TikTok Names First BookTok Bestseller
TikTok has named its first European BookTok Bestseller: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. BookTok, where TikTok users share their book recommendations, has been turning books into bestsellers for years, so it makes sense that it now has a chart of its own.
The top five:
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh
- Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
- The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
- Saving 6 by Chloe Walsh
Chloe Walsh was the most successful BookTok author in Europe this year. TikTok and market researcher Media Control based the ranking on in-app conversation and sales data from January to August. The list started in Germany in 2023, and the UK, Italy and Spain joined this year. Commercial fiction dominates, especially romance and romantasy.
BookTok by numbers
There are 88.4 million posts under #BookTok, making it one of the biggest communities on TikTok. (Every TikTok community gets the ‘Tok’ treatment, from CleanTok to GymTok.) TikTok also surveyed 5,000 users across 10 countries, including the UK, and found that:
- 4 in 5 readers aged 16 to 39 are more interested in reading than they were a few years ago
- 49% of BookTokers say TikTok inspired them to buy a book or audiobook
- 53% say TikTok has introduced them to new genres
- 34% went to a book event in the past year
Our take: People go to TikTok for recommendations and then buy, and that’s true for film, TV and other creative work, not just books. If you’ve got a book to promote, or could partner with a business that does, working with BookTok creators is a smart move.