Welcome to #BookTok! A place on TikTok where readers everywhere can share their love of books, like an international book club. This literary hashtag started small, created by @caitbooks in 2020, but has now exploded with over 43 billion views. This is a usually wholesome community; if you ever stumble upon it on TikTok, stay awhile. 

#BookTok has had a significant influence on the sales of physical books and has disrupted the publishing industry. According to the NPD BookScan, which tracks the number of books sold, print book sales have increased by 9% from 757.9 million in 2020 to 825.7 million in 2021, the highest since they started tracking in 2004. NPD BookScan said, “no other form of social media has ever had this kind of impact on sales.” It must be mentioned that the success of BookTok results from a combination of the pandemic, where people spend more time at home reading, and the success of TikTok. #BookTook helps sell books, whether that be hardcopy or softcopy, because of its influence. 

Have you heard of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover? Maybe seen a photo of the cover? Kendall Jenner was even spotted reading it. This novel, initially published in 2016, sold 1,600 copies per week in December 2020. In November 2021, it sold 21,000 copies per week. Older books are being relaunched because of BookTok. Another popular book titled The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller was published in 2011 with an initial 20,000 copy run. Today, it has sold over 2 million copies across all formats. Another recent popular recommendation has been Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. It was published in 2018, and it sold around 600 books a week. Since various videos about it went viral on BookTok, sales have more than doubled to 2,500 books being sold each week! Whilst researching this article, I was surprised to find that most of the popular books I have read based on recommendations from TikTok were released years ago.

TikTok helped find new audiences for older novels, but the platform has also been key for young authors starting their careers. These Violent Delights, the debut novel of recent University of Pennsylvania graduate Chloe Gong, became the #1 best seller on the New York Times list. This did not occur by chance. Gong, a popular creator on TikTok, used the platform to connect with readers and promote her book. As people began to review and recommend it, its popularity grew.

Author Alex Aster has also used this phenomenon to land herself a book deal. After being dropped by her agent, she used TikTok to prove that there was an audience for her next project. Based on the virality of a video where she asked her followers if they would read a book based on her idea, she was able to obtain a high-worth book deal. 

By now, the publishing industry has realised the power of BookTok and is spending money on advertising on the platform. Various publishing houses have accounts that are controlled by app creators. They have also been contacting creators and allowing them to read advanced copies to review and hopefully promote their books to create buzz before it is published. Retailer stores have been utilising the power of TikTok by setting up a section devoted to books seen on BookTok. This goes to show how an industry, which was once very traditional, is affected by the digital sphere.

Even self-published books can go viral. The Atlas Six, originally self-published, has now been acquired by a publishing house and is going to be created into a TV series. Its originally self-published cover is now coveted by book lovers. TikTok has allowed these new and indie authors to gain exposure for their work, which in turn has allowed their books to be bought. TikTok is helping people break into the publishing industry. 

What makes BookTok so successful? It is the community that has been built around a love of books. By allowing readers the opportunity to share emotional reactions to plot twists and characters with others, it has created a safe space to be real. It is being authentic in a place that values authenticity. BookTok has also managed to change what people read. TikTok loves tropes, such as enemies-to-lovers, fake dating or friends-to-lovers plots. Search up hashtags for any trope, and you will find lots of videos with books that include these specific tropes, something that did not exist on BookTube (YouTube) or Instagram. These tropes are included in popular, favoured genres, and when packaged within a community of like-minded people, everything is made accessible. Hence, vitality and success. BookTok recommendations now have more focus on how books make one feel, whether that is empowered or heartbroken.

This community has rebranded what it means to be a reader. It has given the reminder to all that reading is supposed to be fun! Not gatekept by literature snobs, or always having to critically analyse them (like at school). Watching and sharing short videos of other people relating to your experience while reading a book means you feel connected to others, which coincidentally, is why most users create accounts: to find a connection with people that are passionate about the same thing as you. As this platform is accessible to all, including young people (TikTok is a Gen Z thing), it has encouraged a new generation of readers and has also enabled authors to become part of the dialogue. TikTok is a digital space like no other, that is, its algorithm is extremely efficient, so people can reach genres like romance, thriller, fantasy and sci-fi quickly and get recommendations for them. 

One key point is that the problems of the publishing industry may also be occurring in BookTok. For one, the lack of diversity. The publishing industry has been called elitist, culture gatekeepers and more. This may link to the fact that the majority (76%) of people working in the industry, according to this 2019 diversity survey, are overwhelmingly white. This has an effect on the types of books being published. Only 22 of the 220 books on the New York Times best-selling list in 2021 were written by people of colour.

This has had an effect on BookTok, which has been criticised before for only featuring a small number of titles, all written by white authors focused on either the romance or fantasy genre. This is problematic because even though TikTok is a massive platform with different people with varied tastes, BookTok does not seem to be reflecting that. For example, black romance books are not featured or given the same attention as those by white authors, even though romance is the best-selling genre. There are amazing books in all types of genres and diverse kinds of readers with different reading preferences. TikTok and its creators should start reflecting the breadth of literary content to cater to all audiences.

BookTok is an invaluable source to book lovers and infrequent readers alike. It is incredible how something on the internet with such a humble beginning now has a major influence on the publishing industry. The publishing houses are keeping up with the times by shifting how they market new books. In this case, through TikTok. This shows that if we, as a community or society, want to change, we have the power to make it happen. Users should try to be more conscious of the content they consume and attempt to curate a diverse feed by following people who promote all types of books. Remember that your feed is cultivated based on what and how you interact with content, so you have the power to change what your For You page looks like.