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BookTok has, in many ways, forged a new generation of creative community among readers. As a subcommunity within the TikTok app, BookTok takes advantage of TikTok’s short-form video template, allowing readers to share their opinions on books, authors, and entire genres.
As with all other relatively large communities on the internet, BookTok has its own variety of issues. Some issues — like the viral exposure of a beloved book-pirating website that resulted in the site’s closure — are one-off incidents with discourse that fizzles out. Other issues — like the community’s (unconscious?) predilection for the same handful of books and authors — stem from, and contribute to, the literary world’s connection to whiteness and heteronormativity.
Because of TikTok’s viral, consumable nature, it has the unprecedented ability to foster a recognition of — and discourse around — these systemic issues within the BookTok community. The question is, even when it is easier to engage in than ever before, are readers ready to reckon with reality?
The Origins Of BookTok
Although no one TikTok video officially “started” BookTok, community member Cait Jacobs (@caitsbooks) is credited as the catalyst. Profiled by The Suffolk Times, Jacobs is described as a longtime book blogger turned BookToker.
In 2016, her blog received about 700 views per month across six to twelve posts. Alternatively, as of mid-2021, her BookTok videos receive about 3.2 million views each month. Numbers like that quickly drew the attention of the publishing industry (( Ledda, Brianne. “TikTok rules new surge in teen reading habits.” The Suffolk Times. July 13, 2021.” )).
On her blog, Jacobs explores the history of BookTok and credits community member Kathy Ellen Davis (@kathyellendavis) as the first account she ever encountered using the term “BookTok.” At the time, Jacobs describes TikTok as having few bookish creators, consisting mostly of:
“a few publishing companies, some authors, and a few other readers.”
(( Jacobs, Cait. “What is ‘BookTok’ — Inside The Newest Book Community.” 2021. )).
Then, in April 2020, that all changed.
Pandemic Influence On Vitality
TikTok saw a 180% increase in use by Americans between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five during the COVID-19 outbreak. The dramatic increase in usage encouraged publishers to work directly with BookTok influencers (The Suffolk Times).
Scott Raulsome owns a bookstore in Greenport, New York that nurtures a love of reading in children and young adults. Raulsome believes that there has been a change in “consumer habits” after the emergence of BookTok.
“Although it’s ‘difficult to say’ whether trends on the platform have led to increased sales, he said there’s been a ‘noticeable increase in teens in the store who are interested in [young adult] books.”
(( The Suffolk Times ))
Raulsome’s store even has a display catered to “As Seen on TikTok” which rotates 10 of the most popular books showcased on BookTok. Because BookTok boomed during the beginning of the pandemic, and because TikTok does not release much analytics (( Zarroli, Jim. “TikTok is driving book sales. Here are some titles #BookTok recommends.” NPR. December 31, 2021. )), NPR explains how hard it is to “quantify how big BookTok is,” choosing to describe the phenomena as being a “turbocharge” to the publishing industry’s word-of-mouth sales technique.
Nellie Kurtzman, vice president at HarperCollins, believes that BookTok’s popularity is directly tied to the pandemic, explaining that COVID-19 “has closed off many of the traditional ways of reaching readers, such as book signing.” According to Kurtzman, BookTok is a way for readers to celebrate books together, similar to the way they would at a book festival (NPR).
While there is no denying the pandemic’s influence on the emergence of BookTok, the community would have likely blossomed regardless. The Bookish Community has a long history of success when it comes to planting its roots in various social media. For example, BookTube channels (a book-specific subset of the YouTube community) have thousands to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Bookstagram (the corner of Instagram where the bookish community gathers) has 33 million posts tagged with the moniker (( Haupt, Angela. “The Bookstagrammers and BookTubers changing the way we read.” Washington Post. August 6, 2019. )).
Jordan Moblo (@jordys.book.club), a Bookstagrammer with 21,500 followers, says the online book community “has become his favorite outlet” where he finds new books and feels like he’s “getting an education in authors [he] wouldn’t normally read,” as well as making friends he stays in touch with “on a daily basis” (Washington Post). Platforms like Instagram and YouTube require a certain ability to create, curate, and edit content.
