This National Book Month, OTR journalist Caitlin Menadue takes a look at TikTok’s BookTok community, which is helping young readers find what interests them and pointing them in the direction of bookstores. (Image: Anna Ngov)
By Caitlin Menadue | @caitlinmenadue
Picture this: it is 2012 and an avid book reader walks into a local bookstore filled with people just like them. Their normal aisle is congested with booklovers interested in the same genres. They take book after book off the shelf, begin to read blurb after blurb and, before they even know it, the hour has quietly slipped away.
Fast forward to 2023 and social media has cemented itself in people’s everyday lives. The devoted book reader now opens TikTok and scrolls through. They come across a video that quotes an intriguing passage from a book they have never heard of before. Before they even know it, they are eagerly searching up the book title so that they can purchase and read the entire thing.
It is this BookTok community, on the TikTok social media platform, that provides a space for people to post, comment, interact, or simply just look at all things book related. Creators share what they have been reading and spark the interest of their audiences by giving recommendations, reviews and mini teasers of books.
TikTok’s Australian office, which released in June this year, said it has 8.5 million Australian users being active on the social media platform each month.
With the BookTok community growing every day, bookstores are thriving, and the Australian book market has expanded massively. According to Nielson BookData, book sales in Australia grew to $1.3 billion in 2022 compared to $1.26 billion in 2021.
Since the launch of the BookTok community in 2020, bookstores such as QBD Books and Dymocks have seen a dramatic increase in sales.
Dymocks Adelaide store manager Andrew Steadman said the bookstore has certainly embraced the rise of BookTok.
“In store, we maintain a BookTok section where we merchandise a selection of titles that have been featured on TikTok, via BookTok,” Steadman said.
“We also have our own TikTok account where we interact with our customers and other book enthusiast creatives.”
As young readers are the main target of BookTok content, bookstores are finding a fresh set of customers purchasing the trending authors.
“Perhaps the biggest strength of BookTok is the way that it has encouraged a new, vibrant readership to engage with their local stores, both in the physical space of the store and on the TikTok platform,” he said.
The main genres that have had light shined on them are romance, young adult and fantasy. Steadman has seen that romance and manga have benefitted from appearing on BookTok, while other genres are now on the decline.
“Some other genres and categories, that are not part of the BookTok channels, have experienced a more pronounced decline in sales than the rise in sales of those categories featured,” he said.
Steadman said that it is impossible to talk about the specific authors and titles benefitting from BookTok’s influence without first mentioning author Colleen Hoover, who achieved massive success when her novels were featured on the platform.
According to WordsRated, Colleen Hoover has sold more than 20 million books.
Her hashtag #colleenhoover has 2.4 billion views and #CoHo has 411.6 million views on TikTok.
Published in 2016, Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us has sold over 4 million copies. This title is one of the many books that has become extremely popular in the BookTok community.
Aside from all of the positives, Colleen Hoover has not resonated with all audiences. In recent times, Hoover has also faced some backlash in regard to the content in some of her books. Readers have said Hoover romanticises heavy topics instead of dealing with them in a serious way.
One user has said: “She writes these troubling scenes in her books, but does nothing to say these clearly abusive, toxic behaviours are bad.”
Another user has said her books are “horrendously written” and “there are better books out there”.
However, as different creators cover different genres, BookTok has also shined a light on other new authors in recent times. Chloe Gong, Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey and Ali Hazelwood – just to name some – are among the many authors that have been featured.
What makes this TikTok community whole are the creators. There are hundreds of BookTok creators, with some posting meme-like content and others sitting in front of a camera and talking about a particular book; they all have something different to share.
In 2020, when COVID-19 had a particularly widespread impact around the world, one BookTok creator said the global pandemic ended up being a positive, as she gained a whole community.
Claudia Scalzi, also known as @claudiatalksfilm, currently has 71,100 followers and 4.7 million likes.
Scalzi started her TikTok account in 2020 when COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne were at their worst. After losing her job and facing a period of instability, she downloaded TikTok and came across BookTok.
“Seeing a space where people just talked about books they really loved made me feel better,” Scalzi said.
“I decided to buy two books that were consistently recommended just to see what the deal was. I absolutely loved them and, ultimately, it inspired me to post some videos so I could talk to people about them – none of my friends read much.
“As it was lockdown, I had a lot of time to read and make content, so it really became a really positive escape from the real world, and a way to connect with the world when I couldn’t in my day to day life.”
Scalzi started creating content for BookTok audiences as a way of connection and was driven by a love for books.
“I really love when people tell me they read a book I recommended and loved it,” she said.
“Helping to amplify stories I think are amazing is a really rewarding element of me posting on BookTok.
“It’s so nice to positively impact people in this way.”
According to TikTok, Scalzi’s core demographic is 89 per cent women, with 53 per cent aged between 18 and 24 years old, primarily based in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.
Scalzi now works in publishing and has seen the positive influence BookTok has had on the industry.
“The influence of the app on the industry is truly extreme and unlike anything publishing has ever seen,” she said.
The BookTok community continues to grow around the world and is changing the way young readers consume books – in a creative and engaging way.
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