By Ellyn Duncan for the ABC
New Zealander Aaliyah read more than 80 books last year - but she hasn't always been such an avid reader.
A New Zealand creator now shares her content with 200,000 followers on BookTok. Photo: AFP
"I probably read like one, two books a year and then five Wattpad [publisher of young adult novels] books - the same ones over and over," she says.
With lockdowns in New Zealand, the university student suddenly had a lot of free time on her hands.
Scrolling TikTok, she found a video that caught her eye. Then another. And another.
Before her was the online world of "BookTok" - within months, she had become one of its most popular creators.
What is BookTok?
For those who may not have yet stumbled across this corner - or shelf - of the internet, BookTok is a community of voracious readers and book nerds across the globe who share what they're consuming.
It's constantly evolving, with nearly limitless opportunity for creative content, the defining feature is that it relates in some way to a book.
Videos can range from things like simple book reviews, or lists of recommendations based on your favourite genre, to the books to read when you need a good cry.
In some cases, you'll be presented with someone appearing to recount a personal tale - only to discover it is, in fact, the plot of a book.
"I think a lot of books become their own trends as well. Like Leigh Bardugo, Colleen Hoover and Sarah J Maas," says Aaliyah.
They're often sparked by viral sounds or memes, are fierce and fleeting - changing as quickly as week to week.
Who will I find in this community?
TikTok as a platform is huge. It is estimated there are around one billion active users across the globe.
While there is no official figure on the number of "BookTok-ers", you've only got to jump onto the app and start scrolling to see the sheer size of this fast-growing community.
With a broad range of genres represented, Aaliyah says, there is something for every bookworm.
Engagement can be as little as watching a video, all the way through to creating content yourself.
Creators such as Aaliyah have been able to amass huge audiences.
Her TikTok account, @aaliyahreads, was established in mid 2020. By November, she had a following of around 10,000, a slow climb, she told ABC's The Drum.
"And then, once you hit 10k, you really start spiralling upwards, more and more."
By May 2021, @aaliyahreads had reached 100,000 followers. She now shares her content with more than 200,000.
Her popular videos garner hundreds of thousands of views. Some, more than a million.
She keeps across current trends and adapts viral ideas to ensure her content is fresh and relatable.
"How do you turn something that wasn't book-related at all, and flip it on its head to make book lovers be like, 'Oh my gosh, that's hilarious'?
"It's literally insane. One video that took you three seconds to make, that's going to go viral over something that took two hours. That's just how TikTok is."
Beyond her success as a content creator, Aaliyah says the platform has also been a source of new friendships - primarily long-distance.
"Some of my closest friends now are from America."
What books make it big on BookTok?
Aaliyah's current genre of choice is YA - young adult - fantasy. She finds the themes and storylines are a fun escape from the day-to-day.
"But I'll also read the popular stuff on BookTok, just so I can keep up with the content and what people are reading," she says.
Penguin Random House Australia's head of digital, Michael Windle, says he's seeing a mix of fan favourites: from fiction, to more recently non-fiction works such as motivational memoirs, to the classics.
"It's not just about the books themselves, but it's also what it is to be a reader," Windle says. "What it is to be someone who's got too many books, but still keeps on buying more books."
It's not uncommon for the BookTok community to breathe new life into previously released works.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a great example of this. Originally published in 2017, it's one of several novels from author Taylor Jenkins Reid that have been picked up by TikTok audiences.
That resurgence in popularity seemed to translate into sales, with reports that publishers also saw a boom in sales throughout 2021.
Fans now eagerly await the next chapter, with talks of the novel being adapted for the screen.
It's not just readers paying attention
US audiobook subscription service Scribd says its data highlights the power of popularity on BookTok.
"What's most notable is following an 18 percent decline in reading before any BookTok attention, books highlighted in TikTok saw an average 75 percent spike after promotion on that platform," it noted in its 2021 Year in Review.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was even highlighted as a top performer for the service, recording a 72 percent jump in readers in the space of a few months.
Taylor Jenkins Reidhas seen sales of her 2017 novel jump by 75 percent after it was promoted on BookTok. Photo: AFP
Players in the industry have seen this potential and jumped on it.
Online retailers such as Dymocks and US-based Barnes & Noble each have webpages dedicated to the popular books of the moment.
Penguin's Windle says BookTok came to his attention early in 2020.
"If you've ever closed a book and thought, 'Oh, I really need to talk to someone about this!', that's where TikTok was," he explained.
"We started seeing BookTok come through, and we started being asked about it."
The space became another way for the publisher to "listen" to readers. After a while, the team came together to start their own account.
"Whereas some of the other platforms are really produced - the perfectly placed book on the perfect duvet and framed really nicely - [on TikTok] people were sharing their enthusiasm for books in their PJs," Windle said.
"It can't be planned out too much, it can't be too contrived … the approach we've taken is just capture fun when fun's happening.
For Aaliyah, the business side of TikTok has been a learning experience - but she's staying focused on what books best fit her own interests, and those of her ever-growing audience.
"I want to be known for being authentic, that I am being honest when I say I love a book."
-ABC
