A lot of influencer marketing comes from people engaged with topics of broad interest, like fashion, travel, cosmetics, fitness, and … literature? A subsection on TikTok, popularly referred to as “BookTok,” demonstrates the potential for influencers—who also might be authors—to exert meaningful influences in various consumer markets.

A notable example involves Keila Shaheen, a 25-year-old author from Texas whose self-published, self-help book, The Shadow Work Journal, came out in 2021. After it had been available for a few years, a TikTok user named Kohn Glay bought it from Shaheen’s page, read it, then posted video review of the book that went viral, amassing more than 58 million views and more than 40,000 sales of the book sold through TikTok alone. These sales earned Glay commissions worth approximately $150,000. For Shaheen, the author, the viral marketing earned her a five-book deal with Simon & Schuster, including a seven-figure advance. 

Once the book became a bestseller on Amazon, traditional sellers and publishers could no longer ignore the trend. As one agent put it, “she achieved a million copies sold in the United States alone, without a publisher, without any international expansion, without brick and mortar support, it breaks all the rules of what makes a best seller.”

Notably, Glay attained access to The Shadow Work Journal only after TikTok introduced its internal retail platform, which enabled him not only to purchase Shaheen’s self-published guide but also promote it to others. For this success story, Shaheen served as the author and initial influencer; TikTok provided the necessary marketing channel; and Glay supplemented the virality by acting as a separate, complementary influencer.  

Other versions of social media marketing on BookTok instead appear somewhat more traditional. Fans of popular series by already best-selling authors, such as the Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas, actively promote new offerings from the author. The affiliate links on their pages mean that they benefit from the personal satisfaction of helping other readers find a new literary obsession but also in the form of commissions that support their influencer careers. Furthermore, TikTok’s affiliate program explicitly offers greater rewards and higher commissions to influencers who discover viral products, rather than just promoting established authors.

Publishers in turn have developed plans for monitoring social media accounts closely, trying to find the next big book, popular already with influencers and likely to gain wider adoption due to their influence. But is such a marketing strategy sustainable for publishers? Can they really find another bright light like The Shadow Work Journal, able to spark millions of sales, or is such a tactic more like looking for clues in the shadows?

Discussion Questions

1. What are some other tactics that publishers can leverage, involving influencers on TikTok, to increase book sales? What ideas might they take from influencer marketing in other markets (e.g., travel, fitness)?

Sources: Alexandra Alter, “How a Self-Published Book, ‘The Shadow Work Journal,’ Became a Best Seller,” The New York Times, May 30, 2024; Sophia Stewart, “How TikTok Makes Backlist Books into Bestsellers,” Publishers Weekly, September 3, 2021; Theara Coleman, “#BookTok: Is TikTok Changing the Publishing Industry?” The Week, December 8, 2022; OpenAI ChatGPT, “Assistance with Research on Social and Mobile Marketing in Book Sales,” ChatGPT, July 7, 2024.