The emergence of the new BookTok reading community has led to the emergence of the figure of the literary influencer who disseminates, through their own channels and content, their literary preferences to young users interested in reading. This study analyses the communicative strategy of literary influencers on TikTok. Content analysis is used to study the profiles of the main 30 Spanish literary influencers and their 1471 videos published between 24 February and 24 April 2022 —coinciding with the International Book Day campaign— and in-depth interviews with 7 booktokers to find out their point of view in relation to their contributions to the promotion of reading and the increase in book consumption in Spain. The study concluded that literary influencers collaborate with publishers due to the wide reach of their content. Furthermore, they believe that the communicative and promotional actions booktokers carry out contribute to the increase in sales and the promotion of reading.
Article Details
How to Cite
Segarra-Saavedra, J., & Torres-Huamanyauri, Y.-E. (2024). Promoting books and encouraging reading through literary influencers on TikTok. Ocnos. Journal of reading research, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2024.23.2.479
Segarra-Saavedra and Torres-Huamanyauri: Promoting books and encouraging reading through book influencers on TikTok
Introduction
Social networks are important tools for the dissemination of messages and content
of great reach and impact. Proof of this is that TikTok has 908 million monthly active
users () and is the most popular and used social network ().
As in most digital communities, there are niches and opportunities that allow users
share experiences and interests. Booktokers are TikTok users who share content about
books and reading experiences (). Just likepublishing communities on YouTube (BookTube) and Instagram (BookStagram),
BookTok allows readers, mainly teenagers, to meet and connect with their peers to
create spaces based on a common interest: reading. Pedagogies and peer-to-peer learning
are often central features of the relationships formed between “microcelebrities”
() and their fans. TikTok users share their passion for books, bringing to life the
titles they love and reshaping the publishing industry.
Unlike traditional media, users produce content in an entertaining way, which makes
the space more welcoming and the experience more satisfying. Its interactive nature
improves young people’s engagement with reading and can influence the reader’s choice
(). Therefore, this paper focuses on analysing the communication and content of book
influencers on TikTok as well as their perceptions regarding the promotion of reading.
Evolution of the publishing sector in Spain
According to , there are two main publishing groups in Spain that cover a large part of the market:
Grupo Planeta and Grupo Penguin Random House, which in turn have independent publishers
with a greater diversity of literary genres.
Digital transformation has led to changes in the format and consumption of reading.
This is confirmed by the barometers in Hábitos de lectura y compra de libros en España en 2017 y 2022 (Reading habits and book purchases in Spain in 2017 and 2022). Reading in non-analogue
format is growing, having risen from 12% in 2012 to 27% today, especially considering
that in 2010 only 5% of readers chose this format (FGEE, ; ). Furthermore, it shows that the age group that buys the most books is between 14
and 24 years old (74.8%).
The book industry has had to adapt its promotional strategy to go online through digital
marketing, having a presence in social networks and benefiting from digital literary
communities ().
Influencers and commercial communication
Influencers and digital media are a social and commercial phenomenon, as influencer
marketing has an impact on the decision-making of consumers. Based on the impact of
former celebrities (), their power attracts marketing professionals, advertisers and agencies in sectors
such as fashion (; ; ); beauty (); healthy living () or tourism (; ) under materialistic motivations () but effectively (; ; ).
Publishers and authors seize this opportunity and try to forge a digital reputation
in the hands of a consumer (crossumer, prosumer, persumer, fansumer) who, thanks to
social media, spreads and shares their opinions and experiences (). According to , content starring influencers receives more attention among young people and facilitates
their understanding, thus encouraging them to purchase the recommended products, although
sometimes bordering on illegality (; ; ; ).
According to , the publishing industry uses interactive spaces to maintain direct contact with
readers. For , publishers have had to face changes in production, consumption and format. New technologies
and social networks have opened up a world of formats such as BookTok, starring young
readers who share their reading opinions to the point of becoming an extremely important
publishing promotion tool because they also use their own language, with a mastery
of audiovisual communication and technique (), thus diluting the figure of the publisher as the main promotional agent ().
