Hello!

I think a lot of people are quick to ‘blame’ BookTok for influencing book trends just because someone’s local Waterstones has a ‘BookTok Made Me Read It’ table and I wholeheartedly disagree that BookTok specifically is a problem – if someone thinks all BookTok books are awful, perhaps they’re engaging with the wrong content on TikTok and curating an algorithm that doesn’t represent them.

Looking at the book charts, there are some books that are popular on BookTok are there, but they’re not the only thing there – Richard Osman’s books aren’t often mentioned (at least on my BookTok) but they’re always charting. There’s lots of books that are popular in book clubs, friends recommending books to each other, ‘that’ generation who make comments about watching TV and social media and have read for thirty minutes before bed for the last forty years.

I think book lovers who have been used to getting book recommendations in a particular way will always feel a bit icky about new impacts on the publishing industry – new things can be scary, I get it! I get overwhelmed by chart music now and I’m only 28 so I’ve not even lived that much life. But I don’t think BookTok is a problem.

But I think it does contribute to part of a problem that I’ve noticed within the book community, which has bled into publishing a little bit.

Now I’m not saying that book influencers are a problem, but I do think that the rise of book influencers is potentially having a negative impact on the way people read.

Here’s my take: I think influencer’s are making books into the new fast fashion and encouraging a kind of consumerism that most of their audiences can’t afford.

I’m not trying to say that this is a new problem – it’s a well recognised problem amongst readers that buying books and reading books are separate hobbies and one is much easier than the other! But that’s not really what I’m talking about – it’s more about the traits of influencer’s that are only accessible because being a book influencer is their literal job.

It’s talking about reading 12+ books a month without disclaiming that reading less doesn’t mean that you’re any less of a reader. It’s doing book hauls every week without disclaiming that a lot of the books are sent from publishers because they’re influencers and not buying books every week – whether that be for financial reasons or because you can’t read fast enough to keep up with them – doesn’t make you less of a reader. It’s all these subscription boxes and special editions of books that are being collected – you don’t need them all!

I’m not blaming anyone, it’s not influencer’s that are exclusively responsible but I think it’s almost a lifestyle thing – don’t get me wrong, if I had the ability to make reading and recommending books into a job I would absolutely do it. I can see it from the other side too – if you are lucky enough to be in the position that you can make that your job, you would want to be able to give as much content to your followers as possible, but I think that’s kind of the whole thing about influencers as a marketing strategy. It’s making their lives look both aspirational and achievable.

But there is the element of readers guilt!

I’ve said it on TikTok before in regard to the debate around fast readers – people who have an issue with people who say they read 20-30 books a month, either don’t understand that the person they’re commenting on is an influencer who’s job is reading or it’s a person who can just read fast, who prioritises reading over watching TV or has reading as their main hobby.

Aside from influencers, I do think there’s an element of publishing that is also adding to the problem – I don’t know if it’s a general society thing that everything is super fast paced and but I feel like the time between waiting for sequels is getting shorter. I would say a year is an average wait time but in the scope of it all that’s a really fast turnaround!

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Fourth Wing and I was thrilled when Iron Flame came out so quickly, but five months? As soon as I read Iron Flame (and saw all the terrible printing errors) I could tell it was rushed – it needed more editing, it didn’t need to be as long as it was and it was evident in the reviews. I don’t know if I saw anyone who enjoyed Iron Flame as much as Fourth Wing.

But it expands beyond that as well – I don’t know if publishers have ghost writers or smaller author’s on their staff who can write a whole book in a couple of weeks, but there’s so many generic paperbacks and Kindle Unlimited copycat books that seem to come out as soon as one super popular book takes off, especially in romance.

I don’t really understand why publishers are prioritising this? Personally, I’d have thought that investing in author’s who are really passionate about the stories they’re telling rather than hitting a trope because it’s popular in a moment that isn’t going to last to make a bit of quick money? It feels like it takes away from the heart of what readers really love about the books they read. I think the passion that author’s put into their stories really comes through, so when you have an express produced book that’s rushed to latch on to a trend it feels so insincere.

Personally, I’ve taken a real stance on what I value in being a reader this year – I don’t need to subscribe to special edition book boxes when I usually give the books an average rating that isn’t worth the steep price tag. I don’t need to be posting book haul’s on TikTok every week and however much I can walk around a book shop and get excited about so many books, my priority is the ones I have at home. I want to get to a point where I predominantly read on my Kindle so I need to clear my physical TBR.

I’m not an influencer, I’m not claiming to be an influencer but I do love making content on YouTube and TikTok about books and I can do that without subscribing to expensive book boxes, buying new books every other day and reading double digits of books a month.

My three top tips for this are:

• knowing exactly how many books you have on your TBR, because that number can be intimidating so reminding yourself that adding new books to it will make your TBR longer is a huge incentive, at least for me!
• consider pre-ordering – if you’re excited enough about a book to commit to pre-ordering it before it is released, then absolutely let yourself make that order and make sure you read it as soon as it comes out! If it’s just going to sit on a shelf then maybe you’re not as excited as you thought.
• use other resources that are available to you – if you can justify paying for Kindle Unlimited then read KU books! If your library has a good selection absolutely make the most of it! If you have Spotify Premium, that’s 15 hours a month of audiobooks you could be listening to! Check out your free or digital options if physical clutter is your barrier

And I suppose a bonus tip is to remember that there are no minimum requirements to being a reader – you don’t have to read a certain number of books a year, you don’t have to own or buy a certain number of books and you definitely don’t need to post photos or videos on the internet.

While the industry feels like it’s getting fast, we can still be slow consumers – read mindfully!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx