TikTok and Bestsellers
I like TikTok. Unlike Snapchat — which my friend Rebekah and I decided to investigate in 2015 and which resulted in me texting her, “I think I just accidentally sent you a picture of a plant across from me in the orthodontist waiting room” — I’ve stuck with TikTok. (No, I’m not trying to pretend that I’m not 46. Spin it this way: I want to remain as “tech-aware” as I can until the day I die.)
In case you haven’t heard, TikTok is really big in the book marketing world. Like REALLY big. The NYT ran a short article about it in the Business section on July 4. This one was different than other articles about TikTok and publishing. In the past, many of them have focused on how “creators” on this platform tend to share about how a book makes them “feel” — and that is why it appeals to a younger crowd. (I like to think about how books make me feel too, but I do not need twinkly lights and music to do so. See below for some typical BookTok aesthetic.) These pieces took on a bit of a bemused tone. In other words, they were more lifestyle/trend articles. About a year ago, the Boston Globe published a piece about @bettysbooklist, a BookTok account from Elizabeth Cayouette. “Publishing is a bit of an old-school industry, where TikTok and short form video content is not yet the focus, even though that is the future,” she said. She was correct, but that’s about as “business-y” as that article got.
But this article — again, found in the Business section — was different. To the point: “Now one of the commanding forces in adult fiction, BookTok has helped authors sell 20 million printed books in 2021, according to BookScan. So far this year, those sales are up another 50 percent. NPD Books said that no other form of social media has ever had this kind of impact on sales.”
Why I think this is so cool is this: “In essence, BookTok supercharges something that’s always been essential to selling a book: word of mouth.” PS: That’s author Madeline Miller pictured in the @nytbooks post. Her 2012 novel Song of Achilles is one that has seen a massive bump because of this 21st century version of “word of mouth.” And that trumps celeb endorsements. #TikTokinCareofBusiness (sorry)
originally published on instagram