the righteous indignation (because LI did something bad and we’re on MC’s side), the dread, and the *gasp* (like that stomach flip you get at the top of a roller coaster drop). Types of feelings you can invoke: betrayal & terror, awkwardness & panic, irony & desperation
Example: When he sold your family’s secret to the crown, and now you’re being hunted by the Royal Guard and– or When she left you at the altar without a word and now you’re trapped in an elevator with her while the building shakes and–
I personally have not tried this hook setup yet but I LOVE this and thought the em dash is such a good method to get people to pause for a sec. In this digital age we tend to skim a little too fast so the little em dash at the end becomes a visual wall forcing the eyes to stop and the brain to fill in the blank, turning a passive reader into an active participant. (Now that’s a mouthful.)(That’s what she said.)
🍑 WHAT DO YOU MEAN (MC pronoun) [is taking/doing a drastic action] to avoid (LI character archetype or a description of what they do like a JD) because [they share some type of a connection], and as long as [specific condition is met or an established rule is broken] LI will never know??? BUT THEN (LI pronoun) uses [a specific power/authority] to [force confrontation]
This one takes a classic hook setup up a notch with a dramatic opening line like WDYM, creating a conversation and inviting readers to jump into the middle of a heated gossip session or a frantic realisation, forcing them to “play catch-up.”
And then you up the stakes by establishing a specific rule the MC is not supposed to break, before introducing the power play from the LI, shifting the power dynamic instantly and reclaiming the narrative.
God this is so delicious in a romantasy setting ngl.
BUT THEN comes in at the climax of the hook, the moment when the supposed “safe” plan fails and now it pivots the reader to NEED to know what happens next and if the condition is about to be triggered during the forced confrontation. I can also see the hook ending here as an open loop without needing to complete the context, forcing readers to want to read the Kindle screenshot to know more.
This “high stakes irony” (did I use irony right there or am I Alanis?) hook is great for a specific mixture of “run for your life” vibes and “oh fuck he’s hot” tension LOL. You get the MC’s desperation. The forbidden pull. The feeling of being trapped thus creating instant conflict. Just stack on stack on stack.
Example: WHAT DO YOU MEAN she ran from the man sent to hunt her because she knows he’s her fated mate, and so long as their eyes don’t meet he’ll never know?? but then he uses his magic to freeze her in place (from @laceylehotzkyauthor)
THAT SAID, you can try just adding WDYM to the beginning of your go-to high stakes hooks to grab the reader by the collar and drop them straight into the ✨drama✨
IMO though, WDYM as an opening line also works for any situation BECAUSE it’s conversational and comes with the gossip effect and relatability aspect. Which means, it forces the reader to feel the confusion rather than just explaining what the scene is. So yes, it’s not reserved for high-stake scenes only.
And especially with low-stakes, you can use WDYM to elevate scenes like showing an MC being “caught” in a moment of unexpected tenderness, highlighting a comedic scene, and my personal favorite: slow burn / pining vibes. You don’t need to add the second part. It’s great for amusement reactions, butterflies in the stomach feeling, and inflicting heartache.
Example: “What do you mean he memorized her coffee order from three years ago but still calls her ‘just a friend???’
🍑 👀 why are you blushing?? It’s just a [summary of book with tropes or character archetype] OR [explain what the MCs are doing, particularly with one another and highlighting ONE specific thing about the characters or what they’re doing]
This is another example of turning your hook into a conversation! Essentially if your book has spice, yearning/pining, or your characters have a moment of being SEEN by their LI, this is your hook! It’s also great to use when you’re highlighting a jaw-dropping moment where the MC does something unexpected. The “specificity trap” is KEY here because by highlighting one tiny, specific detail (like a hand placement or a look), you force the reader’s imagination to hyper-focus on a single sensory moment, which is much more effective than a broad summary. So yummy 👅
How you do this is by making the second sentence sound NBD (“feigning indifference” kinda vibe) and the second half can be specific with listing your main tropes/character archetype [it’s just an age gap forbidden romance where she’s married to his son??] or zoom in on the specifics in their actions or the situation that they are in. By acting like the situation is “no big deal,” you force the reader to be the one who screams, “Actually, it’s a huge deal!” You are essentially baiting the reader into a reaction.
