How to make a Popular Tiktok book 

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"It's not smut, it's romantasy!"

This is why I'm glad the message I took from Iron Widow was "the children yearn for the battlefield (and also giant robots)".

It’s funny cause there’s a bunch of smut with magical creatures freely available in fanfic sites on the internet yet somehow these authors still make a shit load of money.

"600 pages, single-spaced three-point font, comic sans" killed me

“A bowl of Mac and cheese” actually sounds like a pretty good title for some confusing surrealist book, feels like something that would make you wonder how it would tie into the book like a clockwork orange for example

James channelling his inner Terrible Writing Advice

1. Main protagonist is poor. 2. There is a tyrannical power and a quiet, scattered secretive rebel faction. 3. There is a love triangle between the young girl protagonist, a kind hunky guy and a brooding hunky guy. 4. There is a race of magic users and non magic users 5. The magic users can usually be fit into some sort of color coded filing system. 6. It is revealed, usually to the protagonist, that the protagonist is a magic user. 7. The love triangle will usually have one love interest work for the bad guys and the other work for or end up working for the rebels. 8. The protagonist will end up working for the tyrannical ruler, typically to spy on them and undermine them. 9. There is a tournament or set of trials to win something and people will end up dead in or around this tournament. Bonus points if it’s a death game. 10. There will be a hunt for macguffins. 11. The main character will gain a new role that comes with newfound clout. Numbers 9 and 10 usually happen in the story over all but not in every individual book. Extra bonus points if the tournament involves collecting macguffins. If you take out the female protagonist part, Harry Potter also does all of these.

In my upcoming BookTok bestseller, "A Mist of Piss and Shaving Cream", middle-aged protagonist Harry Kravitz leads a bloody coup against the matriarchal prom committee. The opening escape scene from his straightjacket technically makes this romantasy.

"like Isekai, but for girls" is a very good summarization

that part about only certain words being used for titles is so real if i see another 'of iron and bone' or 'court of fury and blood' or 'thief of ash' i will throw up

I find it hilarious that despite trying to aggresively distinguish itself from "women's fiction", bad books aimed at men are usually just this same stuff but with guns

I'm pretty sure the only reason the Fairies haven't conquered these worlds is because they're all busy realizing how beautiful they are and just spending their days boinking one another in mindless fashion like it's, ahh, "cultured anime content".

Finally, someone mentioned the "_________ of ________ of _________" title pattern! That drives me crazy! It's like a game of Mad Libs where you can only put in edgy words.

I wrote the Bone of Blood and Flame, but my editor renamed it to Barren Syphilis

I hope Prince Hotnsexy has a change of heart and joins the rebels fighting against his uncle General Maimkill! But what if Edgy Reggie finds out that Prince Hotnsexy has feelings for the main protag? LOVE TRIANGLE! OOOOO! Spicy! :B

Hunger Games clones, Twilight clones, Game of Thrones clones, and now TikTok book clones. Isekai clones are next on the list, aren't they?

James! Stop procrastinating! Put down everything and write a novel with you as a self insert magic-using teenage ninja spy orphan of royal blood who has a farie fetish. Bonus points for how many love triangles you can work into each chapter. I’ve even got a name - Red Death Farie Palace. A future best seller awaits!

I will never forgive Sarah J. Maas for making utterly terrible "fairy" "romance" books. All I want is good fairy romance books but nooooo, everywhere I look it's just ACOTAR and its copycats, the market is ruined forever! CURSE YOU SARAH!

I only fear, that most Tik Tok-book authors won't watch this video as it's more than 15 seconds long.

I feel like the people who read these books got a hold of any other fantasy series with a bit of world building, they'd all combust in flames.

BRB gotta write my future bestseller YA fantasy novel Court of Blood and Roses and Mists of the Throne of the Thorns and Glass of Ruins and Kingdom of Ice and Fury. The main character is Khlamydia, an underestimated young lady from the lower echelons of society who's half human, half elf, and half fae and who winds up in a love triangle between two attractive but equally vapid male love interests (one of whom is a thinly-veiled copy of Draco Malfoy).

