Amy Daws saw her romance novels climb to the top of bestseller lists thanks to fans’ word-of-mouth videos on BookTok.
Photos Courtesy of Amy Daws
Building a bestseller
Authors and readers use BookTok’s platform to build buzz, drive sales and share their love of books
by WENDY HELFENBAUM
Kristen McLean, an industry analyst for market information company NPD Books, noticed a significant spike in 2021 of sales of We Were Liars, a young adult book by E. Lockhart released in 2014. Since it’s rare for a previously published book to suddenly reappear on a bestseller list, McLean sought to figure out why. Eventually, she found a thank-you note the author had shared via her Twitter feed to a reader who had posted a video about the book on TikTok, under the hashtag #BookTok.
“It was a funny video about how excited [the reader] was in the middle of the book, and by the end of the book, she’s sobbing and holding the book to her chest,” says McLean, a Costco member. “I could trace a direct line between [the] video on TikTok, the hashtag for We Were Liars and many videos of people talking about the book. Collectively, that community made that book come back onto the bestseller list.”
BookTok includes readers, book reviewers, authors, publishers, librarians—anyone who works with or loves books.
In 2021, adult readers helped romance novelist Colleen Hoover get a huge sales lift through BookTok videos. By late July 2022, says McLean, BookTok author sales were 17.4 million, up 54% from 2021. The hashtag #BookTok now has 75 billion views.
“This is the first time an organic social media movement [has] impacted the market like this,” says McLean. “We’re seeing backlist books—sometimes published in the last 10 years—really get traction, purely from the enthusiasm of this community and real reader-to-reader passion.”
Self-published authors are also benefiting from the platform. Costco member Mary Warren, whose first novel came out in September, began posting reviews on BookTok while promoting her online community, Fat Girls in Fiction.
“BookTok gives voices to marginalized people. Readers tend to be introverted, but we love talking about books,” says Warren, who lives in Peoria, Illinois. “Because I built a following doing that before releasing my novel, I’m having unexpected success.”
Costco member Amy Daws, a romance novelist in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, credits BookTok with getting many of her 22 books onto the top of bestseller lists. She uses the platform to engage with fans and promote her books by reading excerpts.
“It was exciting to meet new readers I hadn’t been able to reach through [other means],” says Daws. “BookTok has elevated my career. I’ve learned a lot from Book-Tokkers about how to market my books and what readers are looking for.”
Wendy Helfenbaum is a Montreal-based freelance writer and TV producer.
Costco Connection: A multi-publisher BookTok pallet will be in all Costco warehouses beginning 11/21.