Whether you’re just getting started on BookTok or you’ve been going for a while and need some inspiration for your posts, TikTok book challenges are a great place to find that inspiration.
TikTok challenges, sometimes also called tags, are prompts often based on a song or a series of questions saved as a sound. To make your own post based on that challenge, simply tap the picture at the bottom right of the screen, then, on the next screen, “use this sound.” It’ll start a new TikTok post for you with that sound.
Many of these challenges involve text that appears and disappears as the TikToker in the video points at them. It took me far longer than it should have to figure out how to do this, so in case you need a primer, here’s how that works:
- Type out each caption that you want to appear as you point to it
- Tap the text, hit “done”
- Tap it again, and choose the edit option to make it the right colour and size
- Tap it again, and choose the “set duration” option. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a red bar, and you can slide that to set where the text should appear and disappear.
It sounds complicated, and I was overwhelmed at first, but like many things on TikTok, it becomes second nature with practice.
8 TikTok Challenges To Try Out
What’s this person reading right now?
To ease you into TikTok, one of the easiest and most popular trends, or TikTok book challenges, is @kathyellendavis‘s sound. You simply start off by hiding the cover of the book, or flicking through its pages, and end it by showing the title. You don’t need to show your face or worry about lip synching, so it’s quick and easy, and a great way to experiment with TikTok.
You and Your Books
Once you’ve been going for a while and are feeling more confident, you might want to try to introduce yourself to the BookTok community with the catchy little number that is BookTok intro song by @ezeekat.
Meet the BookToker
For an alternative introduction to BookTok, try this one. It has a different set of questions, including what you think is the best thing about being on BookTok.
Sync 30 Photos and Introduce Your Bookstagram Account
A great way to introduce your aesthetic to BookTok — or to get them to hop over to Instagram and follow you there — is to show off your Bookstagram. To do that, start by choosing this sound and then, instead of hitting the big red button, tap “upload” to the right of it. You can use your own images this way and they’ll naturally sync to the sound.
Hyper Specific Book Tag
This TikTok book challenge was made by @mothmanlesbian, who took her inspiration from a FilmTok challenge she’d seen. It asks you to show, for example, a book you bought the day it came out, a book you say is your favourite partially because it makes you sound smart, and a book that made you feel like the author had crawled inside your brain
Help Me With a Book
This TikTok book challenge by @johneepixels7 gets progressively more specific — asking for example for a book with an E in the title — and it ends with a request for book that isn’t popular on BookTok, so it’s a great chance to plug something underrated.
Also, if you’re ready for more advanced TikToking, this is a good one for duetting. Hit the arrow on the right hand side on this post, tap “duet”, and you’ll get a split screen, so you can record your side and make the post into a conversation between the original video and your new track.
BookTok Yes or No
@all.books.and.some.tea has quite a few options for you to express your bookish preferences. This one can be done as a duet, too, though it doesn’t have to be. It’s a chance for you to give your opinion on colour-coded bookcases, spine breaking, film covers and more.
Books That Made Me Cry
This is another pretty specific BookTok tag, where you can shout out books that made you cry hard or happy cry and a book that you think will make your followers cry.
These TikTok challenges are the perfect way to ease into what can be an intimidating social media platform and help you find your fellow book lovers.
Want to find more TikTok book challenges and tips? Check out our post about BookTok recommendations and TikTok’s favourite LGBTQ books.
