What is BookTok and How to Harness It as an Author

by Penny Sansevieri

Have you stumbled upon the shelves called “Recommended by BookTok” in your bookstores? If you have, you’re probably wondering what BookTok is and how you can be featured on it.

For those of you who haven’t downloaded the short-form video app, TikTok, you might be unfamiliar with how the different categories work and what kind of content is created. You might also not know how influential BookTokkers are on the platform.

BookTokkers can turn self-published novels into overnight successes. How can they do that? More importantly, how can you be one of these success stories? Here’s what I know.

What is BookTok?

BookTok, at its most basic, is a hashtag that grew in popularity on TikTok in August 2020. Users shared books, book recommendations, or their colorful bookshelves using the #booktok hashtag and the rest, as they say, is history.

The #BookTok hashtag is an innovative platform that enables authors to promote their books and gain a larger readership. It’s a great way to reach an engaged audience of potential readers hungry for books like yours, as well as to connect with influencers and other authors who can help promote you and your book or build your network.

Even if authors do not have a robust TikTok profile, they can still take advantage of BookTok’s unique features to market their book.

Understanding the Demographics of TikTok

Being a relatively new app, TikTok is primarily popular with the GenZ crowd, but according to Wallaroo Media these numbers are changing fast. In fact, while 60% of its users are between 16 and 24, 80% are between the ages of 16 and 34 and 26% are between the ages of 24 and 44. These numbers are growing as older users start to find their way onto the platform. Much like what happened to Facebook and Instagram, as social media sites grow in popularity, they start to pull in a wider variety of users.

Now let’s explore various creative and effective ways that authors can market their book on BookTok, regardless of their TikTok presence.

Creating Engaging Content to Propel Your #Booktok Success

The first step in marketing your book on BookTok is creating eye-catching content. You can post short-form videos or a collection of images on TikTok, so there are more content forms to work with. Regardless of content type, your content should be unique, interesting, and engaging. It should also have an element of surprise and provide value to your followers.

To make sure your content is of high quality, you should focus on the details. Look for ways to add extra elements to your content, such as text and animation. You can also experiment with different video lengths and formats and use editing tools to make your videos more visually appealing. The essential for high quality on TikTok and any video is good lighting.

Once you have created your content, you should post it regularly and continuously create more. This will help you stay top of mind with your followers and increase the chances that they will engage with your content. You can also try to repurpose content from other platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, to maximize your reach.

Building Relationships with Other Authors on TikTok

In addition to creating engaging content, you should also focus on building relationships with other authors. This is an important part of marketing your book on BookTok (or any platform, really), as authors can support each other and help promote each other’s work.

There are several ways to do this. You can start by commenting on other authors’ posts and engaging with them on their videos. If you’re feeling more social, you can also reach out to other authors directly to see if they would like to collaborate on a project.

By promoting your favorite books once in a while and tagging their authors, you can indirectly build relationships in a way that immediately shows reciprocity.

Using Analytics to Track Performance on TikTok

Once you have created content and started building relationships with other authors, you should track the performance of your campaigns. As with any marketing campaign, your metrics will show you what’s working and what isn’t.

BookTok has an analytics feature that allows you to track the engagement, reach, and performance of your campaigns. You can also view the demographics of your followers and the performance of individual posts. This information can help you refine your campaigns and ensure that you are targeting the right audience. Maybe you’ll find that your more meme-y and fun posts work better than informational posts do.

Leveraging Influencers on TikTok

Influencers can be a great way to reach a larger audience and increase the visibility of your book. By partnering with influencers and offering them a free copy of your book, you can get your work in front of their followers and potentially increase your sales.

To find influencers to work with, you can search for hashtags related to your book or look for authors in your genre. You can also reach out to influencers who have a large following and are active on BookTok. Keep in mind though that some influencers charge you to promote your book on their platform. Not all do, but for some it’s become a very lucrative business!

Catching on Trends and Hashtags on TikTok

By leveraging popular trends and hashtags, you can increase your reach and potentially get more people to discover your book.

When using trends and hashtags, you should make sure they are relevant to your book. For example, if you promote a fantasy novel, you might use the hashtag #fantasybooks. You should also make sure to use trending hashtags and audios, as this will help you reach a larger audience.

Popular trends on TikTok include meme-y videos based on popular sounds, dances, and how-to’s, which are all things you can apply to your marketing efforts if relevant. Try scrolling to see what video trends are most popular right now and replicate it with your content!

Ready, Set, Go BookTok Promotion

You don’t need thousands of followers for BookTok to be a beneficial and lucrative marketing platform for you. All you need are a couple of trends to hop on, some boldness to reach out to influencers and authors, and a little data tracking to get you started.

Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.