Notting Hill shop credits a novel Tiktok trend for soaring book sales
Booktok stars who post reviews on social media are providing a boost for independent stores
THE fortunes of the bookshop featured in the film Notting Hill have been turned around by a Tiktok trend inspiring younger people to read more, according to the owners of the store.
Sales of books at The Notting Hill Bookshop, which was made famous by the 1999 film starring Hugh Grant, have jumped by more than 100 per cent since the pandemic.
Younger people looking for books they have seen recommended online by users known as “Booktokkers” pushed up profits by 8.5 per cent in 2022, according to the Association of American Publishers.
The power of Booktok is so significant that Waterstones said it received its largest number of pre-orders ever for one title in a single day – for Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros.
Angelica Malin, who helps run the West London bookshop alongside her uncles, said: “We’re seeing that in the shop with more and more young people coming in – people are discovering new books and authors thanks to Tiktok.”
She said that Booktok is a great way for people to discover new, independent shops in new cities, too.
She also said the shop’s eight book buyers had seen a particular increase in a genre called “romantasy”, which features escapist plots and racy romantic storylines. “We have eight buyers for the shop, who are all young themselves. They’ve noticed a real rise in Romantasy thanks to Tiktok, as well as magical realism,” she said.
The shop, which is a short walk from Portobello Road Market, inspired the set for the travel bookshop run by Hugh Grant in the movie which also starred Julia Roberts.
The hashtag “#booktok” has been used on more than 215 billion videos on the social media platform.
Young women are the most avid watchers, and research by the Publishers Association found three in five 1625-year-olds say that Booktok has inspired their passion for reading.
Leading Booktokkers, such as Jack Edwards, with more than 612,000 followers, or Jaysen Headly, with more than 720,000 followers, offer discount codes and exclusive insight into upcoming releases.
Fantasy romps and mythological retellings are some of the most popular genres, with authors including Sarah J Maas and Madeline Miller.
But older releases, including Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have also seen renewed interest.
The vlogging sub-genre even has its own lingo, with the word “spicy” being used to refer to novels more traditionally known as “bodice rippers”.
The first Tiktok Book Awards were held in August 2023, with prizes going to authors based on votes from users. Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, alongside Alice Oseman’s best-selling Heartstopper, which is now a Netflix series, received awards.