How to make a popular tiktok book: Literally just describe a graphic rape scene that is super evil BUT WITH A TWIST: Hot Man.

bestie what's the level of ✨🌶️spice🌶️✨ in this video? 🥵🥵🥵🥵

James i want you to know i get full bricked every time you upload

1. Shadow Magic is a must. 2. Parents don't exist (they are all dead or really terrible people.) 3. Insta-Love (there is no basis for these two people to be together but Romance is a must). 4. Swords, Crossbows and daggers are the only weapons of choice. 5. Have a random death competition (it does not fit in the world but its a great plot device) 6. Make sure to remind the female protagonist that she has agency "it's her choice" after all. NB: They are all mated, even the cats and the dogs.

“Are you ready for your fantasy writing lessons?” *Sarah J. Maas gulps* *Rebecca Yarros breathes heavily* *Leigh Bardugo nods nervously* *Victoria Aveyard sighs* “Yes, James Tullos” they say in unison

BTW Austrians did horrible things to Romani people way before that guy came along.

I hate how many recent books just rattle off a bunch of their tropes in a list in their promos like “enemies to lovers”, “redemption arc”, “only one bed” etc., if I wanted to read a bunch of trope lists I’ll just read TV Tropes all day.

“I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards.”

Honestly I feel bad for the good books that get lumped in here. I was reading jackets in a bookstore today and some of the concepts were actually really interesting (no idea if they delivered) but the covers and a blank of blank titles made them seem like just another mangled fairy tale

T.... Terrible writing advice? Is that you?

I once was called racist because I said the title "A blank of blank and blank" was generic and boring, just because it happened to be a black author who made the post...

I was peacefully enjoying the video in silence cause it's 4am, but then you said "falls in love with a sparkly pedophile " and I burst into laughter. If I woke anyone up it's on you, but the delivery of that line was brilliant 😂

I've got an idea. Put YA distopia/death game books in a death game to see which one is the best. Tournament style where 2 face off. One is eliminated, and the survivor moves up in the bracket. As the pairings thin down to the last two books and are put up against eachother its revealed that they were in a rebellion and in love the entire time and overthrew your book death game. Now that I think about it, if The Hunger Games is on the list, it would probably beat out any other series it's matched up with, which is funny.

It seems that, regardless of what the genre or subject matter is, YA fiction has become an industry attracting hacks like a dead elephant attracts flies.

In my extremely unique romantasy, A Realm of Iron and Grace, Ellisainyaa is a 17.9 year old elite assassin standing at a petite 5'1" tall. And she is the only person with her unique hair/eye color in the known world-THIS WILL NOT BE RELEVANT. She is tasked by the Unnamed King of EVILHUMANLANDIA™ to kill the prince of neighboring kingdom EVILFAIRYLANDIA™, but oh no, he's HOT! 🥵 Fey Prince Lucius Malfa is a staggering 6'8" and rippling with muscles, and yes, he is tawny and broody-and about 650 years old (but he looks (and acts) like a 21 year old frat boy). Just when they start to develop feelings against ALL ODDS, his hidden older brother, the Dark Fey Prince Xerdys, who is taller and much more muscleyer (and yes, yes, you don't need to ask, his genitals are *much* bigger), reveals himself. This spicy, enemies to lovers, why choose dark romance will....

"It's like isekai anime but for girls." Omg why is that so accurate.

