TikTok has had major success in helping sell books and it looks like they plan to profit from it in the near future. Yes, you read it right, TikTok is planning to sell books directly.

They have announced partnerships with HarperCollins UK, WH Smith, Bloomsbury, and bookshop.org. Those organizations will be selling books on Tik Tok’s online marketplace.

The Rise of Booktok

The rise of BookTok, a hashtag that is centered around the book community, has helped authors like Colleen Hoover become a household name and made her a constant resident on the weekly book charts. The hashtag has reached over 90 billion views to date. Since September, users on Tik Tok have been able to tag an Penguin Random House book on their videos.

Companies Prepare to Sell Books on Tik Tok

Some companies have gotten a head start and plan to utilize the popular social media app to sell even more books.  TikTok Shop’s senior director of e-commerce Patrick Nommensen had this to say about BookTok and their new partnerships.

“It has been incredible to witness the BookTok community sharing its passion for reading, and reshaping the publishing world in the process. With these new partnerships, we’re delighted to be making it even easier for book lovers to buy the latest BookTok recommendations without ever leaving the platform, while also providing new avenues for publishers both large and small to reach their audiences.”

Nommensen added that there will be even more partnerships in thje future and said that he is and his colleagues “look forward to welcoming more merchants on to TikTok Shop UK in the future, as our platform continues to evolve as the ultimate destination for books and literature.”

Jo Surman, who is the group digital and technology director at HarperCollins UK, said: “We’ve really enjoyed the last year working with TikTok and our authors to create content engaging with the thriving TikTok community.” Selling books through the app was “the natural next step.”

Nicole Vanderbilt, the managing director at bookshop.org, had this to say aboiut their new partnership with Tik Tok: “We’re pleased to be partnering with TikTok Shop – not only to give BookTokers and their communities another way to buy from their local independent through bookshop.org, but also to help booksellers enhance their own BookTok skills.”

Will This Affect Genuine Reviews in Tik Tok?

This is obviously a smart move by publishing companies and book organizations to sell more books. TikTok is how millions of people find their next book to read. It has shown that it has a lot of influence as it has helped many books find fame. Now, it will be a little more controlled as certain books will be pushed to the forefront.

I still believe that you can’t make people like a book by just pushing it on them. The book lovers that share their favorite books will still share genuine reviews. Unlike other influencers, book lovers are passionate about their hobby and I believe that while TikTok is selling out, BookTok will still be reliable.