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For the past few years, a hashtag called BookTok has been trending in the short-form video hosting platform TikTok. As per its Wikipedia page, the term indicates a subcommunity on TikTok that’s dedicated to books/literature.
There have been millions of posts on TikTok with this hashtag, with more of them adding up each day. Moreover, the rise of BookTok, resulted in 38 times increase in the number of posts, from 2020 to 2022, according to affable.ai. It also opened doors for aspiring authors and readers.
However, according to an article by the New York Times, it looks like there is a new threat to authors and publishers of the BookTok community. And that’s none other than ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, that is contemplating entering the publishing world.
ByteDance’s Own Book Publication
Back in May, Insider reported with an article that ByteDance might be “building its own publication arm.” It also featured other information that indicated how the company has already filed for a US trademark application (in April) for a publishing entity named 8th Note Press.
It may feature several services like a full-fledged application, retail bookstores, book ordering services, publishing, etc. As of now, ByteDance has not released any statement or relevant details about its publishing operations. However, they did hire Katherine Pelz as their acquisition editor.
Amidst the discussion of ByteDance’s publishing initiatives, it seems like the authors are not very happy with it. That’s because the whole approach may affect the organic way of selling books through BookTok. The authors fear that the platform may prioritize their own books more rather than the ones that naturally gain appreciation due to BookTok.
“Nothing Too Steamy or Dark”
According to the NYTimes article, Tricia O’Malley, an award-winning author of best-selling romance books, received an offer from ByteDance back in April. The company asked for buying rights for two of her books.
The deal featured several things, including a “social media marketing campaign, royalties, and an advance of $3,500 per book — less than the titles earn every month “, as per O’Malley. Although she rejected the offer, she did accept that the offer was tempting. “The reality is that BookTok is selling books,” she added.
O’Malley also talked about the books that ByteDance was interested in. The company was more into fantasy and romance with a “wholesome, fun, and sexy” storyline. They didn’t need anything “too steamy or dark” for the stories.
Mixed Responses
Although some authors and publishers consider all this a potential threat, there are others who feel that the publishing market isn’t that easy. This could be justified by the words of Dominique Raccah, founder, president, and publisher of Sourcebook, who doesn’t seem to be much concerned about TikTok becoming a publisher.
“I’m less concerned about TikTok becoming a publisher tomorrow,” she told NY Times. “Building a publishing infrastructure that works — that’s hard.” she further added.
While there have been several reactions from TikTok users, authors, and publishers, it will be interesting to see what’s next in the book publishing world after the launch of ByteDance’s publishing company.
Will it turn out to be a nightmare for the emerging publishers/authors on TikTok? Or will it not? Well, only time will tell what happens.
What do you think?
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.