I'm pretty sure we could write a romantacy in chat, and it would be on par with the average best seller. The summary so far (with some edits): TThe main character is named Lavender. Her mother, a fae from the lineage of sun maidens (living sunlight), was a servant in the palace and screwed the crown prince (w/ consent?). The royals are unicorns in human form (which all magical creatures can do), that enslaved fae to be their air forces in their war with a neighborly kingdom, ruled by dragons. While heavily pregnant (8 months), her mother was attacked and killed, but a chamber maid (Fuchsia) took pity on the fetus and saved her by smuggling her out of the palace. She is raised on the outside of the city, with her 5 years younger stepsister, Saffron, a ball of sunshine (fathered by the sun, who took interest in the woman raising a sun maiden by her own). She has a male best friend named Ty that has always been there for her. Fuchsia died when Lavender was 12. Since then, Lavender has provided for her and her sister by hunting animals in the royal wood, made easy for her because animals don’t fear her. The book starts when Lavender (19) is caught by a prince named Kyle, 223 years of age (who’s adopted, son of a fallen unicorn warrior who saved the crown prince (now king) by standing alone in a last stand), who thrown her in the dungeon so he can personally torture her (in a sexy way) before the execution. But when the king (her father) her the story of a hunter that animals didn’t fear, he checks on her, finds out that she’s his daughter and saves her life by having her join the death game tournament. Kyle gets forced as punishment to become Lavender’s bodyguard to make up for torturing her. So, he joins her when she goes home to explain to her sister, but they meet Ty on the way. When he learns that she is gone join the tournament, he instantly joins, so he can protect her. Before the tournament begins, they have a ball, where she’s given a fabulous dress, and Kyle and Ty almost come to blows, but a group of dragon fae attacks, led by The Dragon Prince Dominic. But they’re repelled by Lavender discovering her fire powers. Because they assume that she’s part dragon, they send her over to the dragon kingdom under the identity of a lost dragon princess so she can start a civil war by claiming that she’s the true heir. But she is immediately caught, taken to the palace and reviled as a fake.

It's confirmed: James looks good with long hair Please review Six Of Crows if you haven't already, James. I'm really curious to know what you think of it

I find it hilarious that Brandon Sanderson does almost all of this in Mistborn book one and it works very well

Fantasy novel about a gravedigger and a necromancer needing to find the tomb of a rebel army that they plan to revive to overthrow an evil king

So its harem manga but in a book form and targeted to girls

Not a traditional episode of Terrible Writing Advice but its still good

Ok Flameash or A Princess of the Flameash. Ariana Leriana Silviana Firebane van Demeer is a princess of the princ(ess)ipality of...Flamewall. She is a princess despised by her people because her mother was a witch, who seduced her father the king. (Witches are seen as super evil and are killed on sight if ever identified. No reason is ever given. Maybe a past King was rejected by one once) Once it was revealed the Queen was a witch she was killed. Ria(the princess) was the only heir to the throne and the king had died in battle, long before the Queen was ever discovered, so the peaceful state of ....Fireport? Is all thanks to the Queen and her good ruling! As the only legal blood relative to the throne Ria is kept alive and the new king of Fireflame County is whomever gets her pregnant. They hold grand parties where they invite many distinguished men in various fields and she is forced to meet then and hopefully someone will be able to seduce her. Ria is not allowed to leave the palace so spent her time reading and thanks to that she has taught herself to fluently read/write/ speak every language....ever. she is an amazing student and even taught her self rare...Reaper magic. She now has a cool fire scyth that is made up of part of her soul and lets her do fire magic and she can make wings of pure fire and fly on them and a fire...whip? Anyway now that she is this amazing warrior who is hated by everyone she protects her country...city...Ember...City? By burning enemy ships to ash and single handling entire armies. See everyone wants her city because it's the richest nation on earth and is the oldest city ever built and is a popular trading route. So she has a giant fire dome over her whole country to protect it from invaders and people are always coming to... Fire Flameash Town because they have the best universities and most advanced technologies and everyone is steeped in backwards thinking tradition that will go on savage witch hunts and kill random women. And Ashport is the most forward thinking city ever. Her three love interest's are a shape shifter name Hawk. He is sweet, thoughtful caring and has the skills to be a good leader. At the end of book one he will be revealed as a distant cousin killing that ship. The other two is evil an but hot king from neighbouring country who hates that she's a witch but respects her fighting proweress and is the only one who acknowledges her for her fighting and protecting her country. They eventually sign a peace trearty his dad dies and they are no longer an evil kingdom. She of course gets with The Demon prince from the underlayer who kidnaps her as an ambassador because she is the only person on earth...middle layer? To speak his language and he needs her to talk to some other evil people on his behalf. He is angst, cold rude and always pushes his duties onto other people. Hawk marries the moon goddess and the former evil king marries a mermaid who saves Rias life when she drowns during a storm and pirate ship fight. Ria also has a very stupid wyrvnn named Honey who follows her around and does nothing interesting and everyone complains about it. And it starts wars and problems for her.

