For Book Lover’s Day on August 9, TikTok has launched a challenge for all book lovers. The #BookTok challenge invites book lovers to create book-themed content such as reviews, reading lists and recommendations on TikTok for a chance to win special rewards.
The challenge will last for the entire month from today, August 9th, where people can participate by uploading videos with the #BookTok hashtag.
By posting videos with the #BookTok hashtag, creators stand a chance to receive special rewards, making this event a celebration of the global #BookTok community.
Apart from book reviews and recommendations, people can also create videos about other related content such as book vs movie comparisons, reading vlogs, book swapping, book and music pairings, favourite book-reading spots, creating outfits based on the fashion of book characters and more.
BookTok, a portmanteau of Book TikTok, refers to the reader’s community on TikTok which took off on the platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The community first started off as a hashtag and now has evolved into one of Tiktok’s most popular communities, according to TikTok. It also claims to hold the title of “the biggest book club on the planet”.
The community’s popularity has brought back life to the reading culture and changed the landscape of the publishing industry. It has also been credited with reviving book sales in physical stores.
Read more: Lessons for brands from the success of BookTok
Authors have also utilised the community and platform to create and join the conversation about their books to establish followings and promote their work.
The regional #BookTok effect
The #BookTok hashtag has amassed more than 160 billion global all-time views and 1.5 billion views in the MENA region in the past six months.
“The #BookTok community serves as a vibrant hub for literary enthusiasts,” says Kinda Ibrahim, Regional General Manager of Operations and Marketing, TikTok.
“We’re thrilled to witness the immense impact of #BookTok in reigniting the love for reading and supporting the creative industries worldwide. Through TikTok’s powerful platform, we aim to continue innovating and nurturing a global community of book lovers.”
Several readers from the MENA region have also become part of the community as creators, focusing on Gen Z preferences and reading habits.
Some of the popular creators in the region include Bookaffe (@bookaffe) and Toqa Hossam (@toqahossam07) from Egypt, Israa (@Read_with_israa) from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia’s Sarah (@readingbysarah) and Yara @abookinmyhand, and Omani Azhar Al Kindi’s (@azhar.reads).
TikTok has also partnered with local and regional events such as the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and Al-Sharqiya Book Fair in Saudi Arabia in the past with the aim to support the #BookTok creator economy.
It also supported the creators by inviting them to attend Alexandria book fair and meet up with the major publishers participating in the fair.
Meanwhile, here are other ways that Book Lover’s Day is being celebrated in the UAE.