TikTok and the BookTok phenomenon
TikTok fuses music with lip-sync, comedy and trending content from microblogs within
15-second videos, allowing users to easily align the special visual effects of the
videos with the chosen music ().
It has progressively increased its notoriety, becoming the fastest growing social
network in number of users (), but its algorithm is different: the more time a user spends on a video, the more
likely it is to go viral and will allow more videos from the creator to appear the
next time the user checks their own homepage, even if they do not follow the creator.
However, TikTok is also guided by trends and hashtags that allow users to find content.
According to Forbes, 17-year-old Charlie D’Amelio was the highest earning tiktoker
in 2021 at EUR 17 million () and her sister Dixie D’Amelio was the second highest paid (EUR 10 million in revenue)
(). Overall, tiktokers grossed USD 55.5 million, a 200% increase over 2020 (). This is not surprising according to , for whom TikTok stars can charge up to half a million dollars for a post.
In the publishing sector, the BookTok community has emerged as the TikTok subculture
dedicated to the reading and discussion of (mostly) young adult literature () where users talk about their favourite books or dissect their favourite literary
tropes. Emerging initially as a reading community with the same set of skills, uses,
codes and interests (), it has shifted towards the digital, shaping a community that develops diverse forms
of exchange: sharing comments, annotations, evaluations, tags and, in some cases,
books and readings ().
Social reading or reading 2.0 defines a new reality where reading mediation is transformed
(; ; ) into open spaces () and shared interests (), allowing interaction between readings and readers (; ) through recommendations of titles, authors, genres and theatrical inside jokes about
literature (; ), thus making literature memorable, fun, engaging and socio-culturally relevant.
BookTok is a new way for teenage readers to meet and connect because in addition to
reading, readers want to talk about and recommend what they read, and the Internet
is the ideal medium for this as it allows them to do so in a massive and amplified
way (). Likewise, the BookTok community represents a reconversion of the amateur reader
into a reader-promoter and energiser of reading that mobilises a diversity of strategies
and content related to the world of literary fiction ().
analysed the use of hashtags on TikTok and found that #BookTok was one of the most
popular contents that continue to be used, especially as of March 2020, the hashtag
grew significantly (…), and there are currently more than 5 million videos, amounting
to a total of more than 22 billion views ().
Methodology
Objectives and hypothesis
The general objective of this research is to analyse the profiles and contents of
the main booktokers in Spain, as well as to examine their opinions regarding their
contribution to the increase in reading and book consumption. In order to achieve
this, the following specific objectives are proposed:
- SO1. To analyse the publishing sector in Spain.
- SO2. To identify the main book influencers on TikTok in Spain.
- SO3. To analyse their communication and contents linked to the industry.
- SO4. To identify the most popular books and their characteristics.
- SO5. To find their point of view in relation to their contributions to the promotion
of reading and the increase in book consumption.
The following hypotheses are proposed:
- H1. The publishing industry in Spain has increased book sales in recent years.
- H2. The majority of TikTok book influencers in Spain are women.
- H3. The reading of eBooks is mainly encouraged.
- H4. They perceive that this increase in sales and book reading is due to the actions
they carry out on TikTok and other social networks, such as YouTube and Instagram.
Research tools, sample and inclusion/exclusion criteria
This qualitative and exploratory research uses content analysis of the profiles and
content of book influencers on TikTok, as well as seven in-depth interviews, as and did, with book influencers to determine their point of view and relationship with
the publishing industry and its impact on the promotion of reading and the increase
in book consumption.
The identification of the Spanish booktokers was based on a search on TikTok using
the hashtags #booktok, #booktoker, #booktokespaña and #booktokespañol. We then proceeded
to select those who had more than 9,000 followers and more than 260,000 likes on their
posts, given that they are the most active and share frequent content.
Study period, content analysis units, variables and categories
The content analysis covered 60 days (from 24th February to 24th April 2022), coinciding with the promotional period prior to 23rd April, International Book Day, when the main book fairs in Spain usually take place.