...I'm writing a book about how a nice young man is compassionate and kind, melts the heart of a beast and that ends up saving the day. Guys I don't think my book is going to popular on TikTok

On this episode of James absolutely slaying with a neon pink wig, he accurately dismantles tiktok book trends

Ahhh yes, "the Everbone Princess". I think I just gave myself a cramp.

So I work in a bookstore and I actually had to create a "new adult" section just to move all of these smutfests masquerading as young adult to it. The likes of Colleen Hoover has also been moved there but that's mostly for marketing purposes since people who buy one also buy the other. It's been so hard for me to find new authors or even new stories to read because the market right now is so over saturated with the reading equivalent of junk food. I now have a coworker who will not read a book if it doesn't have enough smut in it. Genuinely starting to feel like I'm surrounded by porn addicts sometimes

The Court of Law and Right to a Fair Trial

The title format of "a ____ of ____ and ____" is very similar to "a song of ice and fire" (game of throne). Did they take the title format of a very successful bookserie, when the serie was at its peak, and used it for their fantasy stories? Surely not, they would have at least some originality

I think these authors are mistaking the genre fantasy for “my sexual fantasy” and not magical, fantastical world😔

Good video. Can't wait for the "Billionaire Romance" sequel.

I personally love reading YA novels, why? Because everytime I read an extensive description of how beautiful someone is, I can never actually imagine pretty people, but Gumball people, and it's always so funny

Is this just... The modern version of "pulp" literature?

‘A Bench of Gum and Birdshit’ ‘Children of Yeast and Starter’ Etc.

Step 1 write shitty book. Step 1092... Profit!

On one hand, I'm ok with YA novels being done, like, enjoy your writting and I'm happy that someones is actually enjoying and profiting from it's passion. On the other hand, BE ORIGINAL and/or CREATIVE! I really hate the trope of the prota being Jesus the savior and Gengis Khan the conqueror at the same time.

This just makes me appreciate The Spook's Apprentice series that I've been rereading. It's got some of the youth fantasy tropes but I like that for the most part its a very down to earth with the protagonist just trying to help normal people with their problems and be a good person despite the harsh world.

I'm here for "hot bad boy" James.

From now on, whenever I feel bad about my writing, I’m gonna watch this video again for encouragement lmao

The rise in smut in YA fiction is crazy. I first started reading YA in elementary school with series like The Hunger Games and I Am Number Four, I can't imagine a ten or eleven year old reading something as explicit and ACOTAR. Hell I remember the moment I realized how much YA was shifting to allow explicit content; I was 17 and reading some fantasy book (idr the title) and then out of nowhere there was an incredibly explicit sex scene, just no warning whatsoever, I had to reread the previous pages several times and I was still confused as to why it was happening. I'm not saying smut shouldn't be allowed in publishing, but I think there needs to be more of a push for New Adult to be an established genre for books with more mature content.

Watching this with a novel draft open on my computer is TIGHT

Top-shelf Tullos right here.

I should hope you understand that you must use this wig, and any other ridiculous wigs you may acquire in the future, when portraying these totally not-like-other-girls protagonists. Tis the law, and unlike evil governments, I don't make the rules.

I read the first book in the "throne of glass" series when it came out and gave up halfway through. And I rarely give up on books. I will still say that I enjoyed Six of Crows a ton even though it probably falls into that genre

There's no guarantee, but I'm trying to write a teen dystopia just to see if I can do it better. Here's hoping.

i am BEGGING YOU TO READ THE CRUEL PRINCE JAMES 😭😭 the book that got me into readingg, i wanna see how you *would likely* roast it or if you atleast enjoy it abit

Please do more videos like this. You're great at poking at genres. This is excellent.

