Do you enjoy creating BookTok videos but struggle to come up with ideas? Or do you want to post a different kind of content than everyone else, but struggle coming up with what to post so the TikTok algorithm doesn’t bury you? Me too! That’s why I started focusing on simple ideas that are easy to change up to fit the personality of the person behind the camera.
Let’s be honest, most people do not get on TikTok to watch just book reviews. They want to be entertained, and you have to grab their attention quickly. A great way to do that is by using your favorite books! You are probably most passionate about them, and it will help you gain a lot of attention when people can tell you are truly a book lovers friend versus someone only on TikTok to be an “influencer.”
The list below consists of 50ish (I will add more as I think of them) BookTok video ideas that you can take and make your own. I am primarily a Bookworm/Traveler-based content creator, and you’ll see that reflected in the ideas. I do explain how to change them to fit you, though, and I’ll link out to video examples of the ideas presented.
My best tip for Booktok content is and always will be to have fun and not think about follower count. If you can’t manage a small account, you will struggle under the mental pressure of running a larger account. So, have fun as you grow and don’t stress over TikTok’s algorithm or the number of followers another booktok account has compared to yours. Just enjoy yourself.
What is BookTok?
For those of you who don’t know, the easiest example I can think of is that BookTok is like a chapter in a book. It’s not a separate app from TikTok; it’s simply a chapter in a huge book.
BookTok is simply people sharing their thoughts, favorite quotes, reading round-ups, reading lists, bookish icks, and anything else pertaining to books (including bookish merch!) with other fellow TikTok app users. Just like you would on Facebook or Instagram, only everything is primarily in short video format.
Quick & Easy BookTok Hooks For Readers and Authors
- “Books I would sell my soul to read again for the first time” – I’m sure you’ve seen this idea around social media before; however, you can make it truly unique in several ways. i.e., “Books I wish I had read in my 20s”, “Books I reread every Holiday”, “Books I’d take to heaven with me”, “Books I tell all my friends to read”, etc.
- 3 books that helped me get over my reading slump – This one is a never-ending fountain of ideas. It’s easy to adjust to any situation:
- “4 books that helped me get over my ex”
- “3 books that helped me learn a new skill”
- “4 books that made me rethink fantasy”
- “4 books that made me dream again”
- Again, this is an endless idea prompt. Simply think about what’s been going on in your life and see how you can spin it.
- POV: You open that book and don’t realize it’s about to wreck you. – POV is so fun! “Pov – I spit my coffee out when I read this,” “pov help me choose which book to listen to on my way to work,” “pov you open a book and immediately skip to the last page.”
- Blind BookTok date — wrap a book in paper with three cryptic clues, then reveal. This one’s pretty fun to do. Either you can wrap it or you can have someone wrap it for you, it’s an excellent hook for your audience and you 🙂
- Books that smell like old libraries & rainy days – aesthetic shots of your local library/ bookstore (a GREAT way to highlight small businesses in your area). You could also do a seasonal version for every changing season. i.e.,
- Books that smell like fall, featuring your favorite drink.
- Books that smell like spring, with your favorite flowers or fresh produce from a farmers market.
- Books that smell like summer with you reading by the pool/lake, or while camping/hiking, maybe.
- Books that feel like Winter with you, featuring a Christmas tree, snow, or just in a cozy sweater, reading in your favorite spot.
- Two books. One moral dilemma. – This one can be interesting, and hit pain points in your audience: “Which would you save from a burning shelf?”, “Which book would you take on a deserted Island if you were stranded with nothing but the same book to reread?”, “Which is better, a paperback or a hardcover?”
- Speed dating with my BookTok TBR — hold each book for 3 seconds with a snap judgment. This one is nice as you don’t have to say anything (you don’t even need to be on camera!), just show several books you’ve read with a thumbs up/maybe/no sign. No explanation needed. It can vary by genre, season, or trope.
- Travel with me through books — This one is an idea I like using since I travel a lot, I sometimes pass through locations that are talked about in books (or states, if you want to be more general). You could easily do a round-up of books set in fictional worlds, real places/countries.
- If you liked ___ Netflix show, read this (and give 3 book matches). This one, as you can tell, would be endless since Netflix is always releasing new shows, and you are always reading new books that might apply. You could also use AppleTV, Amazon Prime (great for affiliate linking), or even Food Network for cozy cooking-related stories.