Despite how welcoming the bookish community is, there is a factor of intimidation when it comes to participating in ways that take so much time, money, and skill. With 20 years of experience in the publishing industry and a wealth of expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers, Jane Friedman explains that, unlike those platforms, TikTok has the unique ability for “everyday people to become book influencers” (( Friedman, Jane. “BookTok: A Safe Haven for Young Female Readers.” January 5, 2022. )), contributing to the virality of BookTok.
TikTok As A User-Friendly Influencer Incubator
Faith Young (@hellyeahbooks), a BookTok creator, had only been on TikTok for four days when her first video went viral. In it, she professed her love for the “enemies-to-lovers” trope and found a hoard of people who agreed with her. The video was so popular because people “felt seen,” Young said. Without TikTok’s easy-to-use platform, Young’s video may never have seen the light of day, and those like-minded readers may have continued to struggle with finding a niche in their community (Jane Friedman).
Like many others, Young had been interested in joining the book influencer world, but “didn’t have the patience to learn how to edit YouTube videos or do fancy photography” (Jane Friedman). Young explains, “You don’t have to have a degree in video editing to be able to make a TikTok.”
With such ease comes much responsibility, apparently. BookTok has seen its share of scandals in its relatively short life (although, to its credit, there don’t seem to be any quite as scandalous as Book Twitter’s penis-shaped soap debacle of 2018 — also known as “Soap Dick Gate” — which is almost synonymous with book-related discourse at this point). BookTok’s incidents range from the rehashing of decades-old legal issues like pirating to societally systemic issues like racism.
With so many individuals able to achieve a large platform within the same community, it would only follow that there is a greater chance for trouble.
Villains & Anti-Heroes — “The Antagonists Of BookTok”
One of the most recent BookTok scandals was so serious, it drew the attention of the United States Federal Government — or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the US Government’s involvement caused the scandal. Z-Library is one of the largest free online libraries with more than 11 million books and 84 million articles (( Z-Library. 2022. )), making it beloved by avid readers and academics alike. Technically, Z-Library is classified as a “shadow library” because it uses file-sharing technology to provide free access to content that is otherwise copyrighted or behind a paywall. That is, Z-Library was those things.
In November 2022, a viral BookTok video showed how to “look up books, download them for free, and access them on your device” (( Nava. A. Mana. “Z-Library’s Demise Provokes Booktok Infighting–And It Comes Back To Colleen Hoover?” The Mary Sue. December 5, 2022. )). This user may not have intended for their video to be seen by more than a few other Colleen Hoover fans, but because of TikTok’s algorithmic nature, it was seen by almost 20 million people (( Manos, Leda. “Pirated E-Book Site Z-Library Shut Down by the Feds.” LA Weekly. November 11, 2022. )).
Other BookTokers were quick to vilify this particular user and blame them for exposing the site, but online piracy did not start — nor will it end — with BookTok. The platform may bring certain instances to light, but TikTok will never singlehandedly resolve the legal or ethical concerns of digital theft. It does, however, create a space for conversation.
Writing for The Mary Sue, A. Mana Nava parses the discourse:
“Conservative government officials are doing everything in their power to prevent books from being available, especially books with LGBTQIA+ themes…these incredibly real book bans affect what books are available in certain counties, cities, and states. Who’s to say [this] isn’t happening to some queer brown kid in Ohio who wants to see someone like them fall in love? Sites like Z-Library provided a safe space for those who cannot access fiction the same way [others] can.”
A. Mana Nava
They continue, “Keep in mind that torrenting isn’t exactly a victimless crime. While [it] won’t hurt James Patterson’s bottom line, pirating books does affect independent presses and debut authors. Smaller creators don’t have the luxury of large contracts and practically guaranteed royalties, especially if they’re marginalized creators. Their books are considered risky, so there’s no guarantee they’ll get future book deals if their debut doesn’t sell enough copies” (The Mary Sue).
But how effective can a platform like TikTok be at holding space for productive discourse? Does its ability to turn anyone into an influencer, with millions of eyes on a message, provide too many opportunities for misguided or ill-intentioned encounters?
Racial Bias & BookTok
Interestingly, Colleen Hoover is more than just an author whose fans are being blamed for the latest TikTok scandal– she is one of many white women who can attribute her success to the platform itself. Writing for The Cut, Tyler McCall points out that “almost every author who has found life-changing success via the platform — six– and seven-figure book deals, weeks and months spent on best-seller lists, headline-making movie contracts – is white” (( McCall, Tyler. “BookTok’s Racial Bias.” The Cut. November 18, 2022. )).
