From book talk to BookTok

avatar
by Jacob Solomon Nov 27, 2022 News
From book talk to BookTok

PUBLISHED November 27, 2022

KARACHI:

Everyone has a different meaning to relaxation and leisure. Some of us become couch potatoes and watch TV, while others glue their eyes to their phones and float into their world of CandyCrush, Game of Drones, and other social media. There are people who open a big, fat book and decide to go somewhere else. A big part of the lives of book lovers is reading and they love to do it wherever and whenever they can.

Video killed the radio star, the emergence of communities such as Bookstagram, and Booktube tell a different story, contrary to the belief that social media killed our love for books. Over 825 million print books were sold in the US in the year of the waning of the Pandemic, an annual increase of 9%.

BookTok is a group on TikTok that caters to people who like to read. It hasPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWiki, despite the flak it gets for its 'cringe' factor, hasPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWiki, despitePukiWikiPukiWiki,PukiWiki, despitePukiWiki. TikTok is quite popular in Pakistan and makes news headlines for a variety of reasons.

People who find it hard to believe that a social media platform for short and light-heart videos can encourage an activity like reading are in for a surprise.

The BookTok community was formed in 2020 and has exploded with a growing number of readers who post book reviews and engage with authors.

On International Literacy Day in September, TikTok launched their trend #BookTok in Pakistan with an aim to revive the love of reading, literature and poetry. The trend has attracted book lovers and publishers, many of whom have showcased their books on this platform.

It is possible to book tote for authors.

As a child, we pick up on the habit of reading. We don't get to read as much when we grow up due to other forms of entertainment and social media hogging most of our time.

A global campaign to encourage the love of reading, learning and literature has been created by TikTok. The local campaign focuses on young adults who share book recommendations, thereby facilitating a cross-pollination of readers, and creating more visibility for this new book community, since book lovers in Pakistan have a historical affinity for literature and poetry.

Since its launch in Pakistan, #BookTok has created 298,000 videos from readers, publishers, known and self-published authors.

Arif is a self-published author. The 18-year-old uses a variety of social media platforms to promote her books. One platform where Arif believes she can get free promotion of her books is TikTok.

Arif says that he has been making BookToks for a long time. The popularity of BookTok has helped increase my audience.

Arif has self-help books that are popular on Book Tok. She says that she usually shares a few things from her books. The attention and visibility my books get is directly converted into sales by linking my website to my TikTok account.

Initially, she posted for fun and shared her favourite books, but as time went on, she realized that the views increased steadily. She decided to post daily after her video got over 10,000 likes.

She says that how you deliver your content on TikTok matters. Many people approach me at my university because they've seen my content on TikTok and found out what my books are about. This is how I found out that TikTok can help sell books.

In May of last year, Arif was a panelist on the Digital Marketing Consortium and discussed the effectiveness of BookTok and how BookTokers are a growing community online.

Readers can get BookTok for free.

Millions of readers post about what they have read and recommend books. Readers watch author's videos and buy books based on their recommendations. Publishers can add books, readers can discuss the book, and the publisher's book link can be added to the video. A separate page is created for a book that has a description and reviews.

A young book enthusiast named Nameera Humayun came across a girl talking about books while scrolling on TikTok. She discovered the world of Book Tokers after studying the girl's profile and content. Millions of BookTokers were discovered by Humayun. We are all connected through books. Book Tokers use in-app filters to talk about books.

Humayun continued to add books to her to be read list. She decided to make her own BookToks since her account was all about books. She says that she started making videos for book recommendations, book trends, guessing the book title, and other things. I use BookTok to show my love for books and I post daily.

There is something for everyone at Book Tok. Humayun likes to step out of her comfort zone and explore different book genres.

Everything is gold on Book Tok.

Out of the millions of users on TikTok, someone starts talking about an old and forgotten book, others join in, and it's going to be a big topic.

Sameer Saleem is the head of Liberty books. He says that BookTok has given a new life to books that were published over a decade ago. People are asking for those books after discovering them on BookTok.

Some books that were published a decade ago became popular again because of BookTokers. She says that some publishers had to print 10,000 copies a month. The authors who promoted their books on BookTok did well.

Publishers can use BookTok.

Specialised #BookTok and #TikTokMadeMeIt booths were created in the book stores. Liberty bookstore found a large group of book lovers under one roof and also got to know their opinions on specific books without having to conduct a survey to find out what genres interest them.

Saleem explained his company's motivation for the booths, saying that they came across BookToks and started making videos of the books. We found out that the books the customers wanted in stores were recommendations from TikTok. The people buying books from BookTok shelves are between the ages of 15 and 27.

The book requests were included in a special section of the store and online. Saleem said other social media platforms are popular for book recommendations. The added benefit is that people can find where to buy books.

Arif thinks that BookTok is an easier and faster way to market a book. She says it's a great way to help people find their next read because it tells them about recent releases and what the hype is all about.

In Pakistan, the future of BookTok will be decided.

BookTok is quickly becoming popular as readers, authors and publishers discover new ways to use the platform less than three months after its launch in Pakistan.

Saleem talked about his company's plan to educate readers about the drawbacks of book piracy on BookTok. Hopefully, we will talk to a larger audience here that a book that has missing or swapped chapters is not a good book and that it damages the authors royalties.

BookToks are fun and an exciting way to pick a book. Arif plans to create as much TikTok content as possible to give value and knowledge to the younger generation that dominates TikTok.

BookTok can be taken to the next level if she is tested with it. She says she will be uploading BookToks every day and connecting with them.

Only a few publishers from Pakistan are on the site. Once they get their books on TikTok, use book links and videos links and create dedicated book lists, which will serve as a free marketing tool for those who cannot afford to get their book published and marketed otherwise. BookTok can't stop talking about books, and is here to stay, despite the huge potential of this trend.