Example: 👀 why are you blushing?? it’s just the childhood best friend who’s been pining in silence for a decade, finally teaching her how to play pool and then realising he has to stand entirely too close to show her how to hold the cue.
why are you blushing? it’s just the possessive unhinged vampire losing his mind because someone touched his wife
why are you blushing? it’s just a hockey romance between the captain and the coach’s daughter (example by @michellecarrero.writes)
I fucking love the psychology of denial. There’s nothing more satisfying than telling someone it’s nothing only to bait them to prove that it’s something. With a hook like this when you downplay the tropes/action/character archetype, you make the reader’s imagination WORK thus be curious enough to want to read your exceprt.
BUT ALSO you can be really OTT with the “double double takes” vibe: why are you blushing? it’s just her stepbrother and his best friend unaliving her dad and then DP-ing her afterwards 👁️👄👁️
🍑 when MC (pronoun or archetype) [is doing an action with LI or in a situation with LI, except LI needs to be a SPECIFIC character archetype]
This is the most common hook setup out there because you can literally use this to describe ANY scene, but let’s use this in the context of a forced proximity pressure cooker tension. 🥵
You get a preset dynamic (thus immediately establishing an expectation for the reader) when you specify the LI’s character archetype, highlighting the external conflict being at war with MC’s internal conflict. Emotionally you’re basically giving the reader a “simmering inevitability” vibe because of the targeted tension. *bites knuckles*
Forced Proximity: When [MC] ends up having to [share a confined space/situation] with the [LI but Specific Role/Archetype](and make it unique with a specific complication like brother’s best friend OR teammate’s sister OR the best man) *foaming at the mouth*
Underestimated MC: When the [Archetype] finds out the [MC] is actually a [Surprising High-Status Role]... (Emotion: Fascination)
Hurt/comfort or Touch them and Die: When the [Grumpy/Stoic/POSSESSIVE LI] sees the [MC] getting [slighted/hurt] by [a third party] and they [react disproportionately]... (Emotion: Protection/Devotion)
They fell first / Mutual pining: When the [LI] sees the [MC] on a [date/interacting] with [someone else] and they [intervene with a specific excuse]... (Emotion: Jealousy/Obsession)
“It’s always been you” or “I’ve loved you all this time”: When the [MC] finds a [specific object/evidence] that proves the [LI] has been [watching/supporting them from afar]... (Emotion: vulnerability)
🍑 They’re just a [Highly Intimidating/Powerful Archetype] who [Specific Vulnerable Action/Motivation] for [The One Person who holds the power]...
This is a hook that focuses on the character archetype and the massive gap between their dominant attributes and emotional subservience (at this point of writing I have run out of my big-word quota brain juice and uh if anything sounds like it could have been simplified with a single word, just know that I couldn’t even think of it to ask wordhippo to help so please save some grace for me LOL.)
This hook works especially well for the cool baddies with the big personalities finally showing their vulnerable side. I ESPECIALLY LOVE when this is applied to FMCs (the only time I will gender my MC in this post) with the RBF and the ruthless miss independent ICE QUEEN vibes. The misunderstood misfits. The ones who never felt like they were ever chosen. WELL WHAT IF THEY WANT TO BE DESIRED, KAREN? WHAT THEN?
Example: She’s just a cutthroat billionaire CEO who secretly buys every painting at an underground gallery just so her struggling artist ex-best-friend can pay rent.
This type of hook stands out because of the focus on the archetype. If it’s just a regular person doing something or asking for something, it just seems normal, you know? The whole point is to showcase if a character of status or specific archetype does something soft that it becomes a revelation, making the reader enjoy (man IDK what I was gonna say here because apparently I never finished this sentence but I’m guessing) their character development.
