Share your love of reading on TikTok with these BookTok ideas!

I was a reluctant convert to TikTok, but after discovering how fun and engaging it is to make these short videos, I’m now 100% all in! BookTok has been such a delight, both in creating my own videos to share and interacting with hilarious and insightful users I follow!

However, it’s easy to get burnt out or feel like you’re out of Booktok ideas for your own content. This post will help spark some creativity with video ideas and share some tips if you’re looking to increase your follower count. 

From my research and own account, I’ve found the most important mindset if you’re looking to gain followers on BookTok is providing value to your viewers.

In the book world, this could take on a variety of forms! You can provide value through humor or relatable insights! You can share helpful book reviews and recommendations. You can discuss breaking book news or new releases.

My second most important tip is to draw viewers in within the first 3 seconds. The beauty of TikTok is how quickly you can scroll, but that can also be a huge detriment for creators. It’s EXTREMELY easy to scroll past something if it doesn’t catch your eye.

So you need to use audio or visual hooks to make sure viewers stop scrolling and take a few seconds to watch the beginning of your video. Then, providing enough value to keep them there!

With all this in mind, lets get into my 50 BookTok ideas for engaging viewers and increasing followers! I separated these Booktok ideas into multiple sections, with a few varieties / twists to try out! You’ll also find some examples so you can see what they look like live!

 

50+ BookTok Ideas

 

A Bookish Series of Videos

This is a sneaky BookTok ideas addition that you don’t see very often! Draw in viewers with a multi-part video series! Make sure to mention in your video that this is Part 1, Part 2, etc to encourage them to hit the follow button or explore your profile

• Answer a reader problem (How to get out of a reading slump, etc) – Example
• Favorite Books by Genre (1 Genre per part)
• Offer reviews of a specific bookish accessory, one by one (book subscription boxes, reading platforms)
• Rank your Top 10 books and explain why in each video, from 10 to 1.
• Share your current read and mid-book opinion

 

 

 

Book Review Videos

Let’s cover the obvious! One easy way to provide value to your viewers is telling them why you loved a book and whether they should read it! I’d recommend doing these book reviews with you facing the camera directly. However, if you’re not as comfortable you can just show the book cover.

• 30 Second Book Review – Quickly recap the book and give your star rating
• In Depth Review – Use a longer video to go into detail about the plot, characters, what you loved
• Book You Disliked – A controversial, but compelling option. Share a book you didn’t enjoy and why

 

 

Play A Game!

This strategy encourages comments and interaction! Plus, if viewers love a challenge they’ll follow to keep coming back for more games!

• Guess the book title from a snippet of the cover
• Guess the book from the first line / first page – Example
• Create a mini trivia game with themed bookish questions
• Read a few lines from a book to guess the title
• Show a few characters names to guess the title
• Have readers choose your next read (use the poll sticker or have them vote in the comments)

 

 

 

 

 

Making Trends Bookish

Do you see certain sounds, dances, or funny twists popping up again and again on your For You page? Hop on the trend within a day or two and make your own bookish version! These type of BookTok ideas can get you in front of a huge audience.

• Copycat a trending dance and have a book in your hand or book stack next to you
• Take an unexpected or funny ending and turn it into a common reading habit or reader problem – Example
• Use the “I spend too much on…” trends and show off your bookshelves
• Change the lyrics of a popular TikTok song to make them bookish

 

 

 

Colorful / Match Your Cover Booktok Ideas

Since TikTok works best with eye-catching videos, take advantage of colorful book covers and highlight these beauties!

• Match Your Mani – Show off your nail polish color and match it to book covers! I ONLY use Olive & June nail polish, since it’s honestly lasts 5-7 days with no chips and is reasonably priced.
• Imitate a Book Cover – Use a transition to show the book cover and then how you’re dressed up to match
• Bookshelves – Honestly, anything with pretty book shelves will work here! Pan over your shelves, fill up your shelves on a sped up camera, move books around in stop motion.
• Pick out and show off the most gorgeous book covers you own

 

 

 

Save these Booktok ideas for later!

 

 

Come With Me… Videos

Take your viewers along with you somewhere! These glimpses into readers’ lives are always a blast to watch! Take a ton of short videos while you’re out and about. You can include entering the place, books you’re considering, what you end up taking home. Then, edit them down to a few seconds each and add captions to share what you’re doing!

• Come With Me To The BookStore – Example
• Visit The Library With Me
• Sit In On My Book Club
• Check out by book nook / home library
• Do a local Little Free Library tour
• Introduce yourself and your bookish tastes (make sure to add text or encourage viewers to follow you if they share interests!)

 

 

 

Book List BookTok Ideas

Who doesn’t love a book list! Thankfully, you don’t even need a ton of physical books for these. You can easily add a picture of the book cover!

• Upcoming month’s TBR (To Be Read List)
• Books you read the previous month + star ratings
• Favorite books by genre 
• Books to read for the current season (beach reads, cozy wintry books, etc)
• Books you’d die to read again for the first time
• All time favorite reads – Example

 

 

Book Haul / Book Mail

It’s a problem all readers share, buying more books when we have a massive TBR pile staring us down. Sometimes it’s easiest to just keep your Booktok ideas simple!

• Show off book mail as you open it
• Take a quick video of the stack of books you’re about to buy while in a book store
• Stack up your latest library haul
• Unbox a book subscription box and show off what’s inside

 

 

Original Bookish Sounds

There are loads of “original sounds” out there that are book related. You can scroll through your FYP and easily save a few that you like to your favorites. Then, recreate the video! My suggestions below are a few options that seem to be everywhere, so you can use the sounds in my example videos or find a variation.

• “BookTok better not let me down with this recommendation”
• “I can’t believe I’m finally getting to this book”
• “It’s reading update time!” – Example
• “Here’s my coffee….and here’s what I’m currently reading” – Example
• “Today’s a good day to start reading…this”

 

 

Informational / How To Booktok Ideas Videos

• How To find eBooks / audiobooks at the library
• How To support your local bookstore
• If you like these books, read these
• Share bookish news (new books, book to movie adaptations, etc)

 

 

 

Which of these BookTok ideas will you try using?