Abstract
As bestseller lists were posted in 2021, publishers began to notice a confounding trend: some of the most popular books on the lists were not new releases. In fact, many had already been on the market for several years. This defied conventional knowledge and experience. Typically, books sell best soon after publication, and barring a prestigious award or media scandal, interest dwindles as time passes. But the 2021 lists featured quite a few of these atypical bestsellers, and publishers soon identified the source: the new social media enclave referred to as BookTok.
A subdivision of the rapidly expanding social network Tiktok, BookTok is the newest way for people to share their love of books with fellow readers. On BookTok, creators post micro vlogs featuring their experiences and opinions on their latest reads. Rather than the traditional point by point analytical reviews that appear in newspapers or on Goodreads, BookTok posts usually highlight the reader's emotional reactions to the plot and characters, often featuring evocative imagery and dramatic soundtracks. On BookTok, viewers expect to come away with a taste of the full experience of reading the book, all neatly packaged in a video clip of a minute or less.
When TikTok was released several years ago, it rose quickly in popularity to become one of the dominant social media apps in the United States, especially among young people. As of 2021, TikTok had a total of 78.7 million users in the United States, 37.3 million of whom belong to Generation Z (Gen Z; currently aged 9–24). This segment of their audience is projected to reach 48.8 million by 2025, surpassing Instagram's Gen Z population and nearly matching Snapchat in total number of Gen Z users. 1 Its global usership has also increased, with 1 billion active monthly users worldwide in 2021—a growth of 45% over the previous year.
With users filming and posting moments from pretty much every aspect of their lives, it is no stretch to imagine that content about a common hobby such as reading would make its way onto the app. The BookTok section of TikTok grew from 3.4 billion views in February 2021 to 10.3 billion in June 2021, 2 and its popularity does not seem to be waning, even now that bookstores and libraries have reopened. It is safe to say that the sudden exponential growth of BookTok has been unexpected (and unprecedented).
At first glance, especially to those older than 25, appraising a book—an item an author likely spent years crafting—with a hastily produced video clip may seem frivolous, even disrespectful. After all, a book is concrete, a thing of consequence. It has a gravitas that the ephemeral medium of a hastily recorded video just does not. However, the concept of book as object is not as unchanging as one might think. It has evolved over millennia, from stone tablets to papyrus scrolls to loose-leaf and hand-bound tomes to printed books to e-books that readers now consume on e-readers, tablets, or even their phones.
Neither is TikTok the first social networking platform to host book critiques and communities of readers. BookTube, a collection of YouTube channels featuring book-related videos, was created in 2010 for users (at one time numbering in the thousands) to share their passion for all things literary. 3 There is also #Bookstagram, both a hashtag and a community within Instagram in which users create bookish content to share with others with similar literary affinities.
Particularly because these communities are initiated by and composed of a younger demographic, it can be tempting for outsiders to dismiss social media engagement of this type as superficial, immature, or attention seeking. However, apps such as TikTok are allowing users to build a “sense of generational culture and identity.” 4 People use these platforms not to be narcissistic, but rather to be seen by and to connect with their peers. In a way, with its widely accessible, authentic, and entertaining content, TikTok in general—and BookTok in particular—brings storytelling full circle, back to its oral roots. It is the gathering around the campfire, the town square play, the monthly living room book club reinvented for today's world.
There are many things that have contributed to BookTok's success, not least the timing of the COVID pandemic. According to the UK's National Literacy Trust, when lockdowns began in March 2020, indicators of reading for pleasure in young people was at a 15-year low. 5 However, when it conducted another survey later in 2020, children's enjoyment of reading had increased from 47.8% before lockdown to 55.9% after lockdown, with a third of young people saying that they were reading more during lockdown. In another survey, 2 a notable spike in reading was found in those aged 18–24, overlapping significantly with the age groups that use TikTok most.
BookTok coalesced at a unique time of social and physical upheaval. As the “real world” closed down, we relied on digital spaces to connect with friends, family, work, and school. While this digital shift was abrupt and unsettling, in truth, most people already had experience with these spaces, and the transition to using them for social purposes was natural. Digital spaces provided environments where people could interact with like-minded individuals without fear of spreading illness. Like participants in other online communities, BookTok users found solace in the unity the platform could provide within what is otherwise a solitary hobby.
Yet, if it was simply the pandemic that led to the BookTok phenomenon, why did the same fervor not result in the literary communities on other social media sites? It appears that TikTok has unique attributes that lend themselves to supporting this community. Rather than the curated, picture-perfect aesthetic of Instagram, TikTok fosters messy authenticity. Instead of the preachy screeds making the rounds on Facebook, TikTok users tend to upvote honest, personal experiences. TikTok doesn't require the same time commitment that content on YouTube does. Instead, TikTok combines some of the best facets of other networking platforms—humor, interactivity, genuine “experiences”—to create a common culture in which users feel at home and can easily connect with compatible peers.
With BookTok influencing book sales so significantly, it is no surprise that publishers are taking notice. Recently published think pieces have predicted the death of books (again) in their traditional form, and the renewed popularity of reading them is an unforeseen change of direction. The publishing house Bloomsbury recently reported record sales and a 220% rise in profits, which they attribute, at least partly, to the BookTok phenomenon. 6
Though it appears that most of the sales growth directly tied to BookTok is focused on the young adult and contemporary fiction genres, some publishers are rethinking their marketing strategies and budgets, adjusting them to try to include the type of organic growth that having a book featured on BookTok provides. This includes offering BookTok creators free copies of books or even sponsorship incentives or monetary compensation for creating related content. One wonders: if the authenticity of creators' content is called into question, will BookTok continue to thrive?
Regardless, it is clear that BookTok is reigniting an enjoyment of reading, especially in young people. It is giving new life to quality books that may have missed their chance at popularity the first time around, and it is influencing publishers to think creatively and view new media and advanced technology as potential partners for ensuring the continued growth of the industry.
In the end, if we are willing to let books evolve as they have for millennia, how might technology continue to enhance the reader experience and fuel the passion for reading? Why not offer books that arrive paired with virtual reality or augmented reality software so that readers can enter the characters' world and continue the story? Or provide access to an author's fictional land via the metaverse, allowing fellow readers to interact organically? The opportunities for cooperation and (virtual) collaboration are compelling; the possibilities, limitless.