With almost twenty years of history, YouTube remains at the forefront of video sharing on the internet. Naturally, it has garnered audiences for many different topics, but YouTube’s bookish community in particular is thriving. Since the platform is such a frequently used tool for consumers, authors can leverage it to connect with new readers.

YouTube & Readers

YouTube is very aware of its large bookish audience and takes care to invest in that community. Last year, YouTube released a “Top Books of the Year” video, which currently stands at 1.4 million views. In the first half of 2024, videos with “BookTube” in the title garnered over 350 million views collectively.

In 2023, PRH asked its Reader Insight Panel—a group of avid readers who opted in to help with consumer research and surveys—how they discover books on YouTube and what content they enjoy the most. The survey revealed that these readers discovered new books on YouTube about as often as on TikTok, a major driver of book discovery in recent years. Since then, BookTube has gotten a little smaller, but it is still a thriving community with new creators constantly appearing.

Panelists found themselves drawn to content specifically from BookTubers, like detailed book reviews, sub-genre or trope recommendations, and book challenges or lists. Other forms of content popular with this group included author interviews, audiobooks, and read-aloud snippets.

YouTube’s bookish community also has audiences for a diverse array of genres in both fiction and nonfiction.  Mystery, literary fiction, fantasy, and romance were popular among fiction readers, whereas memoirs, autobiographies and biographies, and history titles were popular for nonfiction.

Book discovery on YouTube is not limited to bookish creators. Conversations around books happen on YouTube within every niche. Video essayists, true crime creators, and ASMR-tists are among many types of content creators who frequently recommend books.

How Can Authors Leverage This?

The difficulty with YouTube is that a lot of popular content about books can be critical, which is difficult for an author to participate in. On the other hand, the longform nature of YouTube leaves space for longer, more in-depth, and more nuanced discussion that can draw in readers and allow them to get a better sense of you and your book.

If you are interested in YouTube, start by seeing what content you enjoy, and then consider how you would like to interact with the platform. If becoming a BookTuber doesn’t seem right for you, there are still plenty of ways to show up.

Try connecting with YouTube creators—reading fans, BookTubers, and other authors. Collaboration is everything online and forging a connection can be as simple as checking the bio of a video you enjoyed for an Instagram link and sending the creator a DM. For those hoping to make their own content, YouTube can require a little knowledge of video content creation and search engine optimization, so your fellow content creators can be a great source of advice or cross-promotion. Offer an exchange of promoting each other’s work or try coordinating an interview. If you’re just looking to get your name out there, I recommend reaching out to small BookTube creators and perhaps offering a copy or an ARC of your title. Book influencers often love to make connections with authors, especially in their favorite genres (and everyone welcomes a free book!).

Keep in mind that you can use YouTube to create and to curate. Upload that book trailer, podcast clip, or live reading—readers discover new books that way all the time!  Interviews and recordings of speaking events have a long shelf life on YouTube. They can appear very high up in a Google search for a title or author, so they tend to resurface and get shared with more viewers, months and even years after being posted. When you have these opportunities, upload a full recording if possible. If you only have a snippet, try uploading it to YouTube Shorts, with a link to the location of full recording in the description.

Finally, as you brainstorm ideas about how you may want to show up on YouTube, talk to your publishing team! Often, they can assist with your strategy and synthesizing material. They may be able to help you connect with other authors who use the platform.