Canbury lands Stokel-Walker on TikTok

Canbury Press has landed TikTok, China and the Superpower Battle for Social Media by Chris Stokel-Walker.

The publisher acquired world rights, acquired directly from the author for publication in the first half of 2021.

It sees Stokel-Walker, a journalist and author of 2019's YouTubers: How YouTube Shook Up TV and Created a New Generation of Stars (Canbury), tell the inside story of the rapidly growing app's success for the first time.

The publisher said: “Over the course of several years, he has interviewed scores of people connected to the world’s hottest app, including current and former employees, as well as some of TikTok’s biggest names in front of and behind the lens, gleaning never-before-seen insights as to how the new influencer ecosystem works. And as talks of a ban become more widespread, Stokel-Walker plots its potential downfall as the weight of geopolitics looms over the platform and its founder, Yiming Zhang.”

Canbury's director of sales and marketing, Katharine Nelson, said: “We couldn't be happier to have a new book from Chris on our list, especially one on such a timely and controversial topic.”