How BookTok is Impacting YA Fiction on the Bestseller Charts

Cara-Louise Scott

---

Social media users are rising constantly, but one platform which has grown considerably in popularity is TikTok. Especially amongst young people and creators who film short videos to create a variety of content to appeal to people scrolling through the app. One area of TikTok that has become particularly popular in the past two years is book recommendations and reviews. 

While YouTube used to dominate with its multiple book channels, now BookTok, a part of TikTok, has taken off.

A poll by the Publishers Association has found that more than half of young readers credit BookTok for helping them to discover their passion for reading. 

#BookTok is taking over

“#BookTok has become one of the most popular hashtags on the platform”

#BookTok has become one of the most popular hashtags on the platform. And as of 7th December 2022, has had 94.2 billion views. This hashtag appeared on the platform in late 2020. And instead of mundane book reviews, TikTok influencers craft creative short videos. They present what they’ve recently read. They play out novel plots or take part in challenges, such as ‘reading a book in one day’. 

So, where did it all start? Unsurprisingly, BookTok took off during the pandemic. When many were trapped inside with little to do, they had more time to rediscover their love of reading. Some may have originally had a love for reading but found little time to dedicate to this in their day-to-day life pre-pandemic. And others may have been influenced by finding book videos on TikTok whilst randomly scrolling. 

Sales of YA books continue to rise

“Four of the top five young adult bestsellers in the UK in 2021 had been viral on BookTok,”

BookTok is mainly targeting a specific audience: young adults. In terms of American sales, YA (Young Adult) fiction novels are up nearly 70% in May 2021 from the previous year, and in the UK, the Publishers Association said book sales rose by 5% in 2021. The CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing, Nigel Newton, credited his business’ profit growth of 220% in the first half of 2021 to the impact of TikTok.

Four of the top five young adult bestsellers in the UK in 2021 had been viral on BookTok, showing TikTok is having a huge impact on rising sales of YA fiction. Over 50 million book sales to date have been attributed to TikTok which still has a massive impact on the bestseller charts.

TikTok is only growing more popular and in the future, we could see an even bigger increase in YA books topping the bestseller charts. Its power is clearly strong because even now, post-pandemic, these books remain popular.

BookTok bringing in younger readers

“68% said BookTok had inspired them to read a book that they would never have considered otherwise”

In October, Publishers Association surveyed 16-25-year-olds. Of those surveyed, 59% said that BookTok or book influencers had ‘helped them discover a passion for reading’. 55% said they turn to BookTok for recommendations. With 37% of young people saying that they turn to these BookTok recommendations rather than that of family and friends.

This research found 68% said BookTok had inspired them to read a book that they would never have considered otherwise. The findings also suggest there has been a benefit for bookshops, with 49% of respondents saying that they visit a physical bookshop to buy a book they have seen on the app.

WHSmith even has a ‘#BookTok Recommendations’ section on their website. It features their recommendations of YA fiction from BookTok. When I visited recently, I noticed a section called ‘TikTok made me do it’. A section filled with young adult novels adorning the shelves. This hugely impacts the bestselling charts and shows just how popular YA fiction is getting.

BookTok’s biggest authors

Holly Jackson

“…she has over 52 million views of her name and book titles”

One of the authors sparking popularity on BookTok is Holly Jackson. Holly is a young adult author, writing mystery thrillers for her ever-growing audience. With a huge fanbase on BookTok, she has over 52 million views of her name and book titles. 

Holly is the best-selling author of ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’. This book is currently being adapted for the BBC by the creative minds behind Peaky Blinders. It was published in May 2019 and was the bestselling YA debut of that year. It sold 30,000 copies that year alone.

While it may seem that a lot of YA can focus on romance, Holly brings the mystery genre to the forefront of YA. Allowing readers to get pulled into solving mysteries which are always gripping. The sort of books you simply can’t put down.

Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is another author who is dominating the bestseller charts at the moment. Colleen is a New York Times’ bestselling author, hailing number-one in YA romance. She is best known for her 2016 romance novel ‘It Ends with Us’.

However, Colleen’s books often tackle very sensitive issues that aren’t necessarily handled in the right way. In my opinion, I often question her growing popularity. All this aside, though her most-famous novel was released six years ago, it has only been within the past year that it has really become as well-known as it is today. And this is down to TikTok.

Is BookTok taking over?

Clearly, BookTok is taking over the literary world and while social media can have its downfalls, this is a positive and exciting thing to come out of TikTok. With more young people reading books and the sales of these books increasing, I can only hope that we will keep seeing a continuous influx of YA on the bestseller charts, encouraging young people to have a passion for reading – as we all should.

---

Image courtesy of Franck via Unsplash. See image license here. No changes were made to this image.