Social media app TikTok is making increased efforts to tap into the power of its books content, with new retailer partnerships, live events and clubs.
“BookTok”, as users have dubbed TikTok content about books, consists of everything from videos of creators’ to-read piles to livestreamed crying at emotional novels. BookTok can be credited with a number of hits, sometimes reigniting interest in older titles such as the 2016 novel It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (dubbed “CoHo” by TikTokers) which was launched back into bestseller charts after BookToker Aliisha Keens posted about it in March. Other books that have proved popular include Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and Beach Read by Emily Henry.
TikTok estimates that the BookTok hashtag has had nearly 65bn views to date, and described it as “one of our most active communities”.
The platform has now launched a book club in the UK, described as a new way for the “vibrant community” of book fans on the app to “share their love of reading”. It is the first attempt by the social media platform to formally get involved in BookTok.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Waterstones’ flagship shop in Piccadilly hosted a BookTok Festival, and in the US, retailer Barnes & Noble partnered with TikTok to launch the #BookTokChallenge.
Waterstones’ Piccadilly’s BookTok Festival was a chance for creators to meet up in person, said Will Rycroft, Waterstones audience development manager. “We also wanted to give them what they want so we asked them,” said Rycroft. “They wanted to meet with publishers so that they could celebrate the books they love already; get proofs of forthcoming releases and merchandise; enjoy some bookish entertainments plus three panel events for BookTok favourites including a livestream from Taylor Jenkins Reid – all of which sold out incredibly quickly.”
Waterstones has a central TikTok account with 84,000 followers, and a number of its individual shops have also created accounts, as have many publishers.
The Barnes & Noble partnership with TikTok, which finishes on 31 August, encourages people to discover and read new books and authors and then share their reactions using #BookTokChallenge. The challenge has partnered with a number of BookTok accounts, and operates in a similar way to the TikTok Book Club.
The TikTok Book Club will discuss a new book every month throughout the summer and beyond, with discussions being led by five “BookTok Laureates”. Between them, the five TikTokers – @Bmercer, @li.reading, @edenreidreads, @cocosarel and @jackbenedwards – have more than 1m followers.
James Stafford, head of partnerships and community at TikTok, said: “It’s been amazing to see #BookTok grow into a truly global phenomenon, which is having a profound impact on the literary world.
“From spotlighting little-known authors and genres to introducing the classics to a new generation, #BookTok has helped to reignite a passion for literature and we are creating a new take on the much-loved #BookClub format, so our community can continue to connect, spark conversations and share the books they love most.”
Jane Austen’s Persuasion was the first book discussed by the book club, and TikTok has created a hub in the app for the book club, where “users can easily find out about the month’s title, and start creating and sharing their own reviews, book aesthetics or newest literary crush”.
BookToker Lauren Goldgrub, who posts videos as Lauren’s Little Library, said that TikTok “began on neutral, safe territory” by choosing Persuasion.
The book club was a good idea because it showed TikTok was “investing time and energy into the community, which in turn validates the significant influence BookTok creators have, as well as hopefully drawing more non-readers or used-to-be readers back into the fold,” she added.
TikTok user Libby, who posts under the account TheLibbyRuth, said they hoped the book club would “champion more books by marginalised authors” and “bring more books to the spotlight that aren’t as talked about outside of the more mainstream and popular reads”.
Authenticity has been key to the success of BookTok, with its earliest hits coming about organically and with little involvement from retailers or publishers. Goldgrub has warned that creators will have to be careful to remain authentic in the face of publisher partnerships for the book club, while Rycroft said that it was crucial that Waterstones “got the tone right”.
“The joy of TikTok is how democratic it is,” said Rycroft. “The #Booktok community know what they like (and what they don’t) and authenticity is everything.”
TheLibbyRuth said that “TikTok is for consumers”. They added: “While I enjoy content created by businesses, I think the best part about TikTok is the authentic and unpolished aspect of it, and I would hate to see it become overly commercialised, especially with the lack of diversity in publishing.”
Goldgrub said that she would only feature titles from a potential partnership between TikTok and a publisher if “I were able to read the novel in advance to ensure it isn’t problematic and that I would recommend it even if I weren’t part of the official TikTok Book Club”.
“Trust,” she said, “is the currency of the internet. If I don’t have my integrity, everything falls apart.”