- Book recs by candlelight — This one can be done with any light. Think Books by moonlight, books by sunrise/sunset. You could feature books that take place at certain times of day or where the covers evoke a specific time of day (like Princess of Shadows and Starlight).
- The “No Context Quote” Challenge — post a shocking/funny/heartbreaking book quote. For more engagement, DO NOT post the book title in the video. Add it as a comment later or when people ask.
- Books that made me forget my phone existed – easy to adapt to whatever new book is making you get lost in it (paired with trending audio, of course).
- Guess the book from the first line interactive challenge. This one is another that can be great for engagement; people love guessing games. So you can share the quote and then show a few covers and let people guess which book the quote came from.
- When you read a plot twist, and have to close the book for 5 minutes. Again, another one that can be done over and over again with different books or a compilation of books that have caused you to do this.
- Mini rant about overused BookTok tropes you secretly love. Tropes. Everyone is obsessed with them, the more obscure the better sometimes. Think outside the box. What tropes do you see that never get enough love? Or ones that are overdone but for a good reason?
Love these ideas, but want more? Check out my Bookstagram reel ideas!
Reader-Engaging, Author Friendly BookTok Prompts
- Day in the life of a BookTok reader/author — This could be a chance just to show your morning coffee/tea with what book you’re reading, a little GRWM featuring a short drive to work a little office view the drive home and your current book (truly endless since you work and read a different book often!), could also feature yourself reading in your favorte chair while preparing your reading essentials (i.e. making coffee/tea, grabbing a blanket, tuning on a sound machine, lighting a candle or using your favorite essential oils.
- Unfiltered reaction to reading your own old writing or for readers, your first review, to show how much you’ve grown/changed over the years. I know I’ve looked back at some of my earlier reviews and cringed (I cannot believe how bad a reviewer I am sometimes!)
- Show your annotated book margins on BookTok — Do you use highlighters? Draw in the margins? Or use a color-coded system? Share and explain it. Everyone has a different way of doing things, and you just might inspire someone else to try!
- “What I thought this book was about vs. what it was actually about.” Ha, well, this one is reminiscent of a high school book report. What was A Tale of Two Cities really about? What underlying message or theme did the author of the last book you read intend to convey? What was your interpretation of the book? Did the author mean for the girl/guy to come across this way? Did the synopsis get the story wrong?
Author ideas: Only wrong interpretations of your book plot/synopsis. I thought this book was going to be this but in reality it was ____. - Act out a scene from your book (or a favorite book) in 15 seconds. Think Gandalf’s “You shall not pass” or Dumbledore’s “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Something people can relate to – this one is great for getting people to SHARE your content.
- Your favorite “bookish place” — Do you have a favorite local coffee shop or library? Maybe a cozy chair that’s been with you for years? Or an indie bookstore that always makes you feel welcome. Readers and Authors alike can share about these things to highlight the places, businesses, and coziness around them. It is also great if you want to build an influencer platform on BookTok based on local areas.
- Author/Reader behind the scenes: Authors share your writing snacks & rituals. Readers share your bookish habits, snacks, and things you can’t do without before reading.
- How I organize my bookshelves — Do you organize by color, genre, aesthetic, or Dewey decimal code? Or is there a fellow BookTok person who inspired you to organize a certain way?
- Mini bookshelf tour — but only the “special shelf.” Think of books you’ve reread, books by a specific author, books you’ve found through BookTok, or books in a specific sub-genre. The ways you can change this up are literally endless.
- Author/Reader Q&A rapid fire — answer 10 questions in 30 seconds. Either think of them yourself, ask friends, or do a Q&A box in your BookTok/Bookstagram stories.
- What I write/read when I need comfort. Think comfort when I need encouragement, comfort when you need a little romance, comfort when you feel sad, comfort when anxiety strikes, etc.
- Biggest research rabbit hole I fell into works for both authors & readers who deep dive fandom. Think about it, while reading or researching, we’ve all come across some word or phrase we’ve never heard of and went down a rabbit hole, not knowing where it would lead.
- POV: You finally finish a draft/series and feel… lost. Show pages flipping, with a lost expression on your face, and or the book cover hiding you, with maybe a quote from the book, or overlay a scene that had you in the feels.
