BookTok: Horsham bookshops see rise in young people buying novels thanks to TikTok phenomenon

#BookTok is a section of the social media platform which has seen users post short videos inspired by the books they love. The phenomenon started at the beginning of Covid and has been gathering momentum ever since.

Rosie Talbot, a Horsham Waterstones employee and ‘Booktoker’, said: “I'm not sure who the first person was to speak about books on TikTok, but essentially #BookTok is reviewers, readers, booksellers, librarians and authors all coming together and talking about books.

“I think it’s quite a large part of the community and has had a massive impact on sales.”

The trend was first noticed in the UK in the summer of 2020, after the first lockdown, and Rosie agrees this was when she first noticed a trend appearing in the shop.

She said: “It’s hard to pinpoint an exact time because of Covid we were partially closed and partially open for a long time. But certainly the biggest impact and jump we noticed with people coming in and requesting titles they had seen on #BookTok was after the first lockdown when we reopened.

“That’s when we saw a much higher number of younger readers and people in their twenties specifically asking for books they had seen on the platform.”

It was also apparent in the district’s independent stores - as Gudrun Bowers from Steyning Bookshop explained: “The book that made me realise this phenomenon was during the summer of 2020, with a book called They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera.

“That came out in 2017 and we had sold two copies in three years, but in 2020 quite a few teenagers came in and ordered this book.

“It got me wondering why they were all ordering this books that came out three years ago, after the publicity had ended and there had been no Netflix series made of it.”

Some Booktokers - predominantly young women - have amassed billions of views with their book reviews turning novels into best-sellers within days.

Now, shops like the Horsham Waterstones have dedicated stands to young readers filled with popular TikTok books, with Rosie stating that Fantasy, Young Adult and Romance novels had been a particular success.

BookTook books that have seen a rise in sales at the Horsham Waterstones include:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Rosie said: “There are certain genres that seem to do very very well on #BookTok - Fantasy, Young Adult and Romance in particular. There are all types of books on #BookTok, but those communities are particularly strong, where we have seen the impact on the store.

“We always had quite a strong teen readership, but we have seen that number increase and people who have come in and said ‘Oh I haven't read much for a few years but I saw this book and all my friends are reading it and I want to try it.