'Booktokers', the internet literary critics who are changing the way we read and buy books

The

#booktok

hashtag

was born back in August 2020, according to an article in

The Guardian

newspaper .

In the middle of the pandemic nightmare, Kate Wilson, a 16-year-old girl from Shrewsbury, United Kingdom, published a video on TikTok in which she rescued a series of quotes from books that, according to her, said I love you, “without really saying I love you.” .

In the video, Kate showed the covers of

A Tale of Two Cities

,

Wuthering Heights

and

Jane Eyre

, with the aforementioned phrases superimposed and accompanied by a rather passionate song by the French band Famy.

The video was a resounding success, especially compared to the rest of the content that Wilson uploaded to the Chinese social network.

Today the simple piece has accumulated more than 1.3 million views.

Four years later, Kate has almost 300,000 followers and continues to make book-related content.

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After that original video, thousands of people were encouraged to imitate Kate.

That was the birth of the

#booktok

phenomenon , which simply means “talking about books on TikTok.”

Books have always been discussed on the internet and on other social networks, but the explosion of the topic on the Chinese social network and the effects it has had, especially among the younger population, have been enormous.

Today, there are almost 29 million publications with this

hashtag

, and its Spanish version,

#booktokespanol

, has almost half a million.

Some of the profiles that support it have millions of followers.

This is the case, for example, of @maryam.and.books, a 23-year-old girl who lives in Barcelona and who is about to reach two million

followers

.

“I started reading books when I was six or seven years old, encouraged by my parents.

They took us to the town library every day and if we wanted to have a snack we had to read,” she says, laughing.

“I started my channel about two years ago.

It all started in the bookstore where I worked: one day they asked me to work overtime but we didn't have clients, so I thought 'I have a bookstore to myself, I'm going to record something and see what happens'.

So, without thinking much, I uploaded a video, then another and another, and immediately I had a beautiful community supporting what I was doing.”

Maryam says that within six months of opening her channel, she already had more than a million followers.

A spectacular rise to internet fame that Iryna, 22, also experienced, who arrived about 10 years ago from Belarus to Tarragona, where she currently lives.

His channel @ir_zu has 1.8 million followers and he has recently published with Crossbooks, an imprint of Editorial Planeta,

Notebook of Readings

, a volume that is precisely that, a notebook to write down the books you are reading and that also includes a review of literary genres and many curiosities about the creator herself.

“Nowadays I dedicate myself exclusively to social networks,” she explains.

“I chose to talk about books because I have always been passionate about reading.

I took refuge in books.

“I mostly read romance, young adult fantasy or

new adult

,” she says.

Precisely some of the most common genres on

booktok

.

Influence, collaboration and closeness with publishers

This boom in book content on TikTok has not gone unnoticed by publishers, who have seen that these creators can be a great speaker for their launches.

At least, this is what Laia Manchón, from the marketing and communication department, and Alberto Reboredo, head of marketing and digital communication at Editorial Planeta, believe.

“We follow this issue very closely because currently

booktokers

are prescribers who have a lot of influence on the readings that will be trending.

Their messages have a credibility for readers that other channels do not have, that is why we support them.”

This support usually takes the form of exchanging books for reviews, although sometimes the collaborations go further, as in the case of the book edited by Iryna, or in the form of paid collaborations.

“99% of the time collaboration consists of receiving books.

There is no type of contract and it is optional to upload content, so it is a very simple way of working,” Maryam clarifies.

“When working with a paid promo, publishers normally ask for exclusivity for a video and that you speak positively about the work.

It is also a very pleasant collaboration but one that is not frequented much.

Anyway, I only talk about books that I like or that resonate with me.

And I also don't want to use my account to speak badly about a book, since I prefer to do it in a positive way,” she says.

Sincerity is one of the keys that makes users trust 'booktokers'.urbazon (Getty Images)

That's where Iryna differs.

“I talk about everything I read.

