The oldest publishing medium is new again, and ByteDance is the latest company buying in. The parent company of TikTok is making a play in the world of print media by expanding the scope of its year-old firm 8th Note Press.
8th Note has already capitalized on the momentum generated by the #BookTok community by picking up titles in TikTok-approved genres like “romantasy” and young adult fiction. Those books initially arrived as digital-only goods, but 8th Note Press is switching up its strategy. A partnership with independent firm Zando will result in the publication of 10 to 15 print books per year, beginning in 2025.
“Physical books are still overwhelmingly the most popular format, and certainly in specific genres, some of which we’re playing in, they’re still super important,” 8th Note Head of Editorial and Marketing Jacob Bronstein told The New York Times. “So we knew that we needed to be in physical books.”
The decision to move into print media is a throwback — not just to the pre-internet age but to an earlier era of the creator industry. A decade ago, YouTube stars catalyzed an increase in print media sales by authoring or co-authoring books and publishing them through imprints like Simon & Schuster’s Keywords Press.
The reasoning behind that uptick was simple: Fans of the internet-famous authors saw the books as keepsakes that allowed them to feel closer to their favorite creators. It wasn’t enough to just read a book written by iJustine or Joey Graceffa; fans wanted to hold physical copies of those titles in their hands.
In 2024, TikTok’s #BookTok community has become the most talked-about vehicle for reading recommendations. Like with Keywords Press back in the day, #BookTok is boosting sales for brick-and-mortar bookshops in particular. And that’s not all: TikTok’s literary hub has also spawned publishing startups like Bindery, production deals for adaptations, and even an award show.
ByteDance is now ready to give TikTok users the print media experience they crave. For those of us who experienced the tech world’s disruption of print media, the sudden reversal of course may seem to go against the tide of technology. But the evidence is clear: members of #BookTok want to own physical copies of their favorite books. How else do you explain all those Fourth Wing sales?
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