TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms, has been attempting to sell books from their creators and vice versa. Now, they are trying to publish them as well. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, are working to create and launch a publishing company, and they have been making great progress so far.
They have first been emailing self-published romance writers with simple but not very generous terms. Some have amounted to merely a few thousand dollars for the rights to a book. The methods that ByteDance uses to promote their books are untraditional but very effective, and they seem to have a ton of potential. “This could be the next big thing,” says Mariah Dietz, self-published romance author on the company’s publishing arm.
ByteDance’s advances and royalties, paired with professional advertising, have gained the interest of many independent publishers. Despite keeping their growth success private, many believe that they have a huge chance to strike gold in this initiative. TikTok users from all over the world have expressed their interest in the project, even giving it a name called “#BookTok.” In the past year, this hashtag has been viewed over 91 billion times. Authors have also been finding tremendous success with the app, such as Colleen Hoover, in which her hashtag “#ColleenHoover” has received over 4.2 billion views and she has sold over 24 million copies of her books.
According to Circana BookScan, over 100 authors have driven sales up to $760 million in 2022, which is a 60 percent rise from 2021. Bess Braswell, senior publishing director at Harlequin, said, “To say it’s hugely important is an understatement at this point.” In April, ByteDance filed a trademark for 8th Note Press, in which they described it as an ecosystem where consumers could “find, buy, read, review and discuss books,” according to the New York Times. The company has also tapped into existing industry talent, hiring Katherine Pelz, long-time member of the romance industry.
However, there have been some concerns raised about ByteDance and their unknown intentions. One of them is that publishers now have a harder time to drive attention for their books organically. ByteDance promotes its books with its algorithm, attempting to make a short video about a book gain traction in the hopes that it will go viral. But some users fear that this type of marketing strategy is inauthentic, with ByteDance being the main factor of whether the books go viral or not, unlike organic growth by a publisher not affiliated with the company.
Some deals that ByteDance make with authors would simply put the author at a disadvantage. This was the case for Tricia O’ Malley, as the deal ByteDance offered would have led to her making less money if she sold her books independently. Cindy Hwang, the vice president and editorial director for Berkley, says, “It’s not just about getting the hits, it’s about getting readers to buy the book.”
They have first been emailing self-published romance writers with simple but not very generous terms. Some have amounted to merely a few thousand dollars for the rights to a book. The methods that ByteDance uses to promote their books are untraditional but very effective, and they seem to have a ton of potential. “This could be the next big thing,” says Mariah Dietz, self-published romance author on the company’s publishing arm.
ByteDance’s advances and royalties, paired with professional advertising, have gained the interest of many independent publishers. Despite keeping their growth success private, many believe that they have a huge chance to strike gold in this initiative. TikTok users from all over the world have expressed their interest in the project, even giving it a name called “#BookTok.” In the past year, this hashtag has been viewed over 91 billion times. Authors have also been finding tremendous success with the app, such as Colleen Hoover, in which her hashtag “#ColleenHoover” has received over 4.2 billion views and she has sold over 24 million copies of her books.
According to Circana BookScan, over 100 authors have driven sales up to $760 million in 2022, which is a 60 percent rise from 2021. Bess Braswell, senior publishing director at Harlequin, said, “To say it’s hugely important is an understatement at this point.” In April, ByteDance filed a trademark for 8th Note Press, in which they described it as an ecosystem where consumers could “find, buy, read, review and discuss books,” according to the New York Times. The company has also tapped into existing industry talent, hiring Katherine Pelz, long-time member of the romance industry.
However, there have been some concerns raised about ByteDance and their unknown intentions. One of them is that publishers now have a harder time to drive attention for their books organically. ByteDance promotes its books with its algorithm, attempting to make a short video about a book gain traction in the hopes that it will go viral. But some users fear that this type of marketing strategy is inauthentic, with ByteDance being the main factor of whether the books go viral or not, unlike organic growth by a publisher not affiliated with the company.
Some deals that ByteDance make with authors would simply put the author at a disadvantage. This was the case for Tricia O’ Malley, as the deal ByteDance offered would have led to her making less money if she sold her books independently. Cindy Hwang, the vice president and editorial director for Berkley, says, “It’s not just about getting the hits, it’s about getting readers to buy the book.”