Two units of analysis have been taken as a reference:
- The profile on TikTok.
- Each of the contents posted in that period.
On 22nd April 2022, the profiles of the 30 book influencers on TikTok were analysed using
these variables:
- Name and surname.
- User.
- Profile URL.
- Tag/s.
- Bio.
- No. of followers, followed, likes and videos posted.
The 1471 videos of the 30 book influencers were analysed between 24 April and 10 June
2022 using these variables and categories:
- User.
- URL.
- Date posted.
- Day of the week.
- Type of production: own; duo (reaction to another user’s video); paste (use of part
of another user’s video to post one of your own).
- Content type: video; live or other.
- Duration of the live video.
- Influencer presence: alone; with other influencers; anonymous people; or known people.
- Use de
Text.
Questions to encourage interaction and number.
Hashtags y number.
- Identification of advertising content and type: not applicable; advertising; ad;
in collaboration with; sponsored by; ambassador of; thanks to; gifted; other.
- Placement of advertising identification: not applicable; text; image; audio; below
username; other.
- Type of post according to : review; unboxing; top; book haul; wrap up; bookshelf tour; vlogs; book tags; book
challenge; theatre.
- Literary genre and sub-genre: epic narrative; lyric from classical Greece; dramatic
tragedy; didactic essay.
- Gender and number of male/female influencers.
- Number of authors/coordinators, name and surname.
- Mention of the price of the book.
- Price in euros.
- Indications of where to buy/download it.
- Promotional action: reference to awards, distinctions; nominations; favourable,
unfavourable or neutral opinion; giveaway; no promotion.
- User tagging and number of tags.
- Interactions: number of comments; likes; shares; views ().
Interviews
This study contacted the 30 tiktokers whose content was being analysed (table 1), but only 7 replied (23.3% response rate). They were asked about 1) identity, age
and education/profession; 2) interests in posting content on BookTok, most useful
types of posts and elements considered; and 3) relationships or collaborations with
publishers, conditions and influence on sales through digital promotions.
Results
Profiles
The influencers with the most followers are not always the ones with the most likes,
because not all videos posted become trending, but it depends on the type of post
and the TikTok algorithm.
Table 1 shows that they posted between 86 and 1430 videos since they opened their profiles
(average=442), they have between 9 thousand and more than 1 million followers on TikTok
and the likes on their posts range between 200 thousand and 70 million.
Booktokers are mostly women (96.7%), with @maryam.and.books and @ir_zuIryna, who have
more than 1.4 million followers, being the most popular. However, @ir_zuIryna is more
active (1,200 videos) than @maryam.and.books (444) and this influences the number
of likes (70.6 and 16.8 respectively). Also noteworthy with more than 100 thousand
followers are @mar.flz, @letiziaalg21, @adictaalibros, @josudiamond, @anyreads, @raquelbookish,
@puchiibooks, @booksbymaria_ and @ohvioletbooks. It is worth noting that @raquelbrune_,
in addition to being a booktoker, is a writer and the author of Los guardianes de almas, one of the most promoted books in this research.
The influencers with the most likes on their videos are @ir_zuIryna, @maryam.and.books
and @letiziaalg21, who have more than 9 million.
The booktokers with the fewest followers and likes are @mareads and @nuripeer, as
they do not post frequently, while @letiziaalg21 and @esperanzalruz are the most active.
Contents
Between 24th February and 24th April 2022, 1,471 videos are counted. The distribution by day of the week is hardly
relevant, only Thursday stands out (17%), followed by Wednesday and Monday (both with
15%). 38% of the profiles posts 2 contents per day and only 2% posts 5 videos per
day.
The production of own content prevails (99.4%), so they do not depend on other profiles,
as well as the video format (100%), not taking advantage of the incipient live broadcasting.
In almost all videos (99%), influencers appear alone. Only 1% appear with anonymous
people.
Although they predominantly use videos with text (99%) and mostly use terms related
to the BookTok phenomenon (image 1) to make it easier for TikTok users to find their videos by searching for these keywords,
they do not ask their followers any questions (95.2%).
