Antonia Bernardin

So, one of the topics that was doing the rounds on Tiktok recently was that because of booktok and reader’s appetites for huge tbr’s, large consumption and books written for tropes, publishing has become it’s own version of fast fashion: trope filled, poorly edited books churned out quickly.

I thought, as a big reader who has a book podcast and found a renewed love of reading thanks to booktok, I would weigh in on the debate.

So, first of all, so the fuck what?

People are reading again! Booktok has saved the publishing industry. Who gives a fuck? Things will reach an equilibrium eventually and if, for now, people are enjoying and consuming books on mass, how can that be anything but a good thing?

Good, high quality books are out there too, so if the stuff being written with Booktok audiences in mind isn’t for you, maybe don’t read it? No one is asking you to and the benefit of booktokkers etc being so active, there are no end of reviews for you to sift through to find out if a book is right for you.

Second of all, I don’t really agree.

Yes, some of the viral books are a bit naff, or have issues with editing. Some publishing houses are pushing out low quality special editions on timelines they clearly can’t cope with. But I think that is publishers making poor marketing decisions in a panic to meet a demand, probably in the fear that the hype will die down. When, in fact, readers will wait for higher quality stuff.

I do think that booktok and the knock on affect it’s had to other platform’s book communities has meant a lot of indie authors have found a voice where they might not have done, the same can be said for authors of colour and narratives covering marganilised stories, including LGBTQIA + and disability rep. Booktok cares about the representation in their books and I think the inclusion of these elements in reviews is driving publishers to have better representation, better processes with sensitivity readers and better diversity in the authors they pick.

Thirdly, I am of the opinion that trash has it’s place.

It always has been around in your airport bookstores, gas station book shelves, in supermarket shelves even. Now it’s just having it’s moment online and is appearing on best-seller lists.

I think easy reading books or ‘trashy’ books are the same as your favourite bingeable, easy watching shows. They serve a purpose. People consume them for different reasons and you are not better than them for wanting to consume something different.