Promoting books and encouraging reading through book influencers on TikTok

Abstract

The emergence of the new BookTok reading community has led to the appearance of the figure of the book influencer who disseminates, through their own channels and content, their literary preferences to young users interested in reading. This study analyses the communicative strategy of book influencers on TikTok. Content analysis is used to study the profiles of the main 30 Spanish book influencers and their 1,471 videos posted between 24th February and 24th April 2022 —coinciding with the International Book Day campaign— and in-depth interviews with 7 booktokers to find out their point of view in relation to their contributions to the promotion of reading and the increase in book consumption in Spain. The study concluded that book influencers collaborate with publishers due to the wide reach of their content. Furthermore, they believe that the communicative and promotional actions booktokers carry out contribute to the increase in sales and the promotion of reading.