TikTok will bring #BookTok to life at Al-Sharqiya Book Fair in Saudi Arabia, organised under the umbrella of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, to promote a reading renaissance and spark collective conversations on lifestyle, knowledge, and culture.

The first ever book fair to be held in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom, Al-Sharqiya Book Fair will take place from March 2 – 11 and is expected to attract thousands of global and regional authors, thought leaders, pioneers of the publishing industry, book lovers and #BookTok creators.

An online community of enthusiastic and engaged users focused on books and literature, #BookTok has garnered billions of views to lead a global resurgence of the culture of reading, thereby opening up significant opportunities for the publishing industry both online and in-store. In Saudi Arabia alone, there have been over 442 million video views for #BookTok in the last 6 months, highlighting the synergy between TikTok and the Al-Sharqiya Book Fair.

From its organic beginning, #BookTok has become one of the most influential communities for authentic and inspiring book reviews, recommendations and literary conversations. The phenomenal success of #BookTok has helped users to reawaken their love for reading across various genres, whether it be romance novels, memoirs, non-fiction or fantasy.

During Al-Sharqiya Book Fair, TikTok aims to foster the spirit of discovery and dynamism and create the opportunity for authors, publishers and readers to build meaningful and robust relationships, especially in the field of Arabic literature, science, culture and lifestyle. Book fairs, such as Al-Sharqiya Book Fair, are highly relevant to TikTok’s #BookTok community as it provides real-world interactions between them to complement the digital experience of TikTok.

Additionally and as a part of this initiative, TikTok will set up a dedicated landing page with content by #BookTok creators from Al-Sharqiya Book Fair, including author talks, video book reviews, literary discussions and glimpses of the fair itself.

TikTok’s participation at the the First Book Fair in the Eastern Region (Al-Sharqiya), showcases the platform’s mission to drive book discoverability in real life beyond the app and further connect our book-loving global community and aligns with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture and the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission goal in promoting reading as a part of community lifestyle.