Last year, I cosplayed as Thistle Greenbud from my mom’s middle grade chapter books Bad Fairy and Bad Fairy Strikes Again. I bought a black wig, put on a black frilly dress I’d worn for Halloween once, topped it with a dark red T-shirt, clipped a flower to the fake hair, and trained my voice so I spoke as I imagined a fairy would speak. Thus, Thistle was born. Or, more accurately, Thistle became human-sized.
I was looking for ways to help my mom market her books, to attract more readers, to stand out. Honestly, while it did stand out in terms of a unique way to promote a book, it didn’t garner the result I was hoping for; we didn’t see an increase in book sales. Not all ideas work in the way you imagine.
Still, I had fun.
After I shared images of myself as Thistle, I created short videos that I turned into reels on Instagram. A lot of people don’t like videos on Instagram because it started as a photos-only platform, but everything evolves and evolution is a good thing. Reels can be a creative and fun way to promote a book, which is 100% acceptable to do on Instagram or any other social media platform. Reels/videos can also be used in informative and educational ways, as well as a way to connect to followers more than through immobile images and captions, no matter how long they are.
So, I recorded myself as Thistle.
Here’s the first reel I shared to my mom’s Instagram account:
NOTE: When you click the play button, the video will be small because it’s a reel, not a full-sized video. You can watch the full-sized reel by clicking the “View on Instagram” links below each short clip.
Thistle’s Cry For Help:
0:12 seconds
After the initial video explaining how Thistle got to be as big as a human, I created short clips to introduce her, share fairy secrets, talk about fantasy creatures mentioned in the books, and highlight some fairy slang.
Thistle Reveals Fairy Secrets:
0:21 seconds
Thistle Greenbud:
0:22 seconds
Facts About Thistle:
0:18 seconds
What’s A Batty-Eye?
0:19 seconds
What Does Okum-Sokum Mean?
0:09 seconds
The above reels/videos are the ones that I think are good introductions to Thistle and are a couple of my personal favorites, but I also want to share the most-viewed reels on Instagram because it’s usually not the images and videos we think will do well that get a lot of interaction. From the ones above, Facts About Thistle (currently 1,090 views) and What’s A Batty-Eye (currently 1,509 views) are among the most-viewed on Instagram, but here’s more:
What Do You Call A Group Of Fairies?
0:11 seconds
Currently 1,064 views
What Are Brownie Fairies?
0:17 seconds
Currently 1,395 views
What Are Flower Fairies?
0:28 seconds
Currently 1,380 views
What Are Goblins?
0:14 seconds
Currently 1,365 views
What Are Boggarts?
0:14 seconds
Currently 1,347 views
What’s A Pixie?
0:13 seconds
Currently 1,079 views
Hi Chrys - these are fun ... well done and must have given you both lots of laughs ... they're great - congratulations ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt's always amazing what does well and what does not. And it's never what you expect it to be.
ReplyDeleteI love these videos. Good for you guys jumping into Tik Tok. I’ll get there one day.
ReplyDelete@Hilary, they were a lot of fun to do.
ReplyDelete@Liz, I'm constantly surprised at what does or does not receive a lot of engagement on social media. It's often a very odd photo/video that's kinda silly that does the best.
@Toi, thank you! I don't do much on TikTok, but that may change...I have an idea of something I want to do that's not book/author related. ;)
This is creative marketing and you are a good actor! Don't give up on Thistle!
ReplyDelete@Jeff, thank you! I used to always enjoy doing a little classroom play acting when I was young. At one point, I entertained the idea of being an actress but was too shy to go for it. I may not do videos of Thistle, but I may do a photo shoot.
ReplyDeleteI like your reels! I also like your costume; you did a really good job with it! I haven't figured out how to make a reel on Instagram yet. I'm not very tech-savvy and I honestly didn't even understand the concept of Instagram stories and how to make them or what to put in them for far too long. I've noticed that a lot of authors are on Instagram, and I think it's a good way to market your books, as well as connect with readers. I posted a couple of positive reviews of books written by two authors I admired, and they wrote kind comments on my Instagram posts in response, which made my day.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteIt's always a lovely surprise when an author responds to a positive post their tagged in about their books.
So interesting to read this post. I remember when you became Thistle in human form. I would have expected that to help book sales, but I am often surprised by things that do/don't sell books. I also found it interesting to see the difference in views between Instagram and TikTok. TikTok is a platform I know very little about. I have watched videos on it- but haven't tried any myself. Thanks for sharing all this. It gives me a lot to think about. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
I am always surprised by what does well on Instagram/TikTok and what doesn't...what helps to sell or not sell books. It's never what I think.
DeleteThat's awesome of you to help your mom out.
ReplyDeleteHope she does well. Looks like the contest had a fair amount of entries.
I wrote a humorous piece for the June WEP prompt.
And I have my favorite book world narrowed down for the IWSG July prompt.
July 03 is Plastic Bag Free Day, which hopes to eliminate single-use plastic bags.
Over at Operation Awesome, our Pass or Pages query contest opens Monday with July's family saga genre. Know any writers who might want to enter?
I am my mom's editor, head of marketing, cosplayer, and so much more. lol
DeleteLOVE you as Thistle, Chrys. You resemble a pixie in so many good ways. Cute video clips.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I just might possibly be part fairy. ;)
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