Image 1Most used keywords in videos
On the other hand, they tend to include hashtags (92%) with the majority averaging
between 4-7 per video (36.7%) and 8-11 (21.6%).
Only 12% of posts identify advertising content under the tags “advertising” (11.1%),
“ad” (0.7%), and “in collaboration with” (0.2%). These identifiers appear mainly in
the image (12.4%) or audio (0.1%).
Regarding the type of post, the category “other” stands out (84.4%), which considers
the TikTok trend adapted to readers, “To be read” (reading of the month), new books
and reading book extracts, among other options. This is due to the changing style
of content produced by influencers. However, unboxing (7.2%), reviews (4.1%), and
bookshelf tours (1.4%) are also detected.
Books
In 64% of the videos, the title of the book is not mentioned, it does not appear visually
or in an image and the user is not tagged. Only 34.7% visually show the title of the
book in the posts. Of the videos that mention books, individual mentions (26.1%) or
quartet mentions (6.2%) are more common.
Even so, 884 books were counted in the 1471 posts analysed. The main books recommended
(table 2) include The Shadows Between Us. A Court of Thorns and Roses. The Love Hypothesis and Crescent City.
Table 2Most popular books on TikTok and frequencies
The Shadows Between Us
33
Mi amor de wattpad
8
A Court of Thorns and Roses
30
Crave
7
The Love Hypothesis
21
Twilight
7
Crescent City
20
From Blood and Ash
7
Hasta que nos quedemos sin estrellas
20
Kingdom of the Cursed
7
Trilogía Fuego
20
Fresas con chocolate
7
Nosotras en la luna
19
Gallant
7
A Court of Mist and Fury
18
It Happened One Summer
7
Anne sin filtros
13
A Touch of Darkness
7
El mapa de los anhelos
13
La ciudad del silencio
7
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
13
Reino de papel
7
Te espero en el fin de mundo
13
Un cóctel en chueca
7
Court
12
Boulevard
6
Crush
12
The Language of the Night
6
Heartstopper
12
The Cruel Prince
6
Truly Devious
11
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
6
A Court of Frost and Starlight
11
Todo lo que nunca fuimos
6
Antes de diciembre
10
Un cuento perfecto
6
Fleur
10
Yerba buena
6
A Court of Silver Flames
10
Lo que cuentan de nosotros
5
Bad Ash
9
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
5
Cuando no quedan más estrellas que contar
9
A Deal with the Elf King
5
Los guardianes de almas
9
XOXO
5
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
9
Beautiful bastard
4
A Court of Wings and Ruin
9
Shadowhunters
4
Destroy Me
8
El vals de la bruja
4
The Comfort Book
8
The Ex Hex
4
Others
339
Source: own authors.
The promotion of recent books (graph 1), mainly published in 2022 (50.3%) and 2021 (17.4%), is more important. As the publication
date moves further away, their presence on TikTok decreases.
Graph 1Year of publication of the promoted books
The books promoted are mainly aimed at young people (97.2%), coinciding with TikTok’s
age profile, and to a lesser extent adults (2.4%) and children (0.5%).
Despite being an online channel and targeting young audiences, printed books (95.6%)
and ePub (4.4%) predominate in the promotion on TikTok. Narrative and novels (99.8%)
stand out as the most promoted literary genre and sub-genre. In terms of gender of
authorship, women (91.6%) stand out compared to men (8.4%).
In the videos, there is no record of the price of the books. 92.4% of the videos do
not make any promotion, 4.5% offer a neutral opinion about the book and 2.4% a favourable
one.
Only 7% of the 1471 publications tag users. There are 116 tagged users/profiles (table 4), mostly publishers, which suggests that the influencers collaborate with them.
Table 4Tagged users and frequencies
@teenplanetlibro_
27
@Duomo Ediciones
2
@penguinlibros
17
@ariana_godoyc
2
@Harperkids Ibérica
12
@byme.app
2
@planetadelibros
3
@Josu Diamond
2
@wonderbooksed
3
@Tamara
2
@Soy Cáf
3
@Penguin Random House
1
@yossebooks
3
@Planeta Cómic
1
@PlanetadeLibros.com
2
Others
34
Source: own elaboration.
