The Current and Future State of BookTok

But things have changed since the first two years of the pandemic. Where book sales attributed to BookTok reached 13 million in 2020 and 27 million in 2021, the app’s golden formula for literary marketing seemed to plateau somewhere around mid-2023. Many publishing industry executives pinned this decline on the lessened social distancing protocols that dominated Western culture for the better part of the previous three years, causing the general public to buy fewer books.

Things started to look up again in 2024 thanks to authors like Rebecca Yarros and Carley Fortune, but the future of BookTok was still looking dubious. Then, earlier this year, TikTok was shut down for what turned out to be only one day in the United States — but content creators and influencers weren’t sure how long the shutdown would last. There are still concerns over TikTok being banned or shut down again in the U.S., which would put the marketing goldmine that is BookTok in jeopardy.

Contemplating the current and future state of BookTok, I spoke with Brad Summerville, @bradboughtabook on TikTok and Instagram. One key aspect for content creators with large followings on the app is the TikTok Creator Fund, which is only available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France. Users must have at least 10K followers and have at least 100K total video views in 30 days prior to applying. Given the vast popularity and media dominance that TikTok has generated, there are many content creators who rely on the income that their videos bring. When I asked Summerville if he’d ever made money from his videos on TikTok, he said he had in the past from sponsored videos and affiliate links.

“I don’t rely on that income at all,” he said. “Making content has always been a hobby. I didn’t start doing this as an income source.” When TikTok was banned for one day in January, Summerville just figured he’d pivot to other platforms, such as Instagram, whose own bookish hashtag #Bookstagram predates #BookTok. But since the platform didn’t end up disappearing, he thinks it has just made BookTok users appreciate it more. “I think the shutdown put things into perspective for people. There is always the possibility that the app could disappear,” Summerville said. “I think, if anything, the fear of losing maybe just sparked people’s passion for making content even more. It was almost like a renewed sense of purpose.”

BookTokers like Summerville also know the value that discovering a shared passion like reading can bring to people on social media. “BookTok and social media have allowed me to engage and create meaningful friendships with people that I otherwise wouldn’t have,” he said. “It’s allowed for a creative outlet and given me a platform to showcase and highlight something that is very meaningful to me. I think with all social media, though, there are negatives. I have received pushback on highlighting specific content, or people that disagree with my opinions. I think it’s just important to remind myself that this is fun and something I love doing. I’m not going to let people who oppose that impact the content I create.”

Passionate readers aren’t the only people who have benefited from BookTok. Considering several authors have seen large hikes in their book sales in the years since BookTok’s rise, including but not limited to Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Jenny Han, authors themselves have also found themselves turning to the social media app to market their books for themselves. I spoke to Lyn Liao Butler, author of titles such as What is Mine, Someone Else’s Life, and the forthcoming The Fourth Daughter, who has generated a following of her own on TikTok by way of both literary and dog content — even though she says her presence on TikTok hasn’t exactly boosted sales of her books.

“I started using TikTok during my debut because my publisher at the time wanted us to jump on that trend. I’ve continued to be active on TikTok because it’s something I can control,” she told me. “Publishing is so slow and when I feel frustrated, I make a video.” Butler had a feeling the ban on TikTok in January wouldn’t stick. “I save all my social media videos to a hard drive so I knew I wouldn’t lose any content,” she said. “While I’m on TikTok mostly about dogs, I have found new readers because when people realize I’m an author, they tell me they bought my books, so it would have been sad to lose that connection.” While there are many authors with a presence on BookTok, Butler asserts that it isn’t the writers who are generating sales from the app. “[It’s] the BookTokers and influencers who make books go viral. For me, we are just there to establish a presence so people can see we are real people and maybe pick up our books if they like our personality.”

When I asked Butler about the sense of community found on BookTok, she said that it’s definitely the best part. “I’ve always felt supported by BookTokers even if my books don’t go viral,” she told me. “For people who don’t like social media or aren’t comfortable making videos about themselves, it can be a stressful thing, so I always say, only do it if it’s something you enjoy. Find a topic that brings you joy, even if it’s not necessarily about books.” The author isn’t concerned about the future of BookTok as an author with books to sell. “Any social media platform can go away at any point, which is why it’s so important for authors to have a website and newsletter,” she said. “Yes, it will be sad if TikTok no longer exists, as I feel like I’ve found my little groove on there, but there will always be something else.”

Yes, it will be sad if TikTok no longer exists, as I feel like I’ve found my little groove on there, but there will always be something else.

It remains to be seen what the future of BookTok will be. With an onslaught of younger users, young adult literature still seems to be at the forefront of view counts, but only time and dollar amounts will tell how greatly they have affected sales and the greater literary economy. But here’s the thing about books — they don’t expire. They won’t spoil. You can pick them up at any time. And BookTokers know this. Only 30% of books sold in 2022 were new releases, 70% were older titles. While that might not bode well for an author looking to go viral with their new release, the fickle nature of BookTok and social media in general means that it still might go viral at another point in time.