Are bookshops dying? Years ago, you might have wandered into a bookshop to get a recommendation, or to discover what the next up-and-coming book of the season was. But now, all it takes is some scrolling on BookTok for the unnervingly omniscient algorithm to plant a perfect recommendation right in the palm of your hand.
BookTok, for those who don’t know, is a self-proclaimed community of readers and authors on TikTok who use the app for all things book-related. This platform has revolutionised the world of book branding and marketing, especially when you consider the authors themselves utilising TikTok to promote their novels.
Victoria Aveyard and Jenny Han are among the many writers who have taken to the app to market their books in a new and innovative way. Author/reader interactions are no longer confined to book signings, but flourish in comment sections and on profile pages. The world of book branding is beginning to look very different.
But does this mean that traditional forms of book branding and promotion are dying? While it may be easier to simply scroll online, there is still joy to be found in walking into a bookshop to discover your next read. But if people only listen to recommendations they get online, then what’s the point of booksellers anymore? Is it a dying profession?
I doubt it.
BookTok reaches a very specific demographic of readers. While there are readers on BookTok who enjoy classics, or contemporary literary fiction, they tend to be heavily outnumbered by the fantasy and romance readers. This is one of the reasons why authors like Victoria Aveyard have been so successful on the app – her fantasy novels are at the heart of what BookTok loves most. The truth is, some genres are simply more suited to promotion on TikTok than others.
While I think the BookTok community is at no risk of dying out anytime soon, I think traditional channels of book branding and promotion are also alive and kicking. Our lives have become so intermingled with technology that it’s inevitable that it has changed the world of book branding. But I for one can never resist the urge to wander into a bookshop, excited about what I might find. In the world of book branding, may oth BookTok and bookshops live on.
Photo by Glen Noble on Unsplash