We recently connected with Shanti Hershenson and have shared our conversation below.
Shanti, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Although I am young, I can pinpoint several moments throughout my childhood in which I knew writing was what I wanted to do. For context, I’ve always been an exceptionally creative kid – I’d spend my time daydreaming, scribbling drawings of new characters, creating these little “books” that I would place on my shelf, as well as many more things. A part of this is attributed to the fact that my parents would bring me to the local bookstore quite often as I was growing up, and as such, I began reading at around three years old. The moment I knew what an author was, I wanted to become one. I was so enthralled by the books I read and the ones my parents read to me that the thought of one day writing my own was incredible, even at a young age. As I grew older, I began creating my own “books” with paper, staples, and markers, sharing them with my family and friends. I did this for many years, but it wasn’t until the sixth grade that I began writing my first novel and exploring the realm of publishing. From there, I never stopped. I knew this was something I wanted to pursue permanently.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began writing professionally when I was in the sixth grade. It began as an outlet to get through the pandemic, continuing as I began to write my first novel – Biome Lock, a science-fiction dystopian novel about teenagers surviving 30 years following an alien invasion. The novel grew so long – 250,000 words and almost 900 pages – that it needed to be split into a trilogy. The first book was published in August 2021, and the rest of the series is quickly nearing its publication date. In the time that I was editing Biome Lock, I penned three 100-page novellas and published those, determined to expand my brand and platform. I also wrote and published a novel told in poetry, You Won’t Know Her Name, which to this day, is my most talked about book. So, despite the fact that Biome Lock is considered my debut novel, it was not my first published work. From there, I haven’t stopped. I’ve written 22 books, and published 12 – soon to be 13, in March. One of my novels, Neverdying, which was released in June of 2022, went viral on TikTok, quickly becoming my most sold book. With each book I release, I reach a new set of readers and expand my audience – because ultimately, my goal is to connect with more people and give readers stories to fall in love with.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
When I was writing my first novel, my ultimate goal was to be able to do an in-person book signing, because there’s not much cooler than that, is there? I daydreamed about signing books for readers and discussing the topics present in my stories, using it as a way to motivate myself to continue. While I’d done a few virtual events as the years passed by, this dream was finally fulfilled in June 2022, when I successfully completed my first in-person signing. Following that, in July, I had a booth at the San Diego Festival of Books – another dream of mine. Finally, after three years of hard work and preservation, I have several events lined up. My dreams are continuing to come true.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My largest social media platform is, by far, TikTok. Prior to marketing my books on the app, I’d had an account I used for personal videos, though I became accustomed to watching how other authors built their accounts and grew their followings. In July of 2021, around the time that my novel, You Won’t Know Her Name, was published, I took the leap and created the account. The results were immediate. The rewards were plentiful. I’ve now grown my account to over 50,000 followers, and several of my videos have amassed nearly a million views. There are two things in particular that I have done that have led directly to the growth of my account. The first, is a combination of posting regularly, and constantly updating my content to go along with certain trends, as well as experiment with new types of videos and formats to figure out what goes viral and what doesn’t. I’ve found that posting a variety of content – for me, I post videos about my story, my books, and overall writing tips – works best, as long as you stick to your accounts theme. The second, is using TikTok’s advertising tools to gain more views for videos that may not be performing as well, and overall, more followers.
Contact Info:
- Website: shantihershenson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shantihershenson/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shantihersh?lang=en
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shantiwhowrites?lang=en