She first believed in a change in school curricula. Several teachers would have asked their students to read the work of Hermann Hesse, author of the steppe wolf and of Siddhartha ? No way. “It was BookTok”, specifies Amanda Spiegel, director of the Folies d’encre bookstore, in Montreuil, in Seine-Saint-Denis. His young subscribers to the Chinese social network TikTok and his hashtag devoted to books (which accumulated, in July 2022, 65 billion views, according to the platform) have been recommended by viral videos the reading of the German writer .
“The choices are not controlled by the publishers. #Booktok is the place of emotion, of exchange. The book has found a real territory of expression there. » Anne Assous, editor
For some time now, this bookseller has got into the habit of getting information from its teenage clientele who arrive, without a correspondence book in hand, with precise and sometimes surprising requests. Recently there has been Rich dad, poor dad, by Americans Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, a personal development book from 1997 on the best way to become rich. Or Power. The 48 laws of power, by Robert Greene, published in 1998 in English and in 2009 in France.
This book with the explicit title has already sold 230,000 copies in France, without however benefiting from a major media plan. “We sold seven times more in January 2023 than in January 2022! », rejoices Caroline Obringer, director of communication for the Leduc group, owner of Alisio, which publishes Robert Greene. In March, two anonymous fan videos recommending the book on TikTok racked up 2.8 million views.
TikTok official partner of the Paris Book Festival
Director of Folio, the pocket branch of Gallimard editions, Anne Assous also notes the influence of the network, which she hears about ” at least once a week “, she says.
The latest, a video of Eva Gizem, a tiktoker with 33,000 subscribers, whose profile specializes in books, fashion, lifestyle, has been viewed 700,000 times. She filmed herself there reading while crying towards beauty, by David Foenkinos. “The effect on sales was noticeable,” notes Anne Assous, who emphasizes the side ” authentic “ of the network: “Choices are not controlled by publishers or institutions; the recommendations are therefore complementary to those of the traditional media. #Booktok is the place of emotion, conversation, exchange. The book has found a real territory of expression there. »
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