If there is a phenomenon that has revolutionized the publishing industry lately, it is hashtag #KitapTok Reaching 122 billion views on TikTok largest book club in history. However, in order to understand this trend well, it is necessary to destroy some myths first.
Contrary to what many people think, young people are reading (in fact, according to Spain’s Reading Habits and Book Buying Barometer 2022), children and adolescents are the top readers in Spain, and social networks do not threaten but stimulate this appetite for reading.
This is especially true since the pandemic and the successive lockdowns. book clubs had their second golden age this is not over yet: acquaintances and strangers read, shared and commented on the headlines; It’s a hooked habit, both in terms of its ability to develop intelligence and to create a sense of community, bonds, and belonging.
According to a study by the SM Foundation, 80% of teens were confident that books helped them better deal with this situation.. Thus, at the end of 2020, the hashtag #KitapTok was first used on TikTok, the favorite social network of Generation Z, the freest generation born between 1994-2010. It has more than one thousand and fifty one million active users. According to The New York Times, TikTok is more than a social network every month worldwide. Prefer to other search engines: to give us an idea, a teenager can live their digital life on TikTok without needing Google, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
At that time, in this youth agora, whose videos did not exceed one minute in 2020, a hashtag emerged that was used timidly by users. they talked about literary loves and phobias with so few pretensions that some of the early videos were about how to place books for better decoration. But the hashtag was much more: creative videos that emotionally react to unpredictable endings; playlists to accompany reading; declarations of love to the characters… Suddenly, Books that had been on the market for a while were experiencing a sales boom.: E. Lockhart’s book ‘We was liars’ (Salamander) was published with modest success in 2014, but #BookTok made it a worldwide bestseller and it was recently announced that it will turn the subject of Amazon Prime Video into a series.
The literary industry was quick to realize the possibilities of this network in general and the hashtag in particular. Book and audiobook platform Scribd, Increase in demand for up to 75% of the most mentioned titles on TikTok. Almost all tags and many authors already have their own channels in this young social network. At the latest edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair, TikTok became a partner for the first time, while the Monterrey International Book Fair held a panel of experts to talk exactly about #BookTok. According to The Power of TikTok research, 67% of users who use hashtags are over the age of 25. “#BookTok is a place where books can be recommended or discovered, but also criticism is shared or fan culture is abused”, says Tobias Henning, TikTok head in Germany, Western and Eastern Europe. This hashtag turns a stand-alone action into a shared activity.
Publishers and Generation Z
Álex Gómez-Collins, Marketing and Communications Director of Grupo Anaya, from the Prensa Ibérica group to El Periódico de España, from all the traces in the house “We are well aware of the scope of the hashtag #booktok and use it as usual very positive results. However, we must not overlook the reader behind every book or fall into the idea that writing any title is a panacea.
In their case, they saw increased sales of Ali Hazelwood’s “The Chemistry of Love” and “The Love Hypothesis” and Madeleine Miller’s “The Song of Achilles” and “Circe” thanks to the rule-making power of TikTok. The latter is a paradigmatic case: it was published in 2012, recommended by user @aymansbooks (one of the pioneers of #BookTok), and some books have been sold. 10,000 copies per week.
“Proof of our commitment to TikTok is that we have launched our own channel in this social network called Hablamos de Libros, which brings together all Anaya Group stamps (Alianza Editorial, Cátedra, Adn, Oberon, Contraluz, Anaya Infantil y Juvenil, Bruño…) and specific where we include relevant books from our labels for an audience,” says Gómez-Collins. He also observed an interesting phenomenon: “Generation Z is discovering books on social networks, but going to bookstores to buy paper books. They want to see the books physically.. Reasons? The fixed price of the books does not give the online platforms a competitive advantage, on the other hand, they like to explore the book physically and evaluate the print. They also have time to go to the bookstores,” he says.
Agustín Paz, head of Social Networks and Online Activities at Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, says that “various studies on new reading habits confirm that: Generation Z loves to read and their favorite place to get information is on social networks.. This is why advice from prescribers such as ‘booktokers’, ‘bookstagrammers’ or ‘booktubers’ is so important”.
Paz confirms how useful this hashtag is for reaching young readers: “To use the hashtag #booktok, we have added #booktokespaña, which has more than 422 million views, to our page. position our books and be in the conversation; We want to connect with our readers and will be close to any account or channel that mentions the books”.
Penguin Random House was able to connect with young audiences by pressing various buttons. “The authors of Wattpad By Montena, real fan base“, notes Paz, “but we also work in other non-fiction genres such as self-help, cooking, health, and comics, or fiction, romantic narrative, thriller, and detective fiction have their own space and audience,” concludes Paz.
New stamps for new readers
The high percentage of teens who read (and use TikTok to expand their recommendations) support the creation of TBR Editorial, a new teen series created by and for teens with current writers and themes (fantasy, romance, vampires, mystery, urban). poetry, feminism, empowerment, body positivity, cockfights, illustration…). Sergio Martínez Vallejera, head of Marketing at TBR, explains to this newspaper: “Indeed, #Booktok is very popular both as a hashtag and as a community. Using it helps you position yourself and reach more people.. However, for the birth of our label’s accounts, we’re examining and testing the strength our new brand and first editorial releases can have without engaging that hashtag to confirm that our teaser campaign works when it comes to generating anticipation. But now that we have introduced ourselves, we will try to enter the conversation with the hashtag #booktok, because we are sure that will help us continue to grow. The virality that TikTok allows you to have is very good and allows us to reach a large number of readers with our books that we couldn’t even dream of years ago.”
He adds that this is the social network that best channels the fan phenomenon: “when the book comes out United States of America and it’s so successful, it goes viral right away. Sometimes even the titles that came out years ago suddenly come to the fore again thanks to the recommendations made by the readers on TikTok, which is a good indicator to know whether that book will be successful in the market. I look forward to it before it’s released.”