- Share your book playlist — audio over aesthetic shots, the trend currently is to create a book playlist of songs you think fit the book well. This can be for authors or readers. Authors ask your readers for song suggestions if you need ideas 🙂
- Favorite bookish merch haul — mugs, candles, bookmarks. We love reading and we’re not afraid to show it, right? Both Authors and Readers have bookish must-haves or writing must-haves. Show them off. Support small businesses or generate some affiliate income, potentially. If you found them via BookTok, tag the creator.
BookTok Trends that are Adaptable and Aesthetically pleasing
- Unpopular BookTok opinion — Do you think books should be labeled a certain way? Do you think books should have content warnings or that a different system of identifying age-appropriate books should be in place? Share it.
- Which book character would survive in my small town? Or which character wouldn’t? Explain a few reasons why or why not. You could even switch it up: Why this book character wouldn’t survive in my big city or my state (or why they would).
- The perfect travel Booktok read for [insert destination]. Easy and repeatable. This one could even be made into lists or round-up reads lists.
- Books with covers so pretty I’d frame them. Do you frame book covers? I know I have a few book covers I’ve designed hanging on my walls. There are so many beautiful covers, just show a video of a few front-facing ones on your bookshelves or just by holding them up/ panning over them with your camera.
- POV: Your fictional crush walks into the room. This can be taken in multiple ways: A woman/man who inspires you, a book boyfriend/girlfriend, a couple who makes you wish for more.
- BookTok book spine poetry — stack books so the titles make a sentence. This one is so much fun! And easily repeatable for different seasons, or even monthly! Try spelling out the months or a favorite book you read that month (bonus points if the book is included in the spine poetry!).
- What’s in my reading bag/travel tote? This one has a lot of variation possibilities: What bookish items do you pack in your bag for a trip? What bookish items do you take with you to school? What bookish items do you never leave home without? You can even do a seasonal spin on it:
- Fall: What fall bookish items go with me to watch sports/ get a pumpkin spice latte (anyone else NOT like those? Can we be friends?).
- Summer: What bookish items do you take with you to the beach/pool?
- Spring: What bookish items do you include in your spring bag? Do you have chocolate in there? Reading glasses? A sunny hat your grandma gave you?
- Winter: Do you pack reading gloves? A light to read by? Hand warmers?
- A book so good I was mad when it ended. I don’t know about you, but I have read several books with cliff hangers that I was absolutely devastated by. Share them with your audience and ask which one they prefer and why.
- Author/reader bloopers — Think typos you found way too late, or booktok videos before the edits (only bad compilation takes allowed). These will make you more human to your audience and not let them think you are “perfect” like so many people want to portray nowadays.
- Reading challenge update — 30 books in 30 days, 12 books in 12 months, etc. Or change it up and do like 30 book quotes 30 days, 12 books for the 12 days of Christmas. A recent popular one is taking the year (i.e., 20**) and doing 26 books in 2026, I will read. Or 26 books on my TBR that I will get to this year.
- Books that read like slow dancing — soft, beautiful prose, a slow burn romance, a fantasy that makes you stop and say wow, or a sci-fi world that has a slow but fantastic build.
- POV: It’s midnight, and you swore you’d only read one more chapter. Ha says every bookworm ever.
- Reading in nature — Western countryside, a beach, a mountain backdrop, a walk through your neighborhood while listening to an audiobook. Pick a background and show a book. Easy and repeatable, especially with trending sound.
- Travel TBR swap — pick a book based on where you’re going next and have your audience guess the location! Or twist, show yourself going to little free libraries and leaving/exchanging books! This one can be great fun if you have some friends willing to join in 🙂
- When a book inspires a life change — Share a few ways in which a book helped shape you – Whether it’s a book from high school that helped change your career path, a non-fiction book that made you stop and reassess, or a romance that made you realize Love is worth fighting for. Every one of us has been touched and changed by the books we read, so share them.
I hope these ideas help both Authors and Readers with new accounts and old accounts on TikTok breathe new life into their creative thinking. Thanks for stopping by! And as always, NO AI was used in coming up with these ideas, just a real human girl with a passion for helping others.
Happy reading, Friends.
Until next time,
Travelers Wife 4 Life
