Shawn Warner, 58, wanted to promote his debut novel at a local Texas grocery store but was shocked when a TikTok of him talking with a prospective customer went viral.
Warner, a veteran turned author, was set up with a table and stacks of his book, Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor at the front of the store hoping to entice readers. TikTok user internetfamouslol, whose real name is Jerrad Swearenjin, noticed Warner when he entered the store and struck up a conversation with the author before leaving.
“It was just supposed to be, hey, here’s a fellow neighbor who’s just struggling and I wanted to help him out,” Swearenjin told local news outlet WFAA.
Swearenjin bought two copies of the book and told Warner that he would be posting the video to TikTok in order to see if he could get more people to purchase the book.
Four days later, the video spiked to 17.7 million views and Warner’s debut novel shot to #1 on Amazon books.
Warner can’t believe the response from complete strangers and calls the entire experience “beautiful.”
Speaking with WFAA, Warner said the love for his debut book has not stopped.
“I can barely open the app without it freezing and crashing because it’s getting so much love,” Warner said. “Just to be nice to some guy sitting alone selling books — the generosity that poured out of that was just amazing, I get choked up. They gave me a chance. And that’s just beautiful.”
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