TikTok’s undeniable growth and pop culture influence has massively impacted the publishing community and brought authors and readers together more significantly than ever before. Thus, it is surely befitting for BookTok to have an awards series of its own to honor the beloved titles, creators, and writers that make the community such a special place. With the #BookTok hashtag now boasting over 183 billion views, this new cornerstone of the bookish community is constantly inspiring a new generation of avid readers.
The TikTok Book Awards of UK and Ireland 2023 is set to be the next step in the platform’s exponential growth. Launching this summer, TikTok’s audience-led awards initiative is an exciting new development for authors and content creators alike to be recognized for their contribution to the global online book community. Read on for the details!
TikTok’s Book Awards Overview
The first-ever TikTok Book Awards will contain nine categories (seen below). A long list of eight to ten nominees for each category will be determined by an internal team using software to pull the top 200 most-viewed BookTok videos. In addition, publishers based in the UK and Ireland will be invited to submit their suggestions for each category.
Next, the group of generated nominees will be handed off to the Judging Panel to narrow down between June 5th and July 3rd. After this point, the Shortlisted Nominees will be put to a final public vote, which will determine the Winners. To read through the full terms and conditions of the award contest, click here.
The Judges
The expert judging panel is made up of nine individuals. It includes authors and content creators, as well as leaders in the publishing industry. They’re tasked with judging the nominations and creating a shortlist for the BookTok community to vote on.
- Candice Brathwaite
- Annie Mac
- Elizabeth Day
- Ben Mercer
- Coco Hagi
- Polly Smith
- Caroline Cummins
- Perminder Mann
- Trâm-Anh Doan
One of the TikTok Book Award judges, award-winning author Candice Brathwaite reflects:
As an author, there’s nothing better than to see people discussing and debating your book. I love going to TikTok to find unfiltered reviews and recommendations, so it’s great to be giving this community the chance to have their say through the TikTok Book Awards for UK and Ireland. When it comes to judging, for me it’s about celebrating the books people just can’t forget, the books that give you a whole new perspective, the books you immediately want to buy for all of your friends, I cannot wait to see who the winners will be.
Candice Brathwaite
Hay Festival Partnership
Kicking off TikTok’s book-savvy summer is a second-year-running partnership with Hay Festival—announced jointly with the inaugural book awards. The UK-based event runs from May 25th through June 4th this year. Remote participation options, like the online festival pass, are available to purchase. Or, you can follow along on TikTok under #HayFestival to get an inside look at one of the world’s largest literary festivals. For more information, check out Hay Festival’s official website here.
The festival is all about celebrating literature in all its forms, so we are looking forward to joining the conversation and bringing this brilliant festival to our global community once again.
James Stafford, General Manager, Operations & Marketing, TikTok UK & Nordics
Participation and Prizes
The final public round of judging by the global BookTok audience will run between July 17th-28th. The results will be announced in-app in August within the TikTok Book Awards Hub. Before July, the best way to start getting involved is to start joining the conversation under the #TikTokBookAwards hashtag and advocating for your favorite reads of the year.
If you’re curious about the prizes, according to the terms and conditions document, each winner will receive a physical trophy. However, only some categories contain cash prizes. For instance, BookTok Creator of the Year and BookTok Livestreamer of the Year will each win 5,000£. Author of the Year and BookTok Book of the Year will entail a donation to a charity of the Winner’s choice.
In all, whether you come to BookTok for recommendations, reviews, vlogs, or writing inspiration, the undeniable creativity and passion of the BookTok community are not only note-worthy but award-worthy.
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