Step 1: Don't

Oh cool im early. I don’t usually comment on stuff but i figured i'd take the opportunity to let ya know i really love your videos, you make a load of valid points about fiction and put into words what i cant, while also making interesting points i never would’ve considered and changing how i view fiction, good fuckin videos dude keep it up 🔥🔥

There was contraceptives in the medieval times! C0ndoms are a very very old concept! There was also other ways but their uh success rate was not always the best. They also had methods of inducing abor tion. Infanti cide was also an oldie but goldie too. Though uh I wouldnt add that in a book youre writing unless you want the characters to appear unlikeable as heck. Just stick to the animal skin c0ndoms

This reminds me so much of Terrible Writing advice, but instead of a dated meme guy it's a pink haired guy

Watching your content is like being jumpscared by comedy. You lure me into a fall sense of security and while I am busy learning something new, I suddenly choke on air because that is more funny than it has any right to be.

I wont lie ive thought about poorly writing a romance story like this. I wouldnt be proud it would be a step above hiring a ghost writer personally for me, but id do it if i ever became desperate enough for money.

Which genre is worse: RU-vidr Book or TikToker Book? For me, TikTok book, because at least most youtube books are autobiographies so each novel can't be as carbon copy as each other.

A Bowl of Mac and Cheese sounds like a novella given the rest of your instructions. If not, short story, but it sounds readable.

The motorcycle race background you used for the love interest who works for the villains killed me 😂

hey James, id love to see a review of the night angel trilogy, its one of me and my fathers favorite fantasy series, and outlines the best parts of Brent weeks writing before he gets to obsessed with lore and goes off the rails like he did with the light bringer series. I can honestly say I haven't seen dark fantasy done so well.

As SOmeone who owns Throne of Glass, This is Spot on

6:08 looks like he sells Coors Light and Zyns to high school students behind the gas station. Oddly enough, that makes him the most morally upstanding character of that archetype.

Romantasy books are the equivalent of power fantasy/isekai but for females, both are ruining their respective medias and have an hyper gendered fandom.

Dont forget to foget to print a pretty pattern on the visible outside of the pages (no idea how its called in english), so it looks nice on the shelve

This is like reading Necronomicon in Cthulhu mythos

Pink really is your color, sir! 💗

i think you've convinced me to start reading these books

Noice choice in pencil at 3:10, that's my favorite mechanical of all time speaking as a writing enthusiast. Pentel Twist-Erase II or III

It saddens me that this garbage has left a massive stain on the fantasy genre, much like isekai, harem and fanservice has left a massive stain on manga. It’s also sad because YA fantasy in particular used to be extremely good in the 1900’s and early 2000’s.

A [blank] of [blank] and [blank] makes me feel violent. It was cool when Martin did it but dear God let go of that title format.

out of topic but I unironicly rock with your wig, its sooo cute dnxndhsh

Lot of banger jokes here but “oh hi Ayn Rand! What are you doing here?” killed me xD

YA has made me hate fae so much that i feel like Denzel Crocker

I'm sorry if this comes off as rude or anything, and I apologies for not being able to pay into your Patreon, but given the current state of the country I was wondering if you would consider reviewing It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis? It was a dystopian novel written in the 1930s, it has eerie similarities of current affairs as we're nearing, for lack of a better term, the political clusterfuck the closer we get to the election.

Ok so now im writing a book called "the grace of flames" the mc is a girl who lives in a poor village who is secretly the only person who can talk to dragons, and is also the lost dragon queen. Her main love interest is secretly a fay who wants to commit dragon genocide eventually he betrays her and she realizes her best male friend who was with her throughout it all is who she really loves. In the end the main character unites all the dragons and destroys the evil fay king/ex love intrest well internally struggling with her attraction for him. It will have six sequels. Any questions?

hahaha I love your pink-wigged acting

Reading half of the Throne of Glass series in high school was one of the biggest mistakes in my life… I never understood how much books could disappoint me until I dove headfirst into that garbage

Overthrow the evil government with the power of love triangle! 😂😂😂

So I'll just write Mistborn.

I would love to see you review Priory of the Orange Tree, I think it's an ok/good fantasy book, but would like to see your commentary on a couple of the cliches that it falls into sometimes.

Can we get more of this format?