TikTok has launched the careers of countless authors. They say they’re worried about what a potential ban could do to the industry. WSOC TV [Video]

Authors and book lovers on TikTok are concerned that a nationwide ban of the social media platform could endanger their hobbies, their livelihoods and the publishing industry at large.

Legislation that President Joe Biden signed in April could ban the use of TikTok in the U.S. as soon as January 2025. Though people have been talking about books online for decades, TikTok in particular has had a tangible impact on book sales, impacting what books publishers are looking for and even influencing people to read more books.

TikTok’s book-loving community, also known as BookTok, has helped launch the careers of authors like Lauren Roberts, who first shared a book idea on TikTok at age 18. Her audience loved it, so while balancing her work as a college student, she wrote and self-published the YA fantasy novel Powerless in 2023. It was a BookTok smash.

“I remember when it first started going viral, Prince Harry’s book had just come …