Taking into account the books that appear in the videos, it has been possible to extract
the authorship and their frequencies (table 5). The American fantasy writer Sarah Janet Maas stands out.
Table 5Authorship of books mentioned and frequencies
Sarah J. Maas
106
Alina Not
10
Claire Elise Kovarick
6
Alice Kellen
38
Jennifer L. Armentrout
10
Elisabeth Benavent
6
Tricia Levenseller
35
Taylor Jenkins Reid
10
Flor Salvador
6
Tracy Wolff
34
Matt Haig
9
Julia Quinn
6
Joana Marcús
31
Raquel Brune
9
Nina Lacour
6
V. E. Schwab
25
Kerry Maniscalco
8
Ursula K. Le Guin
6
Ali Hazelwood
21
Penélope Douglas
8
Victoria Resco
6
Ariana Godoy
20
Tahereh Riggs
8
Axie Oh
5
Inma Rubiales
20
Christina Lauren
7
Cassandra Clare
5
Andrea Longarela
18
Collen Hoover
7
Laura Gallego
5
Maureen Johnson
15
Jazmín Riera
7
Leigh Bardugo
5
Holly Black
14
Josu Diamond
7
Belén Martínez
4
María Martínez
14
Scarlett St. Clair
7
Jay Kristoff
4
Alice Oseman
13
Selene S. Campos
7
Rachel Hawkins
4
Iria Selene
13
Stephenie Meyer
7
Others
255
Tessa Bailey
11
Annabel Steadman
6
Source: own elaboration.
As for engagement, 1) the posts with the most comments include unboxings, readings
of book extracts and reader trends; 2) in terms of likes, videos in which other users
are tagged and unboxings, readings of book extracts and reader trends stand out; 3)
the most shared posts are those in which other users are tagged and there are readings
of book extracts and reader trends; and 4) the videos with the most views also tag
other users and are readings of book extracts and reader trends. However, it is not
always the booktokers with the most followers who get the most comments, likes, shares
and views.
The point of view of the book influencers
According to their answers, the booktokers are between 16 and 27 years old, 4 are
in their last years of high school, 2 have finished their Bachelor’s degree and 1
has a Master’s degree.
Most of them, when they were interviewed, were not part of a book club, but they started
to post content due to their interest in reading, in order to recommend the books
they liked the most and to share their literary tastes (Gemma González: “Empecé a
leer y no veía que se recomendara lo que yo leía, así que me animé” (I started reading
and I didn’t see what I was reading being recommended, so I took the plunge).
The posts that they publish the most and that generate the most impact are reviews,
recommendations of the latest reading and popular trends on TikTok adapted to books
(Adela Domínguez: “Sobre todo creo vídeos con recomendaciones de libros y algún reto
viral de la plataforma adaptado a la comunidad lectora. Creo que los que más impacto
tienen son aquellos que contienen opiniones impopulares” (I mainly create videos with
book recommendations and some viral challenges on the platform adapted to the reading
community. I think the ones that have the most impact are those that contain unpopular
opinions). For Aiona Avellana, the posts that have the greatest reach are “vídeos
haciendo reseña a libros, trends populares en ese momento adaptados a libros y una
serie de vídeos que suele gustar mucho es cuando relacionamos series/películas con
libros porque su historia es parecida” (videos reviewing books, popular trends at
the time adapted to books and a series of videos that tend to be liked a lot is when
we relate series/movies to books because their story is similar). This is related
to the fact that TikTok trends adapted to BookTok influence the algorithm and, consequently,
the video may have more reach.
Among the issues they take into account when recording videos are originality, good
lighting, technical quality, stories to be told, transmission of passion for reading
and honest opinion of the books. An influencer who remained anonymous commented that
“lo más importante es la sinceridad. Con esto me refiero a dar una valoración honesta
sobre el libro que haya leído” (the most important thing is sincerity. By this I mean
giving an honest opinion of the book I have read), from which it can be inferred that
reviews are not always positive.