Whether I liked it or not,” she confesses.

“I feel that it is also important to talk about things that you did not like so that people can see what your criteria are.”

Followers look for an honest opinion

Given the avalanche of editorial titles that are published every week, it is normal for readers to use all the tools at their disposal to know what to read.

They believe that it is their sincerity that makes users trust

booktokers

.

“I mainly follow small accounts that seem honest to me,” says Ester, from Badalona: “I have found some creators who fit perfectly with my tastes and who share content beyond books, such as interviews, presentations or workshops that might interest me.”

For his part, Iria, from Barcelona, ​​follows “a few accounts of this type because bookstores have become showcases for large publishers, with a very commercial offering, but with hidden gems,” as he points out.

“The last books that had been recommended to me were catastrophes.

Booktokers help me discover

authors

, browse what they have written and also find new publishers.”

Although they also raise certain doubts: “I think they are in danger of ending up selling themselves to large publishers, but, for now, I would say that they have not done so,” he says.

For publishers, one of the points they most value about this type of literary communication is the direct and bidirectional way they communicate with readers, something that is not possible with radio or television programs, or with literary supplements. .

“For us it is a way to gain closeness with our readers, since many publishers do not have a direct sales channel,” Planeta acknowledges.

Promotion of young reading

Thanks to their interactions with users, both Maryam and Iryna are clear that their work is serving to promote the habit of reading among many people, especially young people.

“Like

booktube

a few years ago (book content on YouTube), I think many young people have been able to discover reading by trusting creators with whom they identify or share tastes,” explains Iryna.

“It is not the same as seeing a book in a window and having it tell you nothing, than having a person you already trust recommend it to you with all the emotion.

Is it contagious".

“As a bookseller I noticed it a lot,” notes Maryam.

“Young people frequented the bookstore a lot and asked for the viral books of the moment.

I have the feeling that it transformed the concept that many girls and boys had that reading was a mandatory thing in school, or that books were all boring or for older people.

So, when they saw young people enjoying reading so much, something awakened in them and they were encouraged to visit libraries and bookstores to discover more.”

In Planeta, they point out that making their books known to content generators has often become another action in their marketing and communication plans to reach the reading public.

But not all books can be sold equally through this channel.

“Obviously, promoting Inma Rubiales's new youth romance book is not the same as promoting Pope Francis' biography.

Our job is to find the ideal channel for each potential reading audience.

Depending on the type of book, the promotion will be more or less focused on social networks,” the publisher acknowledges.

The impact of promotion with 'booktokers'

However, it is not easy to evaluate the impact of collaborations with

booktokers

on book sales and visibility.

“Without a doubt, books gain prominence, but it is an environment with so much content and such rapid consumption that sometimes it is difficult to identify a direct impact.

Most of the time it is a sum of things, and having a digital presence where readers are is an important factor, but not the only one,” Planeta spokespersons explain.

“You have to carefully select which books and which literary

influencers

can have a differential value in the promotion of each work.

Like everything, it must be used well and with a global vision, and never replacing the rest of the actions.

For example, in books by international authors such as Colleen Hoover or Rebecca Yarros, it becomes a fundamental tool for starting the launch, since we do not have that promo that is used in traditional media,” they add.

The phenomenon is in full swing, but we will still have to wait a little to see how it evolves, if it really ends up being the strongest promotion channel and how that influences reading habits.

At the moment, this new way of making literary news known is even affecting the relationship of the authors themselves with their works and their readers.

“Meetings with

booktokers

are now another part of the promotion, like interviews with traditional media or public presentations of books,” Planeta representatives explain.

Many authors, in fact, are already literary prescribers.

“Alice Kellen, for example, is a great reader and she always arouses interest in knowing what your favorite author is reading,” they point out.

“You have already been able to see how literary conversations that previously took place only in physical forums, fairs, clubs... have also moved to that digital environment.

“It has been something quite natural and it generates bonds and even great friendships.”