This week BookTok creators were asked to select the two authors they believe will be among the most popular on the app in 2025.
Romance author Emily Henry received two nominations, from Emily (@emilymiahreads; 82,100 followers) and Sanziana-Dana (@sanzireads; 2,577 followers). Henry is “appeal[ling] for everyone”, noted Emily. Henry’s next novel, Great Big Beautiful Life (Penguin), will be published in April 2025 and follows two competing writers vying to tell the story of reclusive heiress Margaret Ives. Combined, #romancebooktok and #romancebooks have been used in over five million posts on TikTok at the time of writing.
Brittany (@whatbritreads; 56,300 followers) and Emily also believe Sunrise on the Reaping (Scholastic), the latest addition to The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, will propel the author to new heights on BookTok. “It could be her BookTok break,” said Brittany. “She has, of course, been popular over the years, but her original teen readers are now adults with TikTok accounts ready to scream about this book series even louder”. For Brittany, the March publication will herald the return of “dystopian community” in a “big way”. She added: “I think we’ve been on the brink of a dystopian boom for a while now.”
ML Wang will “for sure” be a popular author on BookTok in 2025, declared Suraka (@surakajanebooks; 16,300 followers). “More and more people” are reading Wang’s dark academia novel Blood Over Bright Haven (Cornerstone), noted the creator. Brittany added that Wang has “really taken the app by storm” with both Blood Over Bright Haven and the self-published fantasy novel, Sword of Kaigen. “She’s an excellent storyteller and, for fans of dark academia and high fantasy, she will be a hit.” Wang’s writing provides the “emotional grit and stunning magical world building that the BookTok community craves”, she continued.
Other nods went to Rebecca Kuang and the publication of Katabasis (HarperVoyager) in August. “Whenever Rebecca comes out with a new book, they completely take over,” stated Suraka. “Katabasis is highly anticipated and I’m so excited by the idea of Kuang bringing back nonsense literature.” In a talk at the Manchester Literature Festival last year, Kuang said of her inspiration for the novel: “Katabasis is a return to the fantasy genre, but instead of historical fantasy I’m leaning toward nonsense literature. I taught Alice in Wonderland in a craft class recently and I was really enamoured with Lewis Carroll’s ability to create a world in which the ground is always shifting under your feet, the rules don’t make any sense and the world is buffering again with each step you take further into it. I was wondering, how do you create a fantasy world that’s nonsense and have the reader feel grounded.”
For Emily, “hype and people talking about” a given book “two months before publication and two months after publication” helps an author become popular on BookTok. “It has to be universally appealing to those who don’t really read many books as well as having bigger BookTokers from different parts of the world talking about it.” Brittany agreed that if publishers “put a book in the right people’s hands early enough, you can really try and make something of a release”. However, she added it is also a “stroke of luck” as to whether an author goes viral on BookTok, but “big creators screaming about something simultaneously” can mean the book will “pick up traction as the months go on”. Sanziana-Dana also said that “having the support of readers is key”.
Regarding narrative, Suraka believes “relatable characters and stories that feature flawed, deeply human characters” help an author become popular on BookTok. “Emotional connection is important too. Whether through romance, heartbreak or triumph, books that create strong feelings in readers tend to inspire viral content and community engagement.” Brittany echoed this point: “I think people want more yearning. Whether romantic or platonic, people crave the pining of two people really destined to be in each other’s lives no matter what is in their way.”
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