Most influencers have entered into collaborations with publishers. These consist of
publishers sending them books free of charge in exchange for featuring them on their
social networks or writing a review. So much so that some booktokers work with publishers,
such as Letizia Guerrero: “Actualmente me encuentro trabajando con Crossbooks de Editorial
Planeta y me dedico a subir videos a su cuenta de TikTok. Asimismo, he hecho algunas
campañas para Penguin” (I am currently working with Editorial Planeta’s Crossbooks
and I upload videos to their TikTok account. I have also done some campaigns for Penguin).
Another influencer explains: “Umbriel manda un formulario con las novedades de cada
mes y de esas elijo como máximo dos de cada una y hago una reseña a cambio y Penguin
me suele mandar sus novedades del sello de Wattpad. Aunque a veces escritores se ponen
en contacto conmigo para mandarme su libro” (Umbriel sends me a form with each month’s
new releases, I choose a maximum of two of each and write a review in exchange; and
Penguin usually sends me their new releases from the Wattpad imprint. Sometimes writers
contact me to send me their book).
More and more booktokers are spreading the word about books in their social networks
through reviews or unboxings. As one of the interviewees commented: “He hecho colaboraciones
con dos editoriales: Duomo Ediciones y Harper Collins. Las condiciones son bastante
libres, ya que el contenido que puedo realizar tras leer el libro está bajo mi propio
juicio. Lo que hago comúnmente son dos vídeos, el primero haciendo un unboxing del
paquete y tras haber leído la obra grabo otro diciendo qué me ha parecido y si lo
recomendaría” (I have collaborated with two publishers: Duomo Ediciones and Harper
Collins. The conditions are quite free, as the content I can make after reading the
book is under my own judgement. What I usually do is two videos, the first one unboxing
the package and after having read the book I record another one saying what I thought
of it and if I would recommend it).
According to Esperanza Luque, one condition is that “la colaboración depende mucho
de lo que te pida la editorial en cuestión. Pero, mínimo, enseñar el libro en redes
sociales” (collaboration depends a lot on what the publishing house asks of you. But,
at the very least, you have to show the book on social networks). However, “Hay algunas
que ponen muchas condiciones, algunas te ponen fechas en las que te tienes que leer
los libros, te dicen que tienes que grabar ‘x’ vídeos, depende mucho de la editorial
y/o autor del libro, ya que ellos también contactan contigo para mandarte su libro
y ellos te ponen sus condiciones” (there are some that set a lot of conditions, some
give you dates on which you have to read the books, they tell you that you have to
record an exact number of videos. It depends a lot on the publisher and/or author
of the book, as they also contact you to send you their book and they set their own
conditions). For Ainoa Avellana: “Hay varias editoriales que nos han enviado libros
más de una vez, una de ellas es Planeta. Las condiciones que normalmente ponen es
que sus libros aparezcan en nuestro perfil para que les hagamos publicidad y que tengas
bastantes seguidores para que llegue a más gente” (There are several publishers who
have sent us books more than once, one of them is Planeta. The condition they normally
set is that their books appear in our profile so that we can advertise them and that
we have enough followers to reach more people).
Professionalisation is detected, since according to Letizia Guerrero: “Las editoriales
te mandan una guía de estilo con lo que debes hacer en el vídeo y luego de grabarlo
deben dar su aprobación” (The publishers send you a style guide with what you have
to do in the video and after recording it they have to give their approval), as well
as a diversification of techniques (Esperanza Luque: “Me invitaron a la #FiestaCrave,
que es una fiesta de Halloween que organizó Planeta sobre la Serie Crave” (I was invited
to the #FiestaCrave, which is a Halloween party organised by Planeta about the Crave
Series).
As far as economic issues are concerned, the situation varies. One booktoker states
that “Hay algunas editoriales que pagan, otras que no” (there are some publishers
that pay, others that don’t), showing that there are publishers with a budget for
promoting books and encouraging reading through influencers.
