Hachette UK Joins the Digital Revolution

By Iqbal Hussain

The goliath that is the TikTok Shop has added another big name to its ever-growing list of publishing houses. Hachette UK has been welcomed with open arms by the BookTok community to sell books from their imprints, which include Little Brown Book Group, Hodder & Stoughton and Headline Books.

Last autumn, TikTok Shop launched its “books” category, with partners including HarperCollins UK, WHSmith, Bloomsbury and Bookshop.org. Other companies have utilised this unique way of attracting sales by creating book subscriptions or one-off book boxes. One of these is online retailer Books2Door, a top performer due to the demand for its limited-edition BookTok Box – a handpicked set of books at a bargain price.

With 180 billion views, TikTok shows no end to its growth; it wasn’t a surprise Hachette UK took the plunge and jumped straight into the tide of social media sales. With authors, publishers, booksellers and agents all trying to take a slice of the cake, Hachette decided to curate the market potential. They aim to utilise its fast-paced growing community and make it easier for readers to access their book portfolio.

Hachette is following the trend of other publishing houses, which have used this platform to bring books to the market for author launches, giveaways and brand promotion. It has only just scrubbed the surface of the full potential that is BookTok. You can read previous The Publishing Post articles that highlight the influence of TikTok on the publishing world here.

The publishing house's latest decision to join the TikTok Shop could be due to a reduction in 2023 half-yearly sales compared to the previous years. With the cost-of-living crisis, industry-wide sales have been affected, and imprints are taking on the challenge to evolve. A new breed of social media-focused companies is rising, and we are intrigued to see who else in the industry will throw their hat in with BookTok.