The super-popular social media platform TikTok is on the verge of being banned for good in the US. On Friday the 17th of January 2025 the Supreme Court upheld a ban that was passed with broad partisan support in Congress and signed into law by former President Joe Biden. The law forces TikTok to sell itself. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, delaying a possible ban for 75 days. Practically this means that US users can use TikTok, as they know it now, until the early days of April.

We are all aware of the influence TikTok has on the book publishing industry. BookTok, TikTok’s subcommunity, has proven to be a driving force for book sales. TikTok’s unique algorithm ensures that every kind of creator can potentially reach a huge audience. Also, TikTok’s SparkAds options give marketers the opportunity to target specific target groups in an efficient way. At Bookinfluencers.com we run SparkAds campaigns for a great number of clients, leading to mindblowing results we haven’t seen with any other social media platform. If you’re interested to learn more about this type of advertising, then I recommend this article I wrote about a campaign for manga publisher VIZ Media. Or take a look at this viral video for one of their recent releases.

Now that we are potentially facing a permanent ban from April 2025, the question arises: what should publishers do if TikTok disappears as a marketing tool for the US? Here are our three suggestions.

Discover new territories

TikTok faces a potential ban in the US, but not (yet) in the rest of the world. Your readers are not just Americans. Many people love reading English language editions instead of books translated to their own language. Let’s take The Netherlands for example; Dutch booktokers love reading in English. Year after year the Dutch book market sees a growth in the sales percentages of English books. Some say they just don’t have the patience to wait for a book to get translated, others choose English books because they are simply cheaper. Another reason is that readers think a story feels less authentic when translated. Not being able to reach US readers through TikTok, doesn’t mean TikTok is worthless. You can still use it to reach millions of other readers!  

Follow the community

TikTok went dark on Saturday the 18th of January 2025, only to be resurrected on Sunday when Donald Trump announced his executive order. In the days leading up to the shutdown, many creators informed their followers about where to find them in the future. While many referred to Instagram and YouTube, there were also lots of American TikTok ‘refugees’ flooding to RedNote. RedNote is a Chinese app with more than 300 million active users, according to Bloomberg, that is a mix between TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram. The main reason why these creators chose RedNote over any other social media platform is the fact that the app is Chinese. Creators feel that the US government is overstepping in its move to ban TikTok. It’s their way of showing the government they are not happy with the TikTok ban. Some even said they ‘rather move to China than to use Instagram Reels’. 

If TikTok gets banned for good in April 2025, RedNote might be the place to be for the book industry. The question is where your favorite creators will be thriving. Be sure to follow them where they go next. 

Wait for a TikTok look-a-like

RedNote is not a TikTok clone. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are trying to copy TikTok’s algorithm but are not succeeding so far. So, the main question is – who will be able to create a space that has the same look and feel as TikTok does, gives small creators a huge platform as TikTok does and gives marketers the same tools as TikTok does? We can be sure that a new player will rise in the near future. The question is not if, but when.

For now, our advice is to use TikTok to its full potential now that you still can! Please reach out to us at contact@bookinfluencers.com if you want to discuss a marketing campaign on TikTok for your book.