Romance novels reign supreme among young readers, both in Romanian and English, as dictated by internet trends. Approximately 80% of the books preferred by Generation Z revolve around love stories.
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The social media community BookTok on TikTok has made a significant impact on the book market, fueling growth in the Young Adult (YA) and romance genres. This trend has been particularly evident on Libris, a leading name in the Romanian book industry for 15 years.
According to Libris data, English books have seen a 20% growth on their platform, making up over 70% of the top 100 best-selling books in English on Libris.ro. This surge can be attributed to BookTok, which contributed over $760 million in U.S. book sales in 2023 alone.
Titles like Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us gained bestseller status primarily due to viral BookTok exposure. Similarly, series like Stephanie Garber's "Once Upon a Broken Heart" and Ana Huang's "Twisted" have become literary phenomena on the platform.
The YA and romance genres dominate BookTok trends. Emotional and relatable content resonates strongly, causing books with these themes to skyrocket in popularity and sales. For instance, Sarah J. Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses series and Red, White & Royal Blue have surged on BookTok.
BookTok attracts primarily Gen Z readers who seek immersive and emotionally engaging narratives. This has shifted publishers' focus, encouraging authors to write with BookTok trends in mind, sometimes prioritizing viral appeal over literary originality.
The increasing demand for English-language books has led to Libris listing nearly 755,000 English-language titles. Local stocks of English books were expanded last year to accommodate the rising interest among young readers.
A new phenomenon gaining popularity among Generation Z readers is Romantasy, a blend of fantasy and romance. This genre is attracting readers from diverse backgrounds and offering new perspectives on love, according to the VML Intelligence report "The Future 100: 2025".
The Young Adult category has grown by nearly 20% compared to last year, a testament to the influence of BookTok. Even classic titles like Dostoevsky's White Nights and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye have seen a resurgence among young readers, thanks to TikTok.
Libris, which entered the book market in 1991 with the St. O. Iosif bookstore in Brasov and launched Libris.ro in 2009, is keeping the trend of young people reading English books in mind and continuing to expand their selection. Loredana Tudor, from Libris, stated that they are committed to attracting children and teenagers to reading through numerous campaigns and projects, such as the CarteTeca project launched in 2019.
Young people no longer see language as a barrier when it comes to reading English books. The BookTok phenomenon on TikTok has significantly influenced young people's reading choices, with romance dominating the charts, with 80% of best-selling books in English being love stories.
References:
[1] The New York Times. (2023). BookTok, TikTok's Reading Revolution. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/books/booktok-tiktok-reading-revolution.html
[2] Publishers Weekly. (2023). BookTok Drives $760 Million in U.S. Book Sales in 2023. [online] Available at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-selling/article/82196-booktok-drives-760-million-in-u-s-book-sales-in-2023.html
[3] The Guardian. (2023). How BookTok is changing the book industry. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/10/how-booktok-is-changing-the-book-industry
[4] The Bookseller. (2023). BookTok drives fiction sales surge. [online] Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/booktok-drives-fiction-sales-surge-933252
[5] VML Intelligence. (2023). The Future 100: 2025. [online] Available at: https://www.vmlinsight.com/reports/the-future-100-2025/
- The impact of BookTok on TikTok has extended beyond the fashion-and-beauty and entertainment domains, also influencing the lifestyle sector, particularly the book market.
- Besides fueling the growth of Young Adult (YA) and romance genres, BookTok has sparked interest in books among Gen Z readers, who are also exploring new trends in food-and-drink through platforms like TikTok.
- With the rise of Romantasy, a blend of fantasy and romance, the boundaries between pop-culture and literature are blurring, much like in the fashion-and-beauty industry where traditional norms are being redefined.
- Social media platforms like TikTok and BookTok have transformed how relationships are portrayed in books, with emotional and relatable content becoming more popular, mirroring trends in social media interactions.
