Social media app, TikTok has launched its first-ever Bestseller List, with female authors dominating the picks. In fact, the top twenty titles on the inaugural list are all written by female authors, with romance and romantasy novels proving very popular.
What we read is no longer being influenced solely by bookshops or bestseller lists from leading media outlets such as The New York Times Bestseller list, with creators shaping reading habits particularly for the younger generation. In fact it is now not uncommon to see books in bookstores advertised as being from ‘BookTok’.
#BookTok has more than 77 million posts, and the new bestselling chart draws from that data, compiling UK sales data alongside an analysis of the #BookTok hashtag. The list is compiled by Media Control and NielsenIQ BookData which is also responsible for other traditional charts including The Sunday Times bestseller list.
The chart will be updated monthly, and its first list is not only indicative of what books are trending but also who is reading them, with all top 20 being written by women. Rachel Reid’s gay romance, Heated Rivalry, which was recently adapted for TV comes in at number one.
Irish writer, Chloe Walsh follows at number two with Taming 7. She is also the writer who appears most frequently, with her novels Keeping 13, Saving 6, Releasing 10, Redeeming 6, and Binding 13 appearing respectively at fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, and thirteenth in the chart.
Sarah J. Maas’ House of Earth and Blood comes in at number three. While Rebecca Yarros with Onyx Storm and SenLinYu’s Alchemised complete the top ten charting at eight and ten respectively.
BookTok also has the potential to highlight titles that might otherwise go unnoticed.
BookTok influencers Kris and Mads explain: “Plenty of independent titles have caught fire with no budget and that’s down to readers who champion them.”
Lucy Stewart, deputy publishing director at Hodder & Stoughton, adds that TikTok is giving some genres greater visibility.
Romance, in particular, has seen “a huge rise in unabashed public appreciation, sales and respect thanks to the power of BookTok and its creators”.
She adds she is “in favour of more accessible celebrations of reading and book-buying”.