Despite creators, content, and consumers being more diverse now than ever (( Osman, Marissa. “The Missing Canon.” 2019. )), there is a concerning trend showcased through BookTok that some in the industry are picking up on. Leah Koch, co-owner of Ripped Bodice, an independent bookstore in Los Angeles, insists that they “can’t really think of a single book that’s blown up on BookTok that wasn’t written by a white person.” In fact, Koch says they’ve noticed Gen Z seems to care very little about “racially diversifying their reading” (The Cut).
Author Nisha Sharma adds that this trend is noticeable on TikTok, but that authors are unsure why. “[It’s] something that has become more and more apparent as more and more books get optioned, get seven-figure deals, all of it” (The Cut). Essentially, it may not matter that BookTok videos tagged #queerbooks have 112 million views, or that videos tagged #diversebooks have 45 million views if the publishing industry is fundamentally based in inequality.
As a member of the BookTok community, Sanjana Basker (@baskinsuns), aptly calls the situation a “structural misunderstanding” where society’s inherent inequality is unconsciously carried into niche spaces of community that, statistically, should demonstrate an innate desire for diversity. “[G]iven how young the BookTok audience skews,” she says, “there’s not really a level of self-awareness about that yet” (The Cut).
How To Connect With Readers
Of course, TikTok’s algorithm is not a blameless entity. McCall posits that the algorithm is not only what makes BookTok so powerful, but that it actually causes the lack of diversity. Indie author Jessica Cage joined BookTok and experienced an increase in sales when her videos went viral. “It was a really great place for BIPOC authors because we were utilizing the platform and we would get the exposure.” But authors of color feel like BookTok’s growth in popularity has made it harder, not easier, for them to connect with readers.
Even with a purposeful push to promote diverse books (( The Suffolk Times )), the algorithm incentivizes users to keep creating content about already popular content rather than trying something new. Some even suspect TikTok has “shadow banned” (which means certain content is throttled by the platform without the user’s knowledge) hashtags about race.
The platform, as McCall points out, rewards videos about the same handful of popular books, “stacking the deck” in favor of white authors. “They already have an advantage in selling and marketing a book, but the app allows white authors to find an audience of white creators…who then create the conversation other users feel obligated to keep up with, which exposes the book to wider audiences.”
“It’s a cycle that leads to both incredible individual success and the suppression of marginalized voices”
Tyler McCall
This cyclical phenomenon is not exclusive to TikTok or social media. One of the largest examples is how institutions of higher education, which are held up as bastions of progressiveness, are too often perpetuating harm against marginalized communities (“The Missing Canon”). The onus is on society as a whole, and so long as capitalism leeches onto creativity, there may be no real solution. So where does that leave BookTok?
TikTok: The Future Of BookTok?
In 2021, Cait Jacobs pondered the future of BookTok in an article on her blog. She expresses her excitement for what she is sure will be the community’s continued growth and offers a sage perspective only a veteran online– book-community– member could.
“I don’t expect BookTok to continue to grow steadily without hitting any bumps in the road. With large influxes of new creators, authors, and publishers, I imagine oversaturation of creators might become an issue. And now that the marketing successes of BookTok has gained attention, I can also see more promotional content being made, which might cause those who joined for authenticity to lose interest.”
Of course, Jacobs is not claiming that structural inequality is simply a “bump in the road,” but her metaphor is an excellent way to think about the different levels of issues BookTok — and the bookish community in general — faces.
If the community members are the ones driving along, then situations like Z-Library’s closure are the bumps, and systemic inequality is the ground itself. Everything is connected- the cars have to navigate the bumps or temporarily repair them, but to create whole new roads — to move the ground itself — is a much larger, costly effort. It can be done, but not easily; not without time, coordination, and means. For some, it may seem easier to ignore the bumps altogether. Luckily, more and more drivers seem to be banding together to forge those new roads.
“I don’t think these issues will permanently affect BookTok. I feel these are problems that the book communities on other platforms, especially Instagram and Youtube, have experienced and survived. BookTok will as well.”