Content Formats
Before we dive into crafting killer hooks and optimizing your content strategy, let's first briefly look at the two main content formats on TikTok.
In this guide, we focus specifically on faceless content strategies. These approaches don't require you to appear on camera or show your face. This makes BookTok accessible to every author, regardless of comfort level with being on camera.
BookTok success comes down to two main content types, each with distinct advantages:
Video Content: Motion-based content with continuous playback, transitions, and synchronized audio
Image Slideshows: Static images that viewers swipe through at their own pace
Both formats can go viral. Both can sell books. The choice comes down to your preferences and content style.
Video Content: Dynamic Visual Storytelling
Videos combine text, visuals, and audio to create a multi-sensory experience that pulls viewers into your story world.
In the faceless format, videos rely on text overlays, visual transitions, and trending audio to create momentum. The combination of moving elements and music creates an emotional atmosphere that can make viewers feel the mood of your book before they've read a single page.
Image Slideshows: Text-Focused Content
Slideshows let you tell your story through multiple text-based frames, building intrigue and tension across each slide.
With slideshows, viewers control their reading pace and can swipe back to reread previous slides. Each slide view counts as engagement, and the format naturally encourages viewers to complete the entire sequence to get the full story or payoff.
The Format Doesn't Make or Break You
But here's what actually matters: a great hook beats a great format every time.
A slideshow with a weak opening slide will flop just as hard as a video with a boring first three seconds. A video with a killer hook will outperform a beautifully designed slideshow that doesn't grab attention.
Whether you choose video or slideshow, the first moment—your hook—decides everything. It's what stops the scroll, creates curiosity, and convinces viewers to engage with your content instead of swiping to the next post.
Slideshows are typically cheaper and faster to produce, making them accessible for authors who want to post consistently. Both formats have successful creators who've built massive followings selling books.
Next, we'll dive deep into the art and science of crafting hooks that transform any format into engaging, book-selling content.