Bloomsbury Publishing sees sales surge thanks to 'BookTok' and fantasy fiction
Fantasy fiction and 'BookTok' have boosted sales for Bloomsbury Publishing, with author Sarah J Maas being hailed as a "publishing phenomenon".
Bloomsbury's shares jumped by 10% on Wednesday after it predicted higher than expected profits for the year. Chief executive officer Nigel Newton said the demand for fantasy fiction had led to an "exceptionally strong" sales period for the group.
Sarah J Maas, who has been published by Bloomsbury for over a decade, was partly responsible for this surge with the release of her latest book, House Of Flame And Shadow, in late January. The book topped charts in the UK, US, Australia and many other markets, and also increased demand for the author's previous 15 books. Bloomsbury announced it has six more titles planned with Maas.
According to Bloomsbury, fantasy books have gained immense popularity worldwide. Nielsen Bookscan data showed that the fantasy and sci-fi genre has grown by more than 50% in the UK in the last five years.
Mr Newton stated: "Sarah J Maas is a publishing phenomenon and we are very fortunate to have signed her up with her first book 13 years ago."
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Social media trends such as ‘BookTok’ on TikTok have helped popularise certain titles with millions of people posting videos using the hashtag.
Bookseller Waterstones’ managing director James Daunt said on Wednesday that social media has “reinforced reading real books” particularly amongst younger people – meaning paper books rather than ebooks.
Bloomsbury said its revenue and pre-tax profit for the year to the end of February is set to be “significantly higher” than previous expectations, which had already been upgraded. It is now predicting sales of £291.4 million and profit of £37.2 million. The group will report its results in May.
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