Old Books Are Returning To Bestseller Shelves, Thanks To TikTok
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‘#BookTok’, a tag propelled by bibliophiles on TikTok to share their favorite reads and bond over emotionally-wrecking plots and endings, has been so influential, it is making bestsellers out of novels years after they went into publication.
Barnes and Noble even has a whole section on its website dedicated to “the most popular TikTok books.” In stores, it has set up tables and displays all bearing the ‘BookTok’ name, too.
“From the publisher side, Penguin Random House is very in-tune with #BookTok trends and frequently collaborates with creators,” a TikTok representative tells NBC News.
Because TikTok runs on a unique, user-based algorithm, people who are already interested in books and have engaged with content relating to the subject are shown more of it on the carefully curated ‘For You’ pages. Therefore, trends spread easily like wildfire, and the realm of reading is no exception.
Notable titles that have seen a spike in sales and granted new life include The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. Both were published years before TikTok rose in user popularity.
Silvera notes, “I kept commenting to my readers, ‘Hey, don’t know what’s happening, but there’s been a surge in sales lately, so grateful that everybody’s finding the story years later. And then that’s when a reader was like, ‘I’m seeing it on BookTok.’”
The rapid growth of social media usage over the last two decades has seen a dramatic decrease in reading as a hobby, but this may just pave the way for a renaissance yet to come.
What's our new favorite source for book recommendations? TikTok, natch! Check out our collection of #BookTok's buzziest titles: https://t.co/d1GYHYoqrw pic.twitter.com/gzyoWD2Gtd
— Penguin Random House 🐧🏠📚 (@penguinrandom) May 31, 2021
It's actually been hopping on and off the Indie Bestseller list for the past few months, I just found out late about the last couple weeks because publishing was closed for the holidays. Haha. Sales started surging in the summer because of TikTok. Absolute heroes over there!
— ADAM Updates (@AdamSilvera) January 5, 2021
[via NBC News, image via Shutterstock]
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