An author's book sales soared after a TikTok video of him looking 'defeated' at a book signing went viral

• A man noticed that a new author seemed "super defeated" when he walked past him in a store.
• He recorded the interaction and posted it on TikTok. So far, it has over 20.5 million views.

When a man saw an author looking "super defeated" at a book signing while out shopping, he decided to buy a couple of copies of his novel before leaving the store.

He posted a video of the interaction on TikTok, and it went mega viral with over 20.5 million views as of Friday.

In the caption of his July 2 video, Red — who goes by the TikTok username @internetfamouslol — wrote, "This new author seemed super defeated when I first saw him. So before I left the store I decided to go back."

In the video, author Shawn Warner is explaining that his novel "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor" is about a teenage girl who teams up with a ghost with multiple personalities to solve the mystery of her parents' murders. He says that it is available to order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

At the end of the video, Red tells the author, "I do a little bit of TikTok and whatnot, so I'm going to go ahead and get a second one and gift it on there to see if we can get you a little bit of love on there." Then, he asks Warner to sign the copy of the book. Warner happily obliges.

Niether man could have predicted the outpouring of support that Warner would receive.

On July 5, Warner posted his own TikTok video thanking viewers for their words of encouragement.

"The love and kindness just keeps pouring in. You'd think as a writer I'd have words for it, but I don't. Just, thank you," he said in the video, which has 4.7 million views as of Friday.

In the video, Warner confirms that he and his publisher are currently in the process of creating both an audiobook version and a hardback edition of his book.

"When Red came up and talked to me, I was just so eager to talk to anybody at that point because there was a lull in my sales, and it was just an amazing thing that happened after that," Warner told followers. "And it's all on you for your kindness and generosity. Thank you."

Warner told Insider that the TikTok video has had a "huge effect" on his career.

"My initial response was confusion, which then transitioned into concern, but quickly and ultimately led to me being ecstatic," he said.

"One of the hardest parts about being an author is struggling to get noticed. This has pushed me over that hurdle and I am so grateful and excited to see where it goes next. This is quite the adventure."

On July 20, Warner posted a further update while out walking his dogs to let viewers know that he is "getting closer to the release of the audiobook."

As of July 21, Warner's novel, "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor," has been in Amazon's "top 20 most sold and most read books of the week" list for the past two weeks.

It has received over 2,720 reviews and has an average rating of 4.8/5 stars.