#BookTok is Taking the Book World by Storm

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DHS Press Staff

With over 21 billion views, #BookTok importance can not be understated.

Over the past year, BookTok, a community of content creators making Tik Toks about books, reading, and other ‘bookish’ things, has taken authors, consumers, and booksellers alike by storm. The #Booktok tag on Tik Tok  has over 21 billion views, and tens of thousands of videos under it, ranging from simple reviews to elaborate book trailers, and garnering the attention of readers around the world, making BookTok one of the most active and engaging social media communities.

Rediscovering a passion for reading, Hooria Tahir has been a part of the BookTok craze. “Before BookTok, I never really looked at books, but after I saw those Tik Toks, and people actually talked about the books, they actually seemed more appealing. It just made me want to read more.” Tahir said. “I enjoyed watching Tik Toks about them [the books I read] and then relating to them.”  

Fellow BookTok fan Grace McDonald added, “BookTok has not only given me more of a wide variety of books to choose from, but specifically selects books for my liking.” 

For many creators, BookTok has been an outlet for them to express their hobbies. Creators like Erika Chin, (@erikachin on TikTok and Instagram) have also used BookTok as an opportunity to get in touch with followers, publishers, and authors, as well as creating a connected community of readers.

“Booktok has given me a place to share my love of reading with no hesitation. I now have a community with thousands of people who are now my family.” Chin said. Her Tik Tok, with over 66,000 followers, has grown to be a community of book-lovers, as well as a place for everyone to share their thoughts.

However, this has also come with the challenge of dealing with differing opinions on social media. Chin said, “When people have opposing opinions on BookTok, people can get extremely harsh.”

Connecting authors and readers has also been a huge part of creating a community on BookTok. Creators with bigger platforms often get the chance to talk to authors, and review or gain access to their books before they’re even released. “My favorite part about being a creator is being able to communicate with authors about their books. I love talking to authors about their writing process and the behind the scenes of every book,” Chin said. 

In a recent Tik Tok, bestselling author Colleen Hoover posted her reaction after hearing about her being the most followed person on the app ‘Goodreads’, which is a place for authors and readers to connect and post book reviews, in July. “What?! Oh, my god. Number one most followed?! What are y’all doing to my life?” she says in her video.

Book sales for these books have skyrocketed, and for authors like Hoover, whose books are some of the most popular and recommended books on Booktok, this has clearly come as a surprise. In specific, one of her books, ‘It Ends With Us’, which was published in 2016, went back to being the #1 (now #2) bestselling book on Amazon and the #5 New York Times bestselling combined print and E-book fiction list. ‘It Ends With Us’ is now being turned into a movie. 

“I can’t wait for it to turn into a movie and see some of my favorite characters come to life, because it is a great book,” Tahir says.