'BookTok made me read it': How TikTok started a book-buying renaissance

How the social media platform will influence what you read in 2024

How TikTok started a book-buying renaissance

It’s been described as “the last safe place on the internet” by publishing magazine The Bookseller — but what began as a small group of TikTok users who wanted a community to chat about books, has suddenly turned into a hugely influential powerhouse.

And it’s driving the bestsellers you’ll read this year.

BookTok is the nickname for videos on TikTok in which books are discussed, analysed, and obsessed over. The community not only represents a compelling way for reaching potential readers outside of traditional book-buying, but it also has the ability to shine a light on lesser-known authors.

It has been described as a type of viral book club, which catapults certain novels onto bestseller lists.

“It’s a collective din that causes retailers to sit up and pay attention. It also has a strong effect on what publishers look for in a novel,” literary agent Eleanor Swanson explains.

“It’s driven huge sales of YA [young adult] and romance books — including titles like The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller, as well as authors like Colleen Hoover.”

An image of BookTok shelves in Chapter's Bookstore in Dublin. Picture: TikTok

The latter — who has earned the nickname “The Queen of BookTok” — has sold more than 20m books in recent years, which many believe has been driven by her popularity with readers on TikTok.

BookTok is also having a material impact on the high street. Since re-opening in March 2022, Chapters bookshop in Dublin’s Parnell St now has multiple prominent “BookTok recommended” bookcases.

“You can tell which books are trending by the speed at which they sell,” Chapters’ manager, Sara Phelan, says.

“It’s a safe community that’s really only getting bigger and better. I think it’s brilliant for bridging the gap between where people have aged out of being a confident reader, but are unsure of where to go next on their reading journey.

“A platform like this opens up reading to so many and gives readers the confidence to find their niche within it — whether it’s fantasy, LGBT+ themes, or even a rediscovery of classics.”

And it’s not just for the younger generation.

“There was a man who came into Chapters
recently. He was a similar age to my dad,” Phelan says. “He asked: ‘What’s all this BookTok thing about?’ and when we explained, it just opened up a whole new community to him.”

TikTok Ireland’s content partnerships manager, Rebecca O’Keeffe, believes the pandemic “really drove home the need to [feel] connected”.

“Many of us want to feel as if we are part of something, and TikTok is great at helping people to find their tribe,” she says. “Now it’s easier than ever to be active within these online communities.

“Anyone with a telephone is a creator. That’s brought down a lot of barriers.” But it’s not just about increasing book sales, BookTok has also been responsible for the discovery of new writers.

Writer Joseph Murray. Picture: Panmcmillan

Author Joseph Murray, who writes as J. F. Murray, lost his job and was evicted from his apartment during the early days of the covid-19 pandemic.

He says that part of his success as a debut author was learning to make videos about book content on the platform.

“Like so many, I moved home with mammy and daddy,” he laughs. “I started making TikToks, which gave me a bit of a lift. Then the likes started pouring in and, from there, I was able to take that confidence and to pursue writing — which was a dream of mine.

“A few months later, I got my book deal.

“From then, my feed was increasingly book focused. I came across The Song of Achilles and Fourth Wing (by Rebecca Yarros), and it re-sparked my love of reading. As an author, I’m interested in seeing what’s popular and what’s engaging across all different age groups.”

Murray is now the author of two books Fling and Hitched (due for release next month) and has over 93,000 followers on his TikTok account, @j.f.murray.

“Sometimes it’s actually easier to talk about other people’s books on my platform,” Murray admits.

“But what is unique about this online community is that there’s no hard sell. That’s not what BookTok is about. We are using memes, templates, or readings to engage readers who are simply booklovers or
potential booklovers in a non-traditional space.”

These potential booklovers that Murray describes are often those who seek a more meaningful relationship with the authors they choose to champion.

To date, the #BookTok community has generated 214.2bn views connected to that hashtag alone.

#IrishBookTok has 20.8m views, while the smaller #LeabharTok has an additional 292.6k views.

As well as the content of the books themselves, a lot of content is based around the craft of writing itself.

Claire Wright, author

Claire Wright is the author of Irish fantasy books Realm of Lore and Lies and Realm of Trials and Trickery. She says she gets a lot of queries on her TikTok @clairewright.author about her process when it comes to writing books.

“I think there’s a deep-seated curiosity as to how a book is crafted,” she points out. “Many of my interactions are with those who also want to publish a book and who have questions about what that might look like for them.

“BookTok is a great way to have that immediate connection,” Wright says. “There is no barrier between me and my audience, and I really value the direct feedback I get from them.” But Wright says authenticity is key on the platform.

“If you aren’t having fun on it, you can tell,” she explains. “But it definitely adds value to you as an author. I don’t think my books would be as successful without my engagement on TikTok and Instagram.”

“Being able to forge that relationship directly with readers spreads the word to more readers.

“But besides all that, I just love those interactions; almost as much as I love writing books. There’s something so special about someone talking to you about the storyline of one of the characters that came alive in your imagination.

“It’s just magical.”