The second annual TikTok Book Awards UK and Irelend saw the social media platform’s users vote for their favourite authors, books, and bookshops over the past year.
ADVERTISEMENTLisa Jewell and Rebecca Yarros were the big winners at the TikTok Book Awards for the UK and Ireland this year, in a ceremony held at the Sea Containers Hotel on the South Bank.
56-year-old writer Jewell won Book of the Year (UK & Ireland) for her 21st novel ‘None of This is True’. The bestseller crime novel follows a podcaster who gets entangled in the dark complex life of a woman she agrees to interview.
Jewell, who has been publishing novels since her debut bestseller ‘Ralph’s Party’ in 1999, was effusive of the awards. “Nobody could have predicted that BookTok was what the publishing industry needed – it was a huge shot of adrenalin,” she said.
“BookTok has given me readers that I would never have had access to otherwise. It's got me a New York Times number one best seller. I love #BookTok and I want to thank everyone in the BookTok community who has voted for me. I am so proud and honoured.”
Winner of Book of the Year (International) for her colossally successful fantasy novel ‘Fourth Wing’, Rebecca Yarros said: “I'm so grateful that Fourth Wing has been chosen as Book of the Year (International). It has been a wild ride, and none of it would have happened without TikTok. Huge love to the BookTok community, and my UK publishing team!”
‘Fourth Wing’ is the first instalment in Yarros’ Empyrean series and shot to the top of book charts in large part due to its popularity on BookTok. Hashtags with Yarros’ and the book’s name have amassed over a billion views on the platforms and she has been credited with revitalising the romantasy genre. A 600-page sequel, ‘Iron Flame’ was released in November, just half a year after the original 500-page novel came out, and Amazon is already working on a TV adaptation.
The BookTok Awards are voted for by the community on the social media platform. Nominees are first selected by a panel of industry experts. This year’s panel included TikTok creators Jack Edwards and previous winner Eden Victoria, CEO of the Publishers Association Dan Conway, Editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones, Black British Book Festival CEO & Founder Selina Brown, and renowned authors Samantha Shannon and Sara Cox.
More than 82,000 people cast their votes for the final winners, selecting Jewell and Yarros for the top two prizes. In other categories, British novelist Talia Hibbert won BookTok Breakthrough Author. Hibbert began self-publishing her novels in 2017, putting out 10 books within her first year. She’s best known for ‘Get a Life, Chloe Brown’, the first novel she released through a traditional publisher in 2019.
Winner of Indie Bookshop of the Year was The Bookshop by the Sea in Aberystwyth, Wales. “This could not be further away from my tiny bookshop in rural Wales,” Freya Blyth, the shop’s owner said at the ceremony. “Bookshops are a way of keeping our communities alive, helping people to find each other and find book friends. Thank you to everyone on TikTok who's voted.”
The full list of winners are:
- Book of the Year – None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
- Book of the Year (International) – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- BookTok Breakthrough Author – Talia Hibbert
- BookTok Creator of the Year – Maisie Matilda
- BookTok Rising Star Creator – John–Paul Kunrunmi
- Indie Bookshop of the Year –The Bookshop by the Sea
- TikTok Shop Book of the Year – The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore
