Which Booktok Trending Hashtags Attract Fantasy Novel Fans?

My Neighbor Totoro: The Novel is another manga trending with kids right now. A clever novella based on the movie by Studio Ghibli, it has a very magical, very nostalgic feel, making it perfect for fifth-graders. The story follows two sisters who move to the countryside, only to find that they are not alone there after all. Join the two young girls as they encounter a variety of magical forest spirits while learning about family, adventure and the wonders of nature. Beautiful illustrations and wise word-making bring the beloved film to life in this compelling and heart-warming read, a perfect introduction to the Ghibli universe for kids.

Getting familiar with most common BookTok abbreviations will make your bookish experience even better! ‘TBR’ stands for books you want to read in the future and usually makes for a long list of books you feel guilty not reading yet yet. There’s also ‘TBR Jar’ (physical or digital) which helps picking your next book randomly. A very important abbreviation is ‘DNF’ (Did Not Finish) which – unlike what the name suggests – is something to be proud of because you recognized in time that you just weren’t in the right mood for that book and you moved on to something better. There are also abbreviations that describe moods, like ‘Romantasy’ (romance + fantasy) or ‘Dark Academia’ (the aesthetic and genre mixed with a feeling of a scholarly atmosphere and mystery, often even Gothic). Characters & Relationships: MC = Main Character, MMC = Male Main Character, FMC = Female Main Character, LI = Love Interest. YOUR FAVORITE FICTITIONAL COUPLE! Ship = endorsing/ hoping for a certain relationship in a story. There are also tropes for the different relationships (ex. Grumpy x Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers, Morally Grey characters [aka. really bad/ antihero main characters &/or love interests that you aren’t quite sure you should like]). Community and review-related terms. This includes “Spoiler” and “No Spoilers” to please BookTokers who wish to discuss books without giving away crucial plot points. We also have “ARCs” (which stands for “Advanced Reader Copies”) which reviewers can receive prior to a book’s publication. There are also “Auto-buy Author”s which basically means that BookTokers will buy every book that a certain author writes. This term is also used in conjunction with “Book Hangover” which is the feeling that one gets after reading an amazing book and cannot bring themselves to pick up another. Some BookTokers even mention whether a book is “Spicy” (has explicit romantic content) or “Clean”/”Fade to Black” (does not have explicit romantic content). Lastly, “BOTM” stands for “Book of the Month”, which is typically a book that is sent to subscribers of a Book of the Month Club.

Vellum is a tool for book formatting that also generates a metadata report that shows which of the subtitles or keywords you used performed best. Draft2Digital’s Universal Book Links lets you see how your metadata is performing on various retailers. To get a quick read on the current state of the market, take a look at BookBub’s Industry Insights, which outlines current trends by price and genre. These tools are simple to use but provide tons of information on what is currently working for novel sales.

It’s the modern day version of the Byronic hero: brooding, mysterious, scarred, rebellious against society. We’ve had versions of this sort of character for centuries – Heathcliff, Mr. Rochester, Dracula, to name but a few. BookTok have updated this sort of character to suit the short-form, video nature of the platform, adding in lots of muscle and magic along the way. But his timeless popularity is not new – it’s just how he’s being distributed that’s changed. The communal nature of TikTok is what makes this all seem so new and current, but really the core of his appeal is Gothic romance and that’s been around for ages.

Most YA fantasy novels fall in the range of 70,000 to 90,000 words. That can vary from the debut novel to longer novels in a series. In general, however, every chapter must earn its place in the novel. The plot must be tight and well-written. My book, Classic Faery Tales Rewritten For Adults Only, takes familiar elements of fantasy stories and rewrites them for adults only. This novel presents the same archetypes in a darker and more mature setting, focusing on the same political intrigue and moral conflicts that are presented in classic faery tales but are glossed over in children’s stories.

For quick picks, the Memorial Library circulation desk has a “Fantasy Favorites” display, and last week The Poppy War was one of the titles on display. Memorial also does a great job with interlibrary loan, and I recently received a copy of The Blade Itself. For e-book lovers, Hoopla allows searching of their collection using UW credentials, and I listened to all of The Sandman as audiobooks during finals.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi, it's a Pride and Prejudice retalling as a Black romance. Children of Blood and Bones by Tomi Adeyemi, African Fantasy/Mythology which also has romance. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson, Black romance really beautifully and lyrically written. As someone who's not typically a fan of romance, this book is really good.

Those ‘booktok boyfriend’ quizzes are really just light-hearted fun for people who enjoy the ‘who would you date from fiction’ type of game and it really doesn’t have an audience for them. However, I do know that a lot of people enjoy the ‘bad boy with a hidden soft side’ trope, so I thought that I would suggest a book that really plays with that trope in a sort of self-aware way. ‘I Kissed A Badboy And He Was Mine’ is a really fun read and it follows a girl and a bad boy who have a casual encounter and then things take a really possessive turn. The whole book has a really knowing and playful tone, which I think is perfect for someone who enjoys the ‘booktok boyfriend’ quizzes.

There’s a tremendous amount of love for humor as a genre driver. A book that makes people laugh has a devout and persisitent reader base, often from crossover audiences (fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for example). Humor can also be witty and winning, especially in books with lots of dialogue in the romantic comedy genre and beyond. And even when humor is used to explore tough, serious topics, popular and successful YA authors like David Yoon and Mary HK Choi and Phil Stamper use humor to fantastic end in their work. I believe a funny YA book can rise above the rest in a crowded field of books because most people seek out authentic experiences of joy and are willing to spread the word to others when they encounter something humorous. This can be a very difficult talent to master above the typical plot device, so it makes the books that are laughing their way to the top all the more impressive.

Honestly, I don’t get the debate over this one. It’s a fantastic story. Read it. There’s lots of faerie politics and acerbic dialogue and tense character moments. And the reason people love it for all these different reasons is that it’s a really good book. Why does everything have to be labeled for us? Oh no, the genre police will come and kick down your door because you’ve incorrectly referred to it. No.