Social Video Secrets: Taking Your Books to TikTok, Instagram, and Beyond
Online Workshop with Jess Zaffaris
October 13-24, 2025
Within a few years of TikTok’s meteoric rise in popularity and adoption, vertical video became core content across every social media platform, with algorithms reworking to prioritize creators and personalities who make video part of their mix.
Video-forward platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts—but also Facebook, X, Threads, and even LinkedIn—reward users for bravely showing up on camera to share their thoughts and passions, and they all host rich, engaged, and voracious communities of readers ready to discover you and your writing.
In this session, discover what it takes to get started with (or improve!) your social video game, including what to post and where to reach new fans, build your platform, and become an influential author.
This workshop will be interactive, with time for questions and answers.
What You’ll Learn
- How social videos can boost your author platform
- How to build your audience and determine what type of content to create
- How to tell compelling stories in a vertical and social video format
- How to create videos for platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts
- How to think about different features and video styles
- How to decide which platforms to choose and where to spend your time
- How to sell books using vertical video platforms
- How to interact with fans and readers on vertical video platforms
Who Should Attend
- Writers who want to learn to make social media videos
- Writers who want to post videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and other short-form video platforms
- Writers who want to build their audience
- Writers who want ideas for social media content
- Writers who have struggled to build their audience in the past and want to try something new
- Writers who want to learn how to sell books on social media
- Writers who want to learn about the types of audiences and communities on social media
- Writers who want to learn best practices for video captioning, editing, and accessibility
- Writers who need help understanding how to navigate social video platforms
- Writers looking for new ways to connect with readers and writers
- Writers who simply want to understand video storytelling
Registration cost for this two-week course is:
- $20 for COFW members
- $25 for all others
About the Google IO Group
Our Education Chair is using Google IO Groups, and your invite should come out around 8/02/25. You will not receive any email until then. The fact that PayPal gave you a success message is your confirmation you’ve been registered.
Register now, before we fill up. This is another superb instructor and course.