Why I Left TikTok

It wasn’t easy to walk away from 2,000+ hard-won friends on the clock app last month, but I think it was the right decision for me career-wise. Here are the main reasons why I left:

TikTok users want to promote
I realized after a while that everyone else on TikTok was doing exactly what I was doing: trying to gain a following in hopes that a book would have a spike in sales. My friends on TikTok weren’t there to shop my titles, but rather to promote their own. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, by the way. I love to support other authors. But with two kids, a marriage, and home to upkeep, it didn’t seem like a wise use of my time to continue creating content when I may not see any return on that investment. On platforms like X, Facebook, and Instagram, I regularly see interactions convert into sales. This never happened for me on TikTok.
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Booktok is a sexy place, and my closed-door books don’t really fit in
Not saying there has never been a “clean” adult romance that went viral on Booktok, but it’s not the norm. There are plenty of YAs or fantasies that get Booktok famous that have little to no steam, but the massive adult contemporary romance crowd on TikTok gravitates towards open-door romances. We should go where our market is, and as an author of clean and heartwarming romances and rom-coms, that place is by and large, Facebook, with some overlap on Instagram.

TikTok is a time sucker
I don’t like being trapped swiping video after video. It makes me feel out of control. I have great things to achieve, and I won’t do this by watching an adorable kitten get spooked and slide across a freshly polished floor, no matter how much it makes me laugh.

The hemming and hawing
Will they or won’t they ban the app on January 19th––who knows?! But maybe it’s not the best use of my time to continue making content on a platform that might not be around for much longer, or which is seemingly always in limbo. I want a lasting audience!

My strengths (and weaknesses!)
My strengths lie in writing, not visuals. While I can create eye-pleasing, professional-level ad graphics in Canva, video is a whole other ballgame. Not only do you have to look the part (do your makeup the way 20-year-olds say is cool or else [lol], have the right backdrop, have good hair, the right lighting, the right mic, etc.) but you have to speak coherently and succinctly. I don’t do my hair and makeup every day, and I always end up talking for way too long. If I had a friend with me, chatting and laughing and helping the message along, I could do it much better. But as it stands, making concise and engaging video content is not one of my strengths as an author. I prefer to channel my marketing energy into text-reliant platforms instead of video-based ones.

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There are other reasons that went into this decision, but this is the gist of it! And as I said upfront, I think this was the right choice for me! If we met on TikTok, thank you for being my booktok buddy, and I hope you’ll continue to keep in touch via Instagram (@audreylancho) and Facebook (@audreyslanchoauthor). My TikTok page is still up, but I deleted the app, and I don’t ever plan on checking it again. ;) 

…The sense of freedom is real.