Why BookTok is Thriving
As Substack Fiction writers flock to TikTok, "Lightlark" moments arrive for a chosen few.
Image: Alex Aster: ‘It hurt to get all those rejections.’ Photograph: Jennifer Trahan (as seen on this Guardian post).
Hey Guys,
I’m not a fiction writer, I don’t serialize my books on Substack. But TikTok is fueling growth for a number of different kind of micro-niche creators including fiction writers and legit book authors.
Views of the TikTok hashtag cross the 70-billion mark
A simple hashtag called #BookTok has gone sort of viral as book marketing now occurs on TikTok.
From App to Paper-Back: TikTok is Spurring more reading among Teens
I don’t know if artists need social media, but fiction writers do need more exposure. Especially if they write for a younger audience TikTok can certainly be an outlet.
This is such a crazy story.
I’m a bit nervous to even given this point of view.
TikTok has created by design or by luck, a few super-starts in the field now.
According to the Guardian article, after she was dropped by her agent, Alex Aster turned to a books-obsessed corner of TikTok to gauge interest in her YA novel … and now Lightlark is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year.
If you are curious how this author has leveraged TikTok, see her profile there here.
https://www.tiktok.com/@alex.aster
I’m glad to see #BookTok is working for someone out there, and perhaps besides our Substack success story Elle.
It’s important to be aware of what is happening, how to leverage TikTok for Newsletters? Is there a Newsletter about this?
This CBC article explores the topic as well.
TikTok always had huge potential as an EdTech platform and this appears to be what is occurring with the #BookTok movement. Here is a compilation I found on YouTube (Video)
New media for authors has to actually include where young readers might hang out.
Curiously Lightlark’s ratings on Goodreads isn’t very high.
#BookTok phenomenon and award-winning author Alex Aster delivers readers a masterfully written, utterly gripping YA fantasy novel.
Is TikTok manufacturing winners here or is it really organic? I cannot tell. All platforms to some extent pick the winners, whether through promotions or other kinds of bias. This isn’t just algorithmic-bias. The beauty bias is a really powerful driver of human behavior especially in an “entertainment” app like TikTok, and I have to wonder if this is skewing who gets noticed on #BookTok
As per the August, 18th, 2022 CBC article:
The Indigo bookstore chain is crediting #BookTok, a subcommunity on the TikTok app, for creating a resurgence of interest in books and boosting its quarterly revenue nearly 20 per cent.
Indigo Books & Music Inc. released its first quarter results last week, reporting revenue jumped to $204.6 million from $172.1 million last year.
Clearly this is a real trend, but why is it going viral?
Azra Çelik is a 12-year-old reader who visited a Calgary bookstore recently due to #BookTok. (Saloni Bhugra/CBC).
TikTok is clearly influencing the behavior of young people today and young new readers as well.
I can’t quite tell if we are hyping up Writers here or if we are praising TikTok.
Certainly most writers won’t go viral like Alex did.
But for poor creative writers, maybe they could be the next Lightlark?
On Substack we have witnessed book clubs, some authors serialize their books here in paid subs, some authors interview other authors. Other writers hyping the potential of NFT monetization schemes.
But nothing like TikTok! New retailer partnerships, live events and book clubs are all planned to capitalize on the platform’s vibrant community of literature lovers. For TikTok, this is a social commerce play at the intersection of Educational technology. This is the real deal.
Can Books go Viral or is it the Authors?
Good marketing and PR for Lightlark much? It hits shelves on 23 August, and BookTok – a thriving sub-community of avid readers on TikTok – is going crazy for this story which hits the sweet spot between the deadly competition of The Hunger Games, and the “romantasy” of Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Lightlark is listed as a #1 Bestseller now on Amazon.
You can even follow the author on Amazon:
It appears that TikTok and Amazon Ads would then be the most ideal for fiction writers. If going viral is not your cup of tea?
Kind of a WTF Moment
The hashtag itself now has 71 billion views on TikTok. Maybe more by the time you are reading this.
Our twelve year old basically told CBC:
"I wasn't a big reader before BookTok. Seeing a lot of recommendations gets you into reading," she said.
So BookTok is then the modern day word-of-mouth mechanism.
But TikTok benefits hugely from this hype so they can make them go more viral as well! Which leads to more deals and more #BookTok fame and hype which leads to more Lightlarks.
Hunger Games Meets Avatar with a Diverse Inclusive Caste
‘I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to be a part of this community.’ - Alex Aster
Says the charming author - the cover reveal was recently in Time Square.
This whole thing is truly fascinating! And I’m not even a fiction writer.
If one of Substack’s leading fiction writers Elle has like 6,000 free subscribers on Substack, Alex Aster is an indigenous-Latino author. Alex has nearly 1 million followers now on TikTok and is friends with other influencers on TikTok.
All of a sudden Alex featured on NBC News, Bustle, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Shondaland, and Good Morning America, among many others.
Alex now has a lot of one star reviews, who are feeding on the controversy (see the YouTube about that).
Her movie rights have already been bought for 7 figures reportedly. Her TikTok appears super promotional. It’s lame if writers need to degrade themselves to this point in the hopes of going viral.
It is super fishy. (from the very little I know about it).
How people of color are included in the inclusion and diversity of the characters in the book are part of the hype. It’s down to 2 out of 6 in reality.
The book marketing intersection with TikTok feels super toxic. Even if this young woman has gone viral.
Lightlark is going to change how we see #BookTok and how Substack fiction writers view branding.
Thanks for reading!