🍑 when the MC [specific character archetype, usually high-power/aggressive role] lets their LI (pronoun) [insert a specific action of authority/responsibility OR a spicy action and describe it like ✨take charge✨]
Empowering, intoxicating rush, maybe even slightly indulgent seeing a “protector” archetype switching into “devotion” mode. I dare add to some degree that in certain cases this hook can target the reader’s desire for “competence porn” (loosely used here) mixed with devotion, especially when the MC is regularly the only one who controls everything now willingly letting their LI take control.
Example: when the ruthless mafia boss lets his girl hold the gun and ✨call the shots✨
🍑 when the MC (pronoun) turned into a [descriptive + archetype] FINALLY
Perfect for scenes that rely on a character archetype trope and when they lose their composure because their LI did something to trigger their suppressed emotion. For the readers, this provides a rush of adrenaline followed by a sense of relief for the character growth
Example: when he turns into a jealous fake husband FINALLY
IF ALL OF THAT SOUNDS COMPLICATED AS FUCK, I GOT YOU.
The most common hook setup is setting the base for a micro-story with when MC (pronoun) is [action] but/and LI (specific archetype) is [action]. It works for any genre. The key is in being specific with a character archetype or at least a “job description” that would add emotional weight to your hook and make the reader go “say what now??”
AND THEN YOU EXTEND THE SHELF LIFE!
Example: “when she has a fear of knives but the man she put behind bars help her overcome it” - Lilac and Bone by Dani Antoinette, out on KU March 10, 2026!
(adding that moment) that moment when she has a fear of knives but the man she put behind bars help her overcome it
(flip the sentence structure and find synonyms) that moment when the man she sent to prison is helping her to overcome her fear of knives
(switch perspectives) POV you have a fear of knives but the man you sent to prison is helping you to overcome it
(switch perspectives, add ‘that moment’ AND find synonyms/similar phrases) that moment when you have a fear of knives but the man you sent to prison is showing you how to overcome it with one.
Example: “when you’re trying to transport your captive to the secret location but she keeps flirting with you” - Tied Up for Love by Nora Lane, out now on KU!
that moment when you’re trying to transport the girl you kidnapped and she won’t stop flirting with you
POV you’re trying to transport the sunshine baker you kidnapped but she keeps flirting with you
when you’re trying to transport the girl you kidnapped and she won’t stop flirting the whole time
that moment when the girl you kidnapped won’t stop flirting with you as you’re transporting her to a secret location
[add 3d POV hooks here of the variations above]
If it makes sense to add emojis, you can use them to emphasise: that moment when the girl you ✨kidnapped✨ won’t stop flirting with you as you’re transporting her to a secret location 👀
Now let’s play a game of how many times can you say the same thing? LOL This one is from Love’s Blueprints by ST Walker, out now on KU! It’s her debut!!
when they agree they won’t date each other while working together but he gets jealous seeing her on a date with someone else
they agree they can’t continue their relationship while working together until he sees her on a date with someone else and gets jealous
that moment when they agree they can’t continue their relationship while working together but then he sees her on a date with someone else and gets jealous
when they agree they shouldn’t date as coworkers but he gets jealous when she’s out with another guy
when they agree to keep it professional but he gets jealous seeing her on a date with another man
when they agree they can’t be together while working but he gets jealous seeing her out with someone else
that moment when he gets jealous seeing her on a date with another guy after they agreed not to date while working together
that moment when he gets jealous seeing her out with someone else after they agreed to stay coworkers
that moment when he gets jealous spotting her on a date after they agreed not to mix work and dating
TLDR:
Adding a trope in your hook gives doomscrollers an immediate anchor to pause on your video, promising them a some emotional payoff (i.e the tension, the bickering, or lead to the eventual kiss) without having them to guess.
Side note: one of the things I notice a lot when doing 1:1 with authors on improving their hooks as a first-time reader is if I have to figure out the context AFTER the hook, I’m immediately disinterested. This is when the hook is TOO vague to work as an open loop.
