From Edie: YouTube for writers: discover how to turn videos into Reels and Shorts that perform—ideal lengths, strong hooks, captions, looping reels, and simple book promotion strategies.
YouTube for Writers, Part 5: How to Repurpose Content Into Reels and Shorts
by Samantha Evans Tschritter @LoveSamEvans
Quick video formats to expand reach and grow your subscriber base
You've binge watched reels. Likely, you have shared a funny or inspiring reel to a friend. If you have ever wished you could create a reel like that or you wonder how they do it, then this blog will help get you started.
I spent most of 2023 and 2024 researching YouTube shorts and TikTok and Instagram reels to figure out how I could elevate my own content. I watched dozens of videos, but possibly the creator who most helped in elevating my understanding and creating influencer content was Millie Adrian. @ItsModernMillie.Some of what I’ll discuss in this blog are facts that she taught me.
What do you need to know about shorts/ reels?
- Shorts are Youtube’s version of a reel. Otherwise, there’s not really a difference
- The best-performing shorts were 34 seconds in length
- Reels that are four seconds long perform really well.
- There is a trending method for book promotion on #booktok and #bookstagram that works really well. I demonstrate that “Simple Book Promotion Tricks for Reels”
- Just because you can record a three-minute reel doesn’t mean you should.
- Bullets grab attention in blogs. Emojis grab attention in reels.
- If you carefully record a landscape video (with extra space) you can easily turn a landscape video into a reel.
- The best-performing shorts used three hooks in the first three seconds
- Nearly every viral reel includes captions and/or text
What Are Different Types of Hooks?
- Captions
- Text
- Movement into frame
- Starting with the final result (a prepared meal, toned abs, a beautiful garden)
- Zooming in or out
- A question “Are hashtags really helpful for reel visibility?”
- Loud music
- POV or a relatable phrase “Vacation at Disney be like …”
- A confusing scene that begs for resolution
- Star recognition
- Humor
- Screen transition
Learn how to create a reusable looping reel. Again, this strategy is demonstrated in “Simple Book Promotion Tricks for Reels.”
There are two ways to use this technique.
- 1. Loop the spoken text with captions. This method tricks your audience to watching the full three-to-four second reel and starting the video over again. For instance, if you said, “The very best strategies for growing your platform don’t have to be difficult., and I was thinking …”
- See how that reel could repeat on a continuous loop?
- Below that spoken text add a text box that says, “Check out Description for Details.”
- 2. Loop four seconds of a video with text that is too long to read in four seconds. This is great for book promotion because you can use excerpts from your books.
- Dress nicely, maybe in your brand colors.
- Find a friend.
- Find a “blank” background –a wall with nothing on it works best.
- Your friend is going to position you in the camera for a VERTICAL shot on either the right side or the left side of the camera (so there is a blank space next to you).
- You look or point toward the blank space.
- Record.
- You are going to change your expression to convey a different emotion and hold that expression for four seconds. Shocked, excited, angry, confused—you pick the expressions that would go best with your book quotes.
- Each four-second expression becomes its own reel that you can use over and over again.
For example, I could record myself with a shocked face and place this text in the blank space. This quote is from my latest release The Prodigal’s Son: Crackhead to Jesus Freak
THE ICY GLARE in her eyes squelched any hope of lying my way through the conversation. “You are drinking again,” she said. “Do you think I’m an idiot? I’ve been watching the vodka bottle. You want to give me the scientific explanation for how there’s more vodka rather than less? You can admit you filled the bottle with water after drinking or you can try to convince me Jesus has been hanging out in our garage.”
The Prodigal’s Son: Crackhead to Jesus Freak has remained on the Amazon Best-Seller list in over a week for multiple categories. This is the book related to my viral TikTok reel, which I wrote about in a previous The Write Conversationblog.
If I could teach you just one simple takeaway about reels, it would be this: You don’t have to be intimidated by them. I hope this helps!
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Don't miss the rest of this YouTube for Writers Series!
Tschritter currently resides in Simpsonville, South Carolina with her husband, their three teen and preteen daughters, cats named Pitter and Patter, and their Siberian husky whom she lost the vote to name Onomatopoeia. Nothing refreshes Tschritter’s soul like gardening. She gardens to work through plot holes, writer’s block, character development, and book ideas. Tschritter spends a great deal of time gardening. You can find her on social media at Linktr.ee/LoveSamEvans.
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