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TikTok is changing the book business: So-called BookTokers look at books differently than the features section and make them popular, especially among young readers. What this means for the industry.
A slim young woman, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, stands in front of a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. She is currently sorting through the books she recently read. She briefly holds the copies up to the camera: One of the books has a mint green cover, another is pink with purple writing – she places it at the front of the shelf at about eye level with the cover. More books end up on the shelf, which is sorted by color and seems to take up the entire wall.
The young woman who can be seen organizing her bookshelf in the living room calls herself “lxvanessaxl”. She is a so-called BookToker – more than 200,000 people follow her on the TikTok platform. In very short, concise videos, she shows her current favorite books, her full bookshelf or what she just bought in the bookstore around the corner.
It’s the emotions that matter
BookTok is a community on the social media platform TikTok that primarily female influencers use to publish reviews for books under the corresponding hashtag. BookTok is one of the largest communities on TikTok; the hashtag has more than 180 billion views on the platform. This new type of review is a new trend in the book industry, reports Thomas Koch from the German Book Trade Association.
Because feelings are particularly important in these reviews, says Koch: “There is no long synopsis, but the personal reading recommendation is based on emotions: The book moved me. The book shocked me.” In doing so, the BookTokers set themselves apart from the tradition of the feature pages or the classic literary program on television. Above all, it’s about the emotional reaction to a book.
One of the bestseller lists with titles recommended in the BookTok community.
In doing so, they create a lot of publicity for a genre that usually doesn’t fare well in literary criticism: The target group that reads and reviews BookTok books is primarily interested in young adult books and fantasy novels. Authors like Colleen Hoover, who made it onto the BookTok bestseller list in September with three books, particularly benefit from this. The list is published by TikTok and the market research company Media Control and lists the 20 most successful book titles in the BookTok community.
Publishers’ offerings are changing
The increased demand for romance, fantasy and young adult books has long since influenced publishers, reports Barbara Hammes, branch manager of the Hugendubel branch on Frankfurt’s Zeil: “Many publishers have now created their own book series in exactly this genre. The offer is last increased significantly.” Young women often come to the bookstore looking for the exact books that are trending on TikTok.
The bookstore now even has its own table on which the current BookTok bestsellers are displayed. The commonality of the books here is immediately noticeable: most are pastel-colored, light pink or blue, many have a colorful color cut and an elaborately designed title page.
Because BookTok has also changed the way books look. Ingmar Weber, who heads online marketing at the S. Fischer publishing house, notices this: “The book as an object is extremely relevant.” Even before printing, think about how books could be designed to look particularly beautiful – for example with elaborately designed covers that have a relief or with illustrations in the book. “E-books cannot replace the experience of holding a printed book in your hand,” says Weber.
E-books with low market share
When it comes to the need to hold a printed book in their hands, the young generation is no different from the rest of Germans: “E-books currently account for around six percent of the book market,” explains Thomas Koch from the Börsenverein. Although audio books are becoming increasingly popular, they still have a small share of sales. “The majority of people are still fans of printed books,” says Koch.
S. Fischer specifically uses the trend to boost business. The colorful color cut in Kerstin Gier’s new novel only existed in the first edition. “Of course we also provide an incentive to buy,” says Ingmar Weber. The publisher also wants to benefit from the “hype” on BookTok.
Sales in the book industry remain almost constant
However, it is still unclear what share BookTok has in sales in the German book industry. There are already initial estimates in Great Britain: According to the market research company Nielsen, video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube accounted for around three percent of total sales in Great Britain in 2022.
The book industry in Germany appears to be doing well in terms of sales: more than nine billion euros have been generated in recent years. In 2022, sales were 9.4 billion euros, only slightly below the previous year’s level. Nevertheless, experts like Thomas Koch from the Börsenverein are also concerned. The number of book buyers in this country has been decreasing for years: while almost 30 million people in Germany bought books in 2018, last year it was only around 26 million.
Classic literature and advice asked for
The industry therefore also sees BookTok as an opportunity to get a younger audience excited about literature. “If we can do that, then of course we can pass on our knowledge and our culture,” says Barbara Hammes.
The branch manager notices every day in her work that this is already happening. Because the young readers didn’t just buy shallow literature, they were also interested in classics: “In addition to Jane Austen, Franz Kafka, Stefan Zweig and Herman Hesse are also bought a lot.” The guidebook market is also on the rise, with “The 1% Method – Minimum Change, Maximum Impact” currently on the BookTok bestseller list.
For publishers and bookstores, BookTok also offers the opportunity to come into more contact with readers. Ingmar Weber reports that thanks to the TikTok channel, S. Fischer Verlag can now communicate with readers who are otherwise difficult to reach. And the Hugendubel bookstore is already benefiting from the fact that it owns one of the most successful TikTok channels in the book industry.