Exploring BookTok’s role in book marketing and reader communities

Abstract

BookTok is a community on the social media app TikTok, which includes content dedicated to books and reading. This dissertation explores how the BookTok community has influenced the way books are marketed through user-generated content created by BookTokers. The research highlights how, apart from fostering a global reader community, BookTok has also impacted the literary landscape, including publishing houses, authors, and bookshops. Additionally, this dissertation includes a practical element in the form of a BookTok-inspired publication called “Paperbound”. This was created based on the responses gathered from qualitative email interviews which were conducted with young adults who engage with BookTok. The aim of this publication was to create a high-quality collectable that could be appreciated in the same way that special edition books are, bridging the gap between the online reading community and physical reading books. “Paperbound” is an interactive reading experience where readers have to unfold the pages themselves to be presented with the content. The key themes emerging from the literature review and the methodology are analysed by considering their relation to the design of “Paperbound”. These included findings about reader preferences and engagement with BookTok, special edition books and the significance of aesthetic appeal, insights into reader habits, and the challenges of having a printed publication inspired by an online community that is constantly evolving.