ByteDance has set up the partnership through its subsidiary 8th Note Press, originally founded in August 2023 as a digital publishing house.
Working with American celebrity book publisher Zando, 8th Note Press will focus on genres popular with millennial and Gen Z readers, according to the New York Times.
Jacob Bronstein, head of editorial and marketing at ByteDance, told the paper: “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.
“So we knew that we needed to be in physical books.”
Bronstein said that 8th Note Press was tracking online content trends closely, including TikTok’s own #BookTok community, and was snapping up authors whose work looked likely to prove popular online.
“We’re thinking first, what do people like reading, who is reading these books, how are people talking about these books, how are these conversations happening online, and where? Genre comes second,” he said.
The #BookTok community is a huge market for booksellers, with more than 38 million posts under the tag and an annual growth of nearly 15%, according to TikTok; publishers are anxious to break into influencers’ conversations.
Printers are also finding ways to get in on the action.
One is Precision Proco Group’s Found.us site, aimed at helping social media influencers publish their own books.
The venture, launched in early 2023, prints titles on demand for digital content creators – such as cookbooks, journals, lifestyle books or health and fitness titles. It promises creators a royalty-based system, where they pay no upfront costs, and see their book published in eight weeks.
Nigel Watson, new business incubation director at Found.us told Printweek at the time: “By creating an end-to-end publishing experience, our technology enables these amazing rockstar content owners to enjoy a greater share of the book revenues, compared to traditional publishing where the author receives only a fraction of the proceeds.
“Personalised books with variable content can be produced quickly and delivered directly to their audiences. We are bringing online ideas to life and connecting the digital and physical worlds.”