Publishers do not usually inform influencers about changes in terms of sales due to
the promotion of books through social networks, but they do sense it (Letizia Guerrero:
“Nunca una editorial, pero sí que lo he notado especialmente con una saga. Cuando
empecé a recomendarla no era muy popular y ya va por la 12ª edición” (Never a publisher,
but I have noticed it especially with a saga. When I started recommending it, it wasn’t
very popular and it’s now in its 12th edition); as another said: “Editoriales no, ya que es muy difícil saber quién ha
generado esas ventas ya que normalmente nos envían a varios booktokers los mismos
libros, pero autores que me han enviado sus libros sí que me han comentado. O también
los mismos compradores te mandan un mensaje diciéndote que se han comprado ‘x’ libro
porque lo recomendast” (Not publishers, as it’s very difficult to know who has generated
these sales, because they normally send us the same books to several booktokers, but
authors who have sent me their books have told me about it. Or even the buyers themselves
send messages saying that they have bought some book because I recommended it).
This confirms that publishers, despite using book influencers, are not transparent
about the possible increase in sales; however, it would be possible to identify this
growth given the popularity acquired by books or sagas through the promotion of booktokers,
in addition to other marketing and communication techniques.
Discussion and conclusions
This research has found that publishers consider influencers as a relevant advertising
resource for the dissemination and promotion of their books. Therefore, booktokers
recommend, review or offer opinions on books, having the possibility of making them
popular.
The BookTok community is an exponential phenomenon that has taken relevance in recent
times, encouraged by the growth in book publishing, increasingly digital (H1). Book
influencers, through their channels and content, are characterized by their authenticity,
share literary tastes and generate more closeness with reading communities, in an
increasingly professional manner ().
Among the main book influencers in TikTok Spain, women predominate (H2), most notably
@ir_zu, @maryam.and.books, @mar.flz, @letiziaalg21 and @adictaalibros. Aged between
16 and 27, they are in their last years of high school or have finished their Bachelor’s
degree, have published up to 1430 videos, have more than 1.5 million followers on
TikTok and 73.5 million likes.
The main publishers that collaborate with book influencers are Teen Planet, Harper
Collins, Penguin books and Planeta de Libros. The Shadows Between Us, A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Love Hypothesis and Crescent City were the most widely spread books. Novels are the most popular, mostly published
by Crossbooks, Planeta, Puck, Montena and Umbriel. Contrary to what was expected (H3),
they mainly promote printed books, despite using digital channels for their prescriptive
work. This data contrasts with the barometers of the Federación de Gremios de Editores
de España (FGEE) [Federation of Publishers’ Union of Spain] 2017 and 2022, which make
clear that digital book publishing is on the rise. Books published recently and aimed
mainly at young people and children are the most popular, data that coincide with
the FGEE (2017; ), which identifies people between 14 and 24 as the main buyers of books.
Booktokers perceive that the increase in sales and book reading is due to the promotional
actions carried out on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram (H4). However, these opinions
may be biased and it would be appropriate to appeal to the transparency and reliability
of information from publishers, as well as in the point of view of readers. The results
of this study coincide with , according to whom publishers adapted to the BookTok community through relevant book
influencers by giving or offering them books to increase their sales.
Publishers are more aware of the importance of collaborating with influencers for
the dissemination of their books and publishing brands and therefore contemplate them
in their communication () and commercial strategies. Thus, more studies on BookTok and the publishing industry
are pertinent, given that studies were only found on other social networks such as
YouTube or Instagram, or in other economic sectors such as cosmetics and fashion.
The hybridization of influencer marketing, the publishing industry and TikTok are
the main contributions of this study. Methodologically, it is proposed to analyse
the audience and reading community through interviews or surveys, but also to know
the experience of authors and publishers through in-depth interviews, for example,
with marketing, communication and sales managers.
Funding
The research from which this article derives did not receive funding.
It is framed within the research line “Comunicación y diffusion científica” (Communication
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