PVLF 2025

BookTok's Big Leap: From Social Feeds to Film Screens

At the LA Times Festival of Books, TikTok showed how BookTok is transforming publishing, fan engagement, and Hollywood adaptations with powerful impact.
on Jun 18, 2025

Those days of focus groups and full-page ads are over TikTok is currently publishing's strongest marketing force.

BookTok, the app's literary corner, has made casual reader posts into a force that sells books, makes careers, and influences Hollywood deals.

Now, the industry is paying attention. In addition to selling books, BookTok informs marketing strategies, inspires collector editions, and frequently sets up film and TV deals.

TikTok's Experience at the LA Times Festival of Books

Each year, the L.A. Times Festival of Books turns Los Angeles into a book lovers' heaven, attracting authors, publishers, avid readers, and bookworms for a weekend of discussions, panels, book signings, and interactive activities.

This year, TikTok hosted a session that broke down the book to screen pipeline - how streaming services and studios are drawing direct inspiration from the BookTok universe when making decisions on which titles to adapt into movies.

The BookTok-to-Hollywood Pipeline

The session broke down how TikTok fandoms, particularly BookTok fandoms, are redefining the entertainment industry, ushering in a new age where online literary fervor directly influences and responds to the world of film narratives.

This was illustrated by María Contreras, Amazon MGM Studios' Head of Movies & Scripted for Spanish International Originals, who demonstrated how feedback from fans played a direct role in shaping the studio's creative direction, such as by including the iconic reggaeton track, Gasolina, in Culpa Tuya, after its popularity spiked with TikTok users.

Writer Mercedes Ron also stressed the need to remain true to her characters, commenting on her extensive engagement in casting so that the adaptation remained faithful to the essence of her books and was consistent with fan demands.

Key Takeaways

1. Redefining the publishing pipeline: BookTok is becoming a crucial part of what gets told on screen. From driving demand to influencing IP adaptation decisions, passionate fans are emerging as potent co-creators for the future of entertainment.

2. Spurring fan engagement: TikTok introduced the #BookToScreen in-app campaign in collaboration with Prime Video, utilizing TikTok's native promo vehicle, Spotlight. The first multi-title Spotlight page, it brought together BookTok and FilmTok audiences, offering different incentive-based mechanics that invited fans to engage with their beloved Prime Video book-to-screen adaptations — including opportunities for exclusive content, giveaways, and beyond.

3. More collaboration, more creativity: BookTok and FilmTok's conversations and engagement with each other and the entertainment industry will continue to transform book marketing and screen adaptations.

The Next Chapter of BookTok

Where is BookTok going? As its impact cuts deeper, BookTok is propelling profound changes in the way stories get discovered, marketed, and adapted. Here are three trends that are shaping the future:

Genre boundaries are dissolving. Romance and fantasy might have ignited the spark, but BookTok's audience of today is expanding its horizons. Fans are reading memoirs, literary fiction, and thought-provoking nonfiction, particularly tales that spark actual conversations in the world.

Marketing is trending social-first. The future of book purchasers isn't looking for billboards, though; instead, they're scrolling TikTok. Close to 75% of Gen Z readers are discovering books on social media, not traditional advertising1. Publishers are listening and allocating budgets accordingly.

Fan culture powers screen transactions. BookTok is fueling what's next for entertainment through creator-generated conversation and activation. Consider Culpa Tuya, which became Prime Video's most popular international debut, thanks in part to creator-driven excitement and TikTok's Spotlight campaign. Reader passion is bringing stories onto the screen as IP.

The excitement of TikTok at the L.A. Times Festival of Books was a strong indication of the growing influence it has on the literary scene. BookTok has evolved beyond a community; now it's a cultural force that dictates what's being read, what's being discussed, and what's being made into a movie. As the publishing and studio establishments pay attention, this is one thing certain: the next bestseller (or box office blockbuster) could possibly begin with a swipe.