BookTok: a novel approach

Summary

Sophia Smith Galer, author and TikToker, reports from the world of ‘BookTok’ and other online book communities. From those built around a love for true crime to those that focus on rare book collecting, these sub-communities have reframed not only how people discover and discuss literature, but also how authors sell books. Transcending location, platform and demographic, these communities allow for the formation of powerful, intimate circles, taking on the important role and legacy of the traditional book club. 

Reading time

Six minutes

With over 243 billion views, BookTok has become TikTok’s largest online space. But at the heart of this global phenomenon sits a warren of interconnected micro-clubs helping a diverse group of users to find both connection and community.

Patricia Brown has what she calls a “mortal job”. “I hate to say I’ve fallen into the trap of corporate America,” the 30-year-old explains, “but there is a part of me that appreciates the nine to five, the health insurance, the cubicle.” All that sounds perfectly normal, but it is not remotely what she is known for online. The minute the working day ends, Brown has videos to make, books to read and 14,000 global members to satisfy – because she runs a viral online book club dedicated to the macabre.

None of which would have happened without BookTok, a TikTok subcommunity where millions of creators and viewers post and interact with videos reviewing and discussing books, literature and reading. TikTok’s hyper-powerful recommendation algorithm ensures users needn’t wait long to be served precisely the types of books they like and micro-communities that best suit their interests. And online users aren’t just viewing, they are buying – year on year, book sales have mirrored the platform’s staggering growth. According to BookScan, BookTok helped authors sell 20 million books in 2021, and in 2022 that number skyrocketed to 47 million; the sales were driven by over 100 authors with large BookTok followings.

Morbidly curious reading

Brown, who has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, first started making content during the pandemic, when she was living in Los Angeles and developed a fascination with local true crime. She began to create video reviews about the books she was reading on the subject, but it was only when she created the Morbidly Curious Book Club to better involve her existing community that a larger following began to accrue.

Despite the commercial gains that can come with internet popularity (Brown says the club, which has birthed more than 60 chapters worldwide, has provided her with a small business and powerful friendships), ultimately, the greatest prize has been uniting “people who are like-minded, and who like to read weird stuff”. Whether virtual or in person, she does not believe readers would have heard of the book club without algorithms sending her content to their newsfeeds, and she is probably right. In the age of vertical video, the most successful means of exposure is to create a viral TikTok or Reel, where videos begin with powerful, scroll-stopping hooks, and creators speak directly to potential viewers as though they’re friends.

This is how BookTokers are able to build their enormous platforms at speed – followers experience an intense (and often immediate), parasocial friendship that powers the engine of that creator’s online community. This is also why it’s no longer accurate to talk about BookTok as a single-platform phenomenon. YouTube, Instagram and TikTok now all have powerful recommendation algorithms and short form video products, meaning it is increasingly common for creators to post – and bookish communities to grow – on all three.

_{^{Above Left: The Morbidly Curious Book Club on TikTok}}

_{^{Above Right: BookToker Ruby Granger}}

The Morbidly Curious Book Club has an overwhelmingly female demographic, joining a long history of women-powered reading communities. In the US, American reading circles emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with women at their epicentre, fostering literary and philosophical discussion in parlours as opposed to gentlemen’s clubs or universities. In 1839, Margaret Fuller, recognised as the first American female war correspondent, said that in her own reading circle she was “desirous to answer the great questions. ‘What were we born to do?’ ‘How shall we do it?’”.

The fact that these gatherings carried an element of rebellion or difference was often part of their raison d’etre. In France, famous salons of literary and artistic discussions pioneered by women such as Catherine de Vivonne, the Marquise of Rambouillet, are credited with contributing extensively to the cultural development of the country.

By harnessing the power of social media, Brown and other BookTok creators have brought the book group out of the salon and into the palms of millions. For many users, this means being introduced to non-fiction, and the type of intellectual discussions that emerge from reading it, for the very first time. “They’re stepping outside of their comfort zone and giving it a try. They’ve said they’ve learned so much about themselves,” Brown says. “It doesn’t sound profound to most people, but to me that is awesome.”

In the comments sections of Brown’s content, it is clear that users finally feel like they have found their tribe. “The algorithm introduced me to your page and I’m hooked,” writes one user. “I would never have picked up Cannibalism and it was a great read!”

Finding your niche

The majority of users, though, flock to BookTok to bond about fiction – genre fiction, specifically – and young adult and ‘romantasy’ are two extremely popular sub-genres on the platform. Ruby Granger is known online in the UK primarily for her YouTube content about studying, which she started when she was a student preparing for her GCSE exams. But, in her leisure time, she enjoys content that appeals to her love of “witchy female rage”. As both a creator and a consumer, she agrees that there is an intimacy to the book club experience.

For Granger, this includes in the comments sections of BookTok videos, from where she now gets most of her book recommendations. “Speaking as someone who was very bookish at school and very lonely as a result, it can feel quite isolating when people aren’t necessarily open about liking reading. When I started making content around books, it was really illuminating – slightly shocking to see that there were so many people eager to connect over books.”

_{^{Illustration by Alex Green}}

Granger also agrees that most book content on social media appears more driven by women, both as authors and as readers. But to assume this is an entirely female space would be misleading. Among British teenagers, a poll of more than 2,000 16- to 25-year-olds found 59% said that BookTok had helped them discover a passion for reading over the last year. Tom Ayling, an antiquarian bookseller dealing in rare books and manuscripts, has his biggest following on TikTok, where his videos about unusual finds regularly go viral. He has noticed that he can deploy the algorithm to reach many different social groups; a video about a historic Qur’an can appeal strongly with Muslim viewers, whereas a video about EM Forster’s Maurice resonates powerfully with the LGBTQ+ community.

“I use TikTok to introduce people to book collecting,” he says, “and the hope is that the channels across all the platforms will build these little communities of book collectors and make this a thing not done by the old, white and rich but something that is accessible to anyone who is passionate; not even about books, but about a subject matter that can be spoken to by collecting books.”

BookTok has no borders, geographic or otherwise, and content creators’ global fanbases have shifted the meaning of what a book club is. If Covid-19 showed us that we can connect virtually with our communities, BookTok has gone one step further, showing us we can meet and grow community with complete strangers and receive book recommendations we’re going to love. Decades ago, celebrity endorsement was the elixir of life for an author desperate to sell millions of copies. Now, it could be a content creator who is completely new to you, but who has cultivated a rich and eager following of would-be readers and who, in a split second of viral magic, has touched you. 

And if you take the next step and prise your reading love affair away from the comments section and join an actual book club because of it, the community you find could be vast. “It’s been an outlet for people to not only explore different things but to learn so much about themselves,” Brown says of her book club. “And I think that’s the best thing I could ask for.” 

Sophia Smith Galer is a journalist and author based in London. Her videos on TikTok and Instagram have been viewed more than 170 million times.

Alex Green creates rich and thoughtful pieces for editorial, design and advertising industries, live events and murals. His illustrations combine hand drawing, collage and digital techniques.

This feature first appeared in RSA Journal Issue 4 2024.