Frontlist and Backlist
Books of Toks Past, Present, and Future
Since the Frankfurt Book Fair is this week, there has been a lot of book industry news with implications for BookTok. I thought we’d cover these goings on and also talk about the way BookTok can make backlist go viral just as easily as a new release. Plus the mechanism for getting books in front of BookTok influencers and how easily that can go wrong.
Frontlist
First, Emily Henry, queen of not just BookTok but frankly all of commercial fiction, has revealed the cover for her new novel, Great Big Beautiful Life. In the September link round up for paid subscribers, we speculated about what the twist Henry teased about the plot might be, and now we (sort of) have an answer. As speculated, the book relates to Taylor Swift’s The Last Great American Dynasty and sounds like it will include historical elements related to the background of an elderly heiress and former tabloid fixture as two reporters fight for the chance to write her biography.
Read the full description in People magazine here.
Of course this news has caused a flurry of conversation on BookTok, not least of which because the plot sounds pretty similar to that of another BookTok fav, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Will this finally be the book that brings back the big historical? (probably not, it never is.)
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Next, queen of BookTok angst Jessa Hastings revealed the cover for her next book, The Conditions of Will. The book will not be part of her viral series Magnolia Parks, which is being adapted by A24 into a TV series.
Hastings has launched branding for what seems to be her own publishing company, the House of Hastings. The art on her new cover is a painting by her best friend, Emmy Lawless. I’ve long expected indie authors to launch their own boutique shingles for their (and maybe their friends’?) writing, and this seems like an interesting project to watch. This new, painterly cover certainly stands out in a market of cartoons and it will be interesting to see, what, if any, influence this aesthetic has on the next wave of BookTok branding.
The last notable cover reveal (for my purposes) this week is for the long-awaited fifth book in the Hunger Games series, Sunrise on the Reaping. The cover isn’t much of a surprise here, but I do think the enduring popularity of this series is interesting. I’ve heard from many people that are anticipating another dystopian fiction boom in the next few years, and it may very well be ushered in once again by Suzanne Collins.
Also of note, TikTok announced that their digital publishing arm, 8th Note Press, will begin to publish books in print in partnership with Zando. A logical next step for BookTok, but what will TikTok offer to set their publishing efforts apart? A specialized social team that knows exactly how the algorithm works?
Backlist
Related to another project this week, and to this wave of big book announcements, I’ve been thinking a lot about how BookTok virality is not always, and maybe even not often, tied to release date.
If I made you a list today of the books I’m hearing about the most on BookTok, a few would be new releases, but many would be long series that began publishing 5 or 10 years ago, some would be stand-alones from a year or two ago, some would be perennial favorites of the TikTok canon. Think, for instance, about The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, released in August 2023 and popping up again this fall (and probably next, just like Mariah Carey and Christmas).
Books that came out years ago can get a new life and drive backlist sales for all of an author’s titles. Sierra Simone is a good example of this - her book Priest, released in 2015, is an erotic romance about a priest breaking his vows, and yes - they do have sex on the altar of the church. This book was a minor sensation in the romance community when it came out, but it went viral on BookTok in 2022 on a much greater scale. Not because of marketing dollars or campaigns, but because a reader posted about it and it organically found its readers. Even ACOTAR fits this model - A Court of Thorns and Roses was published in 2015 and the popularity of the series was accelerated with BookTok.
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Because BookTok is predictably unpredictable, it does feel like a platform that hasn’t yet been entirely influenced by an influx of marketing dollars and PR campaigns. Swag boxes to promote new releases are sent to influencers, but do any of these books actually go viral? Will they go viral in a year or two? Who can say?
Still, there is a lot of money being exchanged, and also a lot of disappointment. Take, for instance, the case of Callie Hynes, an influencer who reviews books on BookTok. According to several authors and BookTokers, Hynes reached out to authors offering to review their books on her TikTok account for a fee. But when she posted said reviews (IF she posted said reviews), it was often clear that she hadn’t even read the book. This, understandably caused a lot of outrage. One TikTok related to the scandal has over 2 million views (see below). As if all of this weren’t enough, Hynes has announced she’s writing her own book. But who will review it?
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Imaginary Celebrity Book Club
You know who else has spotlighted books regardless of their release date leading to massive sales increases? Oprah. Part of my working theory with these newsletters is that TikTok is just a series of micro-celebrity book clubs. After all, if celebrity book clubs aren’t moving the needle with young readers, maybe it’s because they already have trusted voices providing them with book recommendations. That’s not to say that a younger celebrity like Zendaya couldn’t move the needle with Gen Z readers if she started a book club, but maybe the model has shifted a bit.
In that spirit, and in the spirit of this week’s news - what if Emily Henry had a book club? Romance authors have a longstanding culture of mutual support. Romance readers read so much, you’re not losing yourself a customer when you recommend for them to read a book by another author. So what if Emily Henry could harness the enthusiasm of her fans and share her favorite books with her audience? Many authors share recommendations in their newsletters, but let’s take it to the next level. Call me, Emily (and please send me an ARC of Great Big Beautiful Life).
I recently did an analysis of the Top 100 Bestsellers in Paranormal Romance on Amazon and found that many weren’t new release - 45% were published before 2024. There were also 6 books on the list from a series that last published in 2022. https://www.romancingthedata.com/subgenre-spotlight-paranormal-romance/
"You know who else has spotlighted books regardless of their release date leading to massive sales increases? Oprah. " Yes! Thanks for keeping BookTok in perspective.