So, if you find your videos aren’t performing and you don’t know what to fix, the easiest fix would be to add a trope, as this always helps to lower the ‘barrier to entry’. They don’t have to learn a whole new world; they just need to get that specific trope in a relevant context.
Emojis and ✨unique identifiers✨ act as a pattern disruptor. You use them to trigger curiosity to transform a cliche into a challenge. Get them to feel skeptical about what you’re promising them. Now they want to stay to see how your promise pans out… 👀
You don’t have to limit yourself to only a single POV. 2nd POV hooks stop doomscrollers in their tracks because they sound like you’re addressing THEM, making them think, “wait are they talking to me???” It’s another great form of pattern disruptor.
Swap the sentence structure if it makes sense. Just don’t go all Yoda on them.
BUT IF NONE OF THIS SHIT WORKS FOR YOU, Celina got you covered with 15 tips to improve your reels!
FAQs
What do I do if my videos are stuck behind 200 views? If you haven’t tweak your hooks yet, do that first. Try out the hook ideas, then go over my Reels Best Practice checklist to ensure that your video feels familiar to other Bookish folks. Familiarity lowers the barrier. And if you’ve done all that and saw no improvements, try Celina’s tips!
Is there an indicator that Trial Reels miiiiiiight convert? Not exactly. But I find seeing my engagement rate of about 1-2% gives me some hope that it would lead to some sales. To calculate that it used to be total engagement over total reach multiply by 100, but I think now you calculate total interactions against views multiply it by 100. i.e 116/9325x100 = 1.2% Fellow SMMs are welcome to correct me if I am wrong!
I don’t know what content to make for Trial Reels! I need ideas. Pick 2 scenes with popular highlights of your book and do the Kindle screenshot. If your book(s) don’t have enough popular highlights, pick 2 scenes that have a dialogue exchange between your characters that perfectly showcase their relationship dynamic. No, it does not have to be spicy.
Where is Trial Reels? This feature is only available to business or creator profiles with over 200 followers. It’s accessible on your Reels tab where your drafts lie. It’s also accessible from the first page of your Professional Dashboard when you scroll all the way down.
How do you post so many videos? I set up my scenes in the Edits app by Instagram from each book and when I post them in groups of 3 videos 3 times a day. If you want to learn more about my processes, it’s in this blog post.
What if IDK how to write HOOKS?? I don’t know where to START. You have 2 options that I can think of. 1) you practice writing them by picking a scene or two. Use the hook examples I shared as a starting point. Or you check out books in the same genre and see how others write hooks for their excerpts. 2) Engage with a service provider. I posted 6 days ago calling out my Author PA colleagues who offer content pull with HOOKS in this post. I have yet to gather the data for it but if you give me a few more days I will put together a database of service providers as soon as I caught up with work. Apologies in advance!
Where do you organise your content? I use Airtable. This is my current content planner system that is ever evolving, and this is my content pull system that might need an update soon but it works for now!
Fuck, we made it, chat.
If you’ve been waiting for this and finally came, I’m so sorry for all the edging. I am both elated and nervous that you made it this far and I can only hope that the wait was worth it. This was much more chaotic to write and organise than my first blog post. I want to say sorry for the cringe but ehhhhhhhhh
But I do want to specifically apologise in advance if I am lacking or missed out on certain infos. Feel free to DM me on IG or drop a comment below if you’re looking for clarifications.
Anyways, if this has helped you even a little bit, please send it to an author friend who’s currently side-eyeing their analytics and questioning everything. I genuinely want indie authors to win. Book marketing doesn’t have to feel mysterious or gatekept. It can be learned and it CAN get easier. It just takes time.
And I’m just going to casually leave this wishlist right here… For absolutely no reason at all. Do with that information what you will 🙂
Also, I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I feel like I have to before I get more enquiries… I might have an opening in April but I’m considering offering something different. I just have not made up my mind yet. I will make a post about it!
At the moment though, I want to focus on current authors for now until I have read most of their backlist and do some side work for indie authors I’ve chosen support for free. There is a list of backlogs I’ve been meaning to work on.
Anyways… Good luck? Idk how to end this.