When the world was plunged into lockdowns people turned to their phones and hit the download button on what was thought to be only the dancing app, Tik Tok. In the first quarter of 2020 Tik Tok gained nearly 315 million users. These users soon dissipated to create their own subcultures on the app. In a time where people were seeking hobbies and ways to pass the time, users started sharing their book recommendations on the app. A simple recommendation turned into the phenomenon that is now #BookTok. 

Booktok has now 68.8 billion uses of the hashtag with attaching videos discussing new releases, reviews on classics and everything else between. What has since been called a book revolution, the platform became a book lover’s dream. From these recommendations some seasoned authors became nearly overnight successes with their novels, like Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

The American author was pleased to receive a phone call from her agent in 2020 that her novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo had hit the bestseller list. She was surprised at this given that she had released the book three years prior. But simply, it had been recommended on TikTok by several users which then became more which then grew into a booktok classic. Book sales skyrocketed, with readers buying over 825 million print books in the US in 2021. This was more than any year since the records began in 2004. 

The growing popularity has not only hit authors and publishers but book sellers who now have whole sections in their stores dedicated to what has been recommended by BookTok. Recently, Waterstones held their first ever BookTok festival where you could celebrate the phenomnom. They held a book club with the latest hit on the app The Love Hypothesis and even had a live streamed event with Taylor Jenkins Reid in LA to discuss her successes through booktok. 

They have also been utilising this to create content that will do well on BookTok. Waterstones have allowed individual stores creative control of their own branch with TikTok and many are doing very well on the app. They use trending audios to promote the books while also showing the character of their core staff. 

The trend shows no sign of slowing down as the app continues to churn out new recommendations, new authors to deepdive in to as well as resurrecting past classics. The social media platform and its users have changed the publishing and book market with sellers stating they haven’t seen sales like this since the peak Harry Potter days.

What have you read from #booktok?