Escapism: Fiction books are flying off the shelves

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A little too real

Bloomsbury, the book publisher behind the Harry Potter series, just raised its revenue expectations for its latest financial year to £260m, up from the previously expected £243m. That's some 40% higher than the company managed just 2 years ago.

Interestingly, it’s been fantasy fiction books that have helped drive much of the sales boost, with readers seeking to escape the everyday worries of the real world, as “people have had too much reality” according to Bloomsbury's CEO, Nigel Newton.

BookTok strikes again

TikTok, perhaps surprisingly, has also been an effective modern channel to attract bookworms. #BookTok is a hashtag that is self-described as “the biggest book club on the planet”. Enthusiastic readers share videos of book reviews, reactions and curated lists of recommendations, and the hashtag has even gained a staggering 112 billion views. It helped drive sales of series such as A Court of Thorns and Roses, which Hulu is adapting into a TV series, and took Colleen Hoover — who sold more than 14 million books last year — to the top of the 2022 bestseller list.

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