​Social media is growing, but the art of reading isn’t. The big question in the reading community right now is: Is BookTok ruining the publishing industry?​

BookTok refers to the community of readers on the social media platform TikTok. I believe that social media is making reading more popular, and a lot of authors use it as a way to promote their books. Not to mention, BookTok is bringing people together and building communities that are talking and creating content on social media.

One of the biggest reasons that BookTok is so big to begin with is because of the community of readers who want to talk about what book they may be reading or share any book-related materials with their viewers. Books are now getting adaptations, and indie authors are becoming more well-known, which is amazing for both new and established authors. 

​One of the most notable authors to gain their start from BookTok would be Rebecca Yarros, who is the author of “Fourth Wing,” the first novel in a fantasy series that took fans by storm. This was not only due to the fact that Yarros promoted her novels on TikTok and other social media platforms, but also because the fans did as well.

​In addition, TikTok is giving bookstores more attention as people talk about different issues regarding large-scale corporations like Amazon.

As the largest bookseller in the world, according to The Notion, it controls over 50 percent of the online and offline book printing market. This means if a smaller author’s book isn’t sold on Amazon, they won’t be as popular as many authors who do have their books sold on the platform. 

Larger publishing agencies such as Penguin Random House are afraid to retaliate against the large corporation for fear of their titles being removed from the Amazon platform. Amazon has, in many instances, delayed shipping of books and removed the buy button from different titles due to retaliation from publishers. This can further lessen revenue. 

So yes, it may cost more to buy books from bookstores; however, brick-and-mortar bookstores will inevitably help the author in the end due to their having more control over the books being published and sold. 

Bookstores are becoming less popular, and bigger chains such as Barnes & Noble are losing more business due to Amazon. In response, many bookstores are putting up displays of books popular on social media, which is bringing in more customers. The Barnes & Noble on the Boulevard is taking part in this, and while many students go there to study, grab a coffee, or grab that textbook for class, they don’t want to buy. I would highly recommend checking out their book section and seeing what books are popular at the moment.

​Authors who are more involved on social media and also hold meet and greets and events at bookstores, which people gravitate towards as well. 

For example, Lauren Roberts, the Author of the “Powerless” series, is making more appearances both online and face-to-face in bookstores, which is helping her build her fan base within the fantasy community.

​Many people don’t get into reading until later in their lives, and most of those people now only begin because of the content they are consuming on social media. College students are easily influenced, so when it comes to popular books or any form of social media content, they want to see what the hype is about. Many readers now find their love of reading because of what they see on social media.

Whether you like reading or not, social media is forever changing the book world, so let’s embrace reading and save the dying art one post at a time!

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