TikTok made us find them

As we reach the end of 2022, it’s fair to say that anyone who works in publishing will have referenced TikTok easily a hundred times, in acquisition meetings, campaign strategy discussions and during author meetings. It’s clear it’s helped to drive backlist titles and introduce new readers to genres that aren’t an obvious commercial success — but in addition to making more people readers, it’s also turning more people into publishers.

Recent experiences at S&S UK show that it’s not only bringing us writers, but also providing a crucial new pipeline of diverse staff and we need to grasp the opportunity. We must acknowledge the challenges that we’re facing as an industry, from paper costs and print delays to a rising cost of living and our never ceasing workloads – but while it’s easy to get lost in the negativity, we should also celebrate the great things that are happening, even if they feel like small wins behind the scenes.

We recently hired Inayah Shah, as an assistant in our marketing and publicity team. She came to us through an internship programme aimed at helping us to diversify our staff and made a huge impression on everyone she worked with throughout her internship. She was one of a several candidates who we interviewed for the position, and the feedback from every single applicant was that they had heard of our books in the real world, and so they felt like S&S would be a good home for them to start their careers. We cannot underestimate the value that this has on the upcoming generation who are finding their place in this industry. It’s providing us with a real opportunity to enact change, and we need to channel it meaningfully.

Using this social media channel has offered power directly to readers in a way that we haven’t seen before. It’s allowing them to see publishing as an industry in which they have every right to exist and contribute

Following the success of The Spanish Love Deception, Molly Crawford, commissioning editor at S&S UK acquired author Ella Maise. Having already found a big following in the self-published romance community, Crawford was surprised to find Maise had never considered traditional publishing – fearing the rejection would dissuade her from pursuing her dreams. 

Crawford says: "BookTok is the most hopeful thing I’ve encountered in my time in publishing. A new generation of readers totally certain of what they want in books. Previously we’ve seen a snobbery around genre fiction and felt the need to clarify that certain books rise above the specifics of their genre. But publishers filling their lists with successful and unashamed genre fiction speaks to a wider market finally getting the books they want."

As in industry, we’re constantly facing a battle as we know people will be spending less on comforts and luxuries, but Tess Simpson at Toppings in Edinburgh says: "We have seen an unmistakable rise in people coming in for books that become popular on TikTok. These include big sellers such as Colleen Hoover, and Taylor Jenkins Reid, but what is interesting is that the biggest sellers have been older titles. After Toshi Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold went viral on TikTok last February, we saw a sales increase of a whopping 1,332.4% and that has remained consistent since. This consistency holds true for a lot of titles that become popular on TikTok — sales remain high for most of these titles even months after the first wave of videos. The power of TikTok is in readers recommending books to each other in a space not dominated by advertisers or publishers — it is truly the readers who have power and are finding and recommending books that are surprising to publishers and booksellers alike."

It’s a clear and resounding message – using this social media channel has offered power directly to readers in a way that we haven’t seen before. It’s allowing them to see publishing as an industry in which they have every right to exist and contribute, where perhaps before they couldn’t get a foot in the door or didn’t even know it existed.

Sarah Higgins is currently working at Quarto, as a publishing assistant. She’s an apprentice with LDN and began this stint in July. She also admits to being captivated with Tik Tok, using it every single day, and having 63k likes on her SazIsReading account. She got back into reading after watching "Shadow & Bone" and wanted to get some more recommendations in the genre. She started liking things and was led to BookTok where she found someone who had done the apprenticeship before her.

"I never thought about a career in publishing, but it showed me that if someone gave me a chance, maybe it would be possible. I’m hoping to now use my own channel to post about publishing and use it as a way of offering advice and inspiration to a new generation. Being new to the industry, I can safely say that I’ve seen publishing is moving with the times – a change is coming. There’s such negativity around social media but if it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t be where I am now."

Coco Hagi, editorial assistant at Century, also found her way into the industry via social media. She joined TikTok in December 2020 and used her channel as a way of advocating for characters and writers of colour, ensuring fellow readers could see themselves reflected in stories. She was then approached by PRH to be part of its Lit In Colour programme, and began helping them to create social media content, while building important and lasting publishing relationships.

She says: "I didn’t think it would be so accessible to me, and I know how hard it is for people to break into publishing. Having a presence on social media means I have an insider relationship with readers and now that I’m part of the industry, I want to find my own place in publishing. I want to be reflective of my community because I know how hard it can be, but I also know first-hand that publishing will embrace you."

I posted about writing this article on my Twitter, seeking out people who would be interested in talking to me if they came to the world of publishing via social media. I’m not sure what I was anticipating but the response was so overwhelmingly positive – I really think we’re onto something. Now it’s about taking that talent and supporting our people and our writers so that we can be an industry